The Inspiration4 team, made up of all civilians, stopped by their science-heavy mission to talk with children in a Memphis hospital.
The three-day Earth orbiting mission launched Wednesday, September 15. It aims to raise $200 millions and generate a lot publicity for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
Haley Arceneaux (29), a former patient with cancer, is one of the four astronauts on the private SpaceX mission. She is also the first person to fly in space using a prosthetic. Arceneaux is now a St. Jude physician assistant. The brief press conference was held upside down for the most part. It is available on YouTube.
Arceneaux stated, "I just want to let you know that we are doing this for you." "We are thinking of you so much, and I wanted to tell your that I was a little girl going though cancer treatment, just as many of you. You can do it if you're capable of doing this. I'm proud of every single one of you.
Video: St. Jude patients are listened to by the Inspiration4 crew
SpaceX's Inspiration4 private, all-civilian orbital mission is live updated
This still image shows SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission private astronauts smiling in space. It was taken Sept. 16, 2021. They are from left: Jared Isaacman (commander); Hayley Arceneaux (medical officer); Chris Sembroski (mission specialist); Sian Proctor (pilot). Image credit: Inspiration
Jared Isaacman (38), crew commander and billionaire, paid $200 million to fly the crew in Earth orbit higher than any other pilot since Apollo. Isaacman answered Tyler's question about why the mission was happening and said that he still believes there is much to be done in space.
He said, "There's an awfully lot of it [space], but we know so little about them." "There might be interesting answers to the questions that we've been asking for a while out there. So we need to pay attention to them. We also need to be aware of our real responsibilities on Earth. This is why St. Jude Children's Research Hospital plays such an important role in our mission.
Related: Inspiration4 - SpaceX's historic private flight in photos
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket's plume of fumes carrying four civilian astronauts on the historic orbital mission Inspiration4 is visible. (Image credit: John Kraus)
Sian Proctor (51), a long-serving analog astronaut, is now in space, and is the first Black female pilot of a spacecraft. Eva, a patient, asked Sian Proctor and the crew about their sleeping bags in space.
She explained that if you have ever gone camping, you will know exactly what kind of sleeping bags you used. Last night was our first ever sleep in space. It was amazing because we were in our sleeping bags, on top of our chairs. However, we were floating on top, and there was a seat belt around the sleeping bag so that we didn't drift away while we were asleep.
Chris Sembroski, a Lockheed Martin employee who was formerly a Space Camp counselor, held M&Ms and distributed them between questions. This led to some hilarious moments as astronauts jostled to grab the floating candy. Arceneaux interrupted one of her questions to allow her to grab an M&M floating by her head upside-down.
The crew seems to be making the most of their small SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and even took the time to show patients the amazing view from the domed window that was flying instead of a docking mechanism. (Inspiration4 won't dock with the International Space Station as Crew Dragons are historically used for.
Arceneaux acknowledged that the crew is not astronauts but that they had put six months into getting to know one another through experiences such as water survival and zero-gravity flights. She also noted that the crew experience was not only a learning experience. "It was a lot, a lot, studying PowerPoints, going over materials, and then we got some really cool hands on stuff."
Crew members also inquired about their space experiences, including whether they fall into space or what their favorite food is (Proctor had planned to eat pizza the second night), and if astronauts have been to the moon (Proctor replied that there would be soon, referring specifically to NASA's Artemis program).
Crew members are expected to descend on Sunday, Sept. 18, or Saturday, Sept. 19.
Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @Spacedotcom
