SpaceX flight: childhood cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux, 29, to become youngest American in space
- The doctor’s assistant will join billionaire Jared Isaacman and two yet-to-be-chosen contest winners on the company’s first private flight
- Arceneaux, who will also be the first person to launch with a prosthesis, will serve as the crew’s medical officer
After beating bone cancer, Hayley Arceneaux figures rocketing into orbit on SpaceX’s first private flight should be a piece of cosmic cake.
St Jude Children’s Research Hospital announced Monday that the 29-year-old doctor’s assistant – a former patient hired last spring – will launch later this year alongside a billionaire who’s using his purchased space flight as a charitable fundraiser.
Arceneaux will become the youngest American in space – beating Nasa record-holder Sally Ride by over two years – when she blasts off this fall with entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and two yet-to-be-chosen contest winners.
She will also be the first to launch with a prosthesis. When she was 10, she had surgery at St Jude to replace her knee and get a titanium rod in her left thigh bone. She still limps and suffers occasional leg pain, but has been cleared for flight by SpaceX. She will serve as the crew’s medical officer.
“My battle with cancer really prepared me for space travel,” Arceneaux said. “It made me tough, and then also I think it really taught me to expect the unexpected and go along for the ride.”