KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – The stakes are high, about 200 miles high, for the donors, YouTubers and creative space enthusiasts vying to be on board the first private trip to orbit Earth in a SpaceX Crew Dragon.
The Inspiration 4 contest established by Jared Isaacman, the CEO of Shift4 Payment, will send four private citizens to low-Earth orbit later this year.
Two of the four crew members are already known: Isaacman and 29-year-old St. physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux, who is a bone cancer survivor now fighting cancer for others at St.
Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The remaining third and fourth passengers will be selected by an independent panel who will have a tough time as the applications have been anything but ordinary.