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Allentown in Orbit


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Last night’s SpaceX launch makes the Allentown community very proud. Now in orbit, this is the World’s First All-Civilian Spaceflight.  Onboard Commander, Jared Isaacman is Owner of the Shift4Payments Company, based in Allentown. The young billionaire, Isaacman, who lives nearby is totally funding the project on his own. He is joined in space right now by three other crew members, all civilian.

On the ground working on the historic flight is former Allentown TV69 Engineer, George Motter, who is now the Senior Manager for Ground Segment and Launch Communications for SpaceX. Long ago, the Allentown DCI team received technical assistance from Mr. Motter, a Lehigh University grad.

As a Lehigh Valley resident, I am excited to post of this endeavor. Just think of the courage shown by the Isaacman Team!

Important to note, Mr. Isaacman, is using this mission to support St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Beyond entirely funding the flight, Isaacman has also pledged his own $100 million donation to St.Jude Children’s Hospital.

Best wishes to all involved!

 

Edited by Fred Windish
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That's pretty cool and some great PR for the City of Allentown. Good on Mr. Issacman for his success and incredible support of St. Jude, a charity I also support (though not quite $100 Mil support ). 

I love watching these launches and always have. Every time you see one, it's like the first time back in the 60's. 

Edited by OldSnareDrummer
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I don’t personally know the man, but have read about him. It seems as a child, he was always the one who strove to do what others said he couldn’t do. His main interest in life was aviation. This does appear to primarily be a philanthropic effort by someone who amassed a huge fortune through his start-up company.

From an earlier interview with TV69 -

The mission is called “Inspiration4.” He's using it to fundraise and donate a staggering $200 million to St. Jude Children's Hospital, $100 million of which will come from his own money.

"You can't make all the great strides up in space, and try to explore new worlds, without trying to conquer some of the real problems we have here on Earth today," Isaacman said.

He won't say how much he's paying for the mission. However, another recently reported private mission is costing $55 million a head.

One of the seats is already going to a nurse from the hospital, who is still unknown.

"She's a childhood cancer survivor, was treated and cured at St. Jude and is now a health care worker at St. Jude helping kids in the fight," Isaacman said.

The third seat will be raffled off to a business that uses Shift4 Payments. The last one will be raffled off to anyone who makes a donation to St. Jude's in February.

"Very few people have been fortunate enough to go to space and so we've got to make it accessible and let people go and explore among the stars," Isaacman said.

——

I find the whole story just fascinating, inspiring.  You know, rich people do good things, too!

 

Edited by Fred Windish
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