Introducing The All-Civilian Crew That's Going To Space

Space travel is awesome, and it feels like one of the world’s greatest tragedies that we as a nation don’t have the same enthusiasm for space that we did during the Space Race. Fortunately there are signs that this deficit in star flight is changing very soon.

We have a feeling that the planned Inspiration4 space flight, the first all-civilian rocket launch ever, is going to reignite America’s love for space travel like it's 1969.  This human space flight is set to launch sometime in September and is going to be a five-part documentary series on Netflix, documenting the entire trip as it happens. Quite a bit of buzz is catching on about this for a few reasons, most notably just how historic the trip itself is, along with the diversity of the crew.

Inspiration4 is funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, who is the founder of Shift4 Payments. His goal is both to raise awareness of space travel and get more donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, of which he has already donated $100 million.

So who is this blessed crew that gets to ascend above, while we mere mortals wallow in the muck that is Earth? Why were these seemingly four ordinary folks chosen above all others? Well, Jared Isaacman is one of them, so we know why he’s going. He paid for the whole thing. But what about these other three? We’ll run down the list:

Hayley Arceneaux, age 29, is making historic firsts in quite a number of categories. She will be the youngest woman ever sent into space, beating out Sally Ride (age 32 at the time), along with being the first Cajun person and first cancer survivor in space. Hayley’s siblings are aerospace engineers, and she was chosen because of her extensive experience with medical science at St. Jude’s. And given the fact that Jared Isaacman is doing this to raise money for St. Jude, it makes total sense to pick someone who has a good bit of experience at the famous hospital ward. 

The next person is Christopher Sembroski, who, along with being an Air Force veteran and future astronaut, works as a data engineer at Lockheed Martin. His lifelong interest in all things space propelled him towards amateur rocketeering and astronomy, giving him an edge in being selected for this historical space flight. His experiences with space include being a Space Camp counselor and a staff member at the nonprofit organization called ProSpace, which is devoted to the promotion of private space travel.

Along with the others, professor Sian Hayley Proctor, a geoscientist who teaches at South mountain Community College, will also be joining the crew. Proctor's own expertise lies in studying geology, but she also has an impressive history with space exploration, being a 2009 NASA Astronaut finalist, beating out over 3,500 other people, but ultimately not being picked. That all changes now, as she is one of the four who will make their historic flight into space for charity in september.

These three talented individuals will make space travel history when they launch in September. Not only is this trip one big leap for science and humanity, but also one for diversity and representation, which is also a noble goal in of itself.