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Inspiration4's Hayley Arceneaux will be youngest American to reach space and 1st spaceflyer with a prosthesis

This week, a crew of four spaceflyers will launch as part of the first all-civilian mission to Earth orbit. But this isn't the only major "first" for Inspiration4

Onboard Inspiration4, which is set to launch no earlier than 8:02 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 15 (00022 GMT Thursday, Sept. 16) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will be four civilians ready to make history. Among them is Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, for which the flight will be raising awareness and funds. She'll add two historic "firsts" of her own to the mission. 



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When Arceneaux realized that she'll be the youngest American spaceflyer,  "I was just overwhelmed with how honored I felt, I was mind-blown," she said. "I just can't believe that it's happening to me."


As a young child, Arceneaux was diagnosed with bone cancer after noticing some pain in her leg. Arceneaux and her family recounted the diagnosis in the real-time docu-series currently airing on Netflix about the mission, called "Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space."

"We actually went to NASA just a few months before I was diagnosed with cancer," she told in an interview. "I got to see where the astronauts trained, and I think every kid looks at that and wants to be an astronaut."

She went on to say that cancer made her doubt these childhood space dreams. "I have a metal rod in my leg from when they saved my leg, and so I never thought I'd be an astronaut," she said. Despite this, for the past six months, Arceneaux has been acing her astronaut training ahead of the mission. This has included a hike up Mount Rainier, centrifuge training, water survival training, fighter jet flights (which included some serious g-forces), training in a hyperbaric chamber and so much more. 


"I just feel so honored to be paving the way," she said. "I'm so excited to think of the people that are going to come after me. And I think space travel should be open to everyone. And this is a really big first step."

Inspiration4 aims to raise $200 million for St. Jude. And Arceneaux and her fellow crewmembers will bring the children being treated at the hospital into the mission, calling them from space. "It's going to be so fun for our kids to see somebody who is in their same shoes, getting to grow up and accomplish their dreams and then knowing that they can do the same."



Chelsea Gohd
