Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, will donate $50 Million to support childhood cancer research at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This fundraising initiative is being launched by private space agency Inspiration4 beyond its $200 million goal.
Musk made the promise late Saturday (18 September), after four private astronauts from the Inspiration4 mission returned to Earth safely with a splashdown in Atlantic Ocean just off the Florida coast. Jared Isaacman, a billionaire tech entrepreneur, funded the mission to raise awareness and support St. Jude. He bought the flight with SpaceX and was its commander. The mission had raised approximately $160 million by splashdown.
Musk tweeted, "Count me in for 50 million", in response to an Inspiration4 mission public welcoming the crew home. He also reminded the public about the fundraiser.
Splashdown! Photos and video The crew of SpaceX Inspiration4 returns to Earth
After a successful splashdown on September 18, 2021, Inspiration4 crewmember Hayley Archeneaux gave a double thumbs-up after exiting SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience. SpaceX image credit
Inspiration4 medical officer Hayley Araceneaux, a St. Jude physician's aid and survivor from childhood bone cancer, said that Musk's donation brought tears to her eyes. "Thanks to Elon Musk for the generous donation towards our $200 million dollar fundraising goal. Jude !!!"
Isaacman thanked Musk, and reminded the public of the ongoing fundraiser. Isaacman contributed $100 million of his own funds to the fundraising goal. He then donated three seats on Inspiration4 in order to raise awareness about St. Jude. St. Jude selected Arceneaux to fill the "Hope” seat on the crew.
SpaceX launched the Inspiration4 mission in September 2015. It sent Isaacman, Arceneaux, Sian Proctor, and Chris Sembroski to Earth orbit for a three-day trip. They did a variety of science experiments and played music, as well as gazing out the giant dome window SpaceX had added to their Crew Dragon. Isaacman placed the first space-based sports bet (the Philadelphia Eagles to win Super Bowl), and crew members spoke with Tom Cruise and Bono, U2's singer, while in orbit.
From Etsy, to Earth orbit: The Inspiration4 crew packs mementos (and for sale) for space.
Isaacman posted a late Saturday tweet saying, "We loved space, but it's great that we are home." "Incredible news about Elon Musk's donation and exceeding the 200m goal for St. Jude. Let's keep the momentum going!
Musk's donation brings the total amount of Inspiration4's fundraiser to around $210 million. This is before an auction of many items that the crew took with them into space. This includes a Martin Guitar Ukulele, which Sembroski played, art, and flight jackets. There are also dozens of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for artwork, and a brand new song by Kings of Leon.
Officials at St. Jude were thrilled to hear about the fundraising success. The hospital posted on Twitter, "Two Missions Completed in One Night."
In a subsequent message, the crew thanked SpaceX and the Inspiration4 crew "for thinking beyond the planet and making things better here and in the future."
Tariq Malik can be reached at tmalik@space.com, or on Twitter @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom on Facebook and Instagram.
