A billionaire paid SpaceX for a multi-day trip around the Earth and he’s taking 3 people for the ride

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Jared Isaacman is a US billionaire, a philanthropist, pilot, and the CEO of Shift4 Payments. Thanks to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, his dream of flying into space seems to be on a good path and will soon become a reality.

In a recent press release, Isaacman said that he would command the space mission to take him and three more people on a “multi-day trip” around the Earth’s orbit. Isaacman bought the three seats of the mission that is bound for October 2021. 

However, it turned out that the space mission is not just about fulfilling Isaacman’s dream to fly into space. He also announced that one of his goals is to raise $200 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In addition to buying the space charter from his pocket, he also announced that he would donate half of the money for this noble cause, $100 million. 

Furthermore, he donated one of the seats on his SpaceX mission to one of the frontline health care worker that works at St. Jude. He didn’t disclose the identity of the health worker, just that it is a woman who is “committed to helping kids beat cancer.”

The third seat is planned to go to a random person that will enter a public contest that will also act as a fundraiser. Those interested in taking part in the lottery that might take them on a trip around Earth’s orbit don’t need to donate to participate. However, those that will contribute will enjoy greater chances of winning a seat aboard SpaceX. Each donated dollar will count as ten entries. The limit is 10,000 entries. 

The fourth SpaceX seat will go to one of the entrepreneurs that use Isaacman’s e-commerce platform, Shift4Shop. Those entrepreneurs interested in being selected will need to create their online stores on the platform. Then they will need to film a short video in which they talk about their “entrepreneurial story.” The final step is to post the video on Twitter and wait for the judges’ panel to decide who is going up with Isaacman and the other two space tourists. 

The winners of the Shift4 competition and the St. Jude sweepstakes are to be announced in about a month or so

Isaacman named the mission “Inspiration4,” with 4 referencing both his e-commerce platform as well as the number of crew members. 

In the meantime, Isaacman is training to operate the spacecraft, and he’ll act as mission commander. The SpaceX launch is planned for October and will take place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After circling the Earth for an unspecified number of days, the space capsule will land near the coast of Florida.

Have any thoughts on this? Would you go on this SpaceX trip? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Deep Ballu