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MEMernet: St. Jude Goes to Space

Memphis on the internet.

St. Jude in Space

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was a central focus of the all-civilian Inspiration4 mission to space last week. Memphian, St. Jude physician’s assistant, and former St. Jude patient Hayley Arceneaux served as the mission’s medical officer aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience capsule.

The mission began with liftoff on Wednesday.

Photo: Posted to YouTube by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

On Friday, St. Jude patients got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to speak to Inspiration4’s astronauts as they circled the Earth in low orbit.

Photo: Posted to YouTube by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Patients asked the astronauts about their sleeping bags, what they do for fun in space, whether or not there are cows on the moon, their favorite space food, and whether or not there were aliens in space. Arceneaux then gave the patients a tour of the Dragon’s cupola, the largest window ever in outer space.

Photo: Posted to Twitter by @inspiration4x

The crew safely splashed down Saturday. The mission raised $210 million for St. Jude after a $50 million donation by SpaceX founder Elon Musk.