SpaceX Inspiration4 Civilian Crew Raised Over $200M for St Jude

The crew regularly spoke with St Jude patients from space.

History was made recently and a lot of money was raised in the process. In case you missed it, we saw civilians go to space and return safely three days later. It was a groundbreaking mission that led to a pretty substantial donation to St Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Let's start from the beginning.

In the past year, we have seen private entities travel to space. Companies owned by billionaires Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and Jeff Bezos all sent space crafts into orbit with successful returns. Musk's brand SpaceX however, took things to the next level with an all-civilian crew.

That's right. Four everyday people just went to space and back. Well, maybe "everyday people" is a little bit of a stretch. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was privately chartered by a billionaire named Jared Isaacman. But the fact remains that not a single person on board was an astronaut. They did undergo rigorous training prior to blast off though.

The mission made history, bit it also raised more than $222 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Issaacman, CEO of Shift4 Payments, kicked off the campaign with a $100 million donation. The goal was set at $200 million. An online site was established for others to donate and the mission to space operated almost like a telethon. The crew checked in throughout the 3-day flight and even did interviews with St Jude patients.

Donations poured in throughout the trip and as the crew approached that $200 million goal, they saw a big donation come in from the SpaceX founder.

Musk's $50 million donation put them over their goal.

And the donation continue to pour in. Even though the crew has blasted through their original goal, they are still collecting donations through February 2022. So if you want to get involved, you can donate here. Not only are you helping a great cause, but you'll also be a part of history.