Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an aircraft manufacturer, space transportation services provider, and communications company situated in Hawthorne, California. SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk in 2002 with the goal of cutting space transportation costs so that Mars could be colonised. The Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles, as well as multiple rocket engines, Dragon cargo and crew spacecraft, and Starlink communications satellites, are all manufactured by SpaceX. The gift propels Inspiration4 closer to its goal of raising $200 million for St. Jude.
Elon Musk, the creator and CEO of SpaceX, will donate $50 million to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to support childhood cancer research, starting an ambitious fundraiser by the private Inspiration4 space mission above its $200 million objectives.
Musk made the promise late Saturday (Sept. 18), after the Inspiration4 mission’s four private astronauts safely returned to Earth with a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, right off the coast of Florida. The mission was funded by Jared Isaacman, a billionaire computer entrepreneur who purchased the trip from SpaceX and served as its commander to raise awareness and support for St. Jude.
The mission had garnered around $160 million for the hospital as of splashdown.
Musk responded to a public message from the Inspiration4 mission welcoming the crew home and reminding the public about the campaign on Twitter with, “Count me in for $50 million.”
Musk’s donation brought tears to the eyes of Inspiration4 medical officer Hayley Arceneaux, a St. Jude doctors assistant and childhood bone cancer survivor. Thank you, Elon Musk, for contributing to our $200 million fundraising target for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Isaacman also expressed gratitude to Musk and reminded the audience that the fundraiser is still ongoing. Isaacman contributed $100 million to the fundraising target and then gave the three remaining seats on Inspiration4 to promote awareness for St. Jude. St. Jude chose Arceneaux to occupy the “Hope” seat on the crew.
On Sept. 15, SpaceX launched the Inspiration4 mission, which sent Isaacman, Arceneaux, and two other civilians — geoscientist Sian Proctor and aerospace data engineer Chris Sembroski — into Earth orbit for three days. They carried out a series of science experiments, listened to music, and gazed out a big dome window built to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for the journey.
This contains a Martin Guitar ukulele, art and flying jackets, as well as dozens of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, for artwork and a new Kings of Leon song.
Officials from St. Jude seemed ecstatic to learn of the fundraiser’s success. The hospital posted on Twitter, “Two missions achieved in one night.”
It congratulated the Inspiration4 crew and SpaceX “for looking beyond our globe and making things better for all of us here now and in the future” in a later statement.
