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“St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital”
Record-Setting Aviator, Astronaut, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist Receives 2022 UP.Summit Inspiration Award
Isaacman receives humanitarian award. (Image Credit: UP.Partners)

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (UP.Partners PR) — UP.Partners is proud to announce Jared Isaacman as the recipient of the 2022 UP.Summit Inspiration Award. The award is presented by UP.Partners to an individual who has inspired others to think bigger and has created a positive impact on mankind.

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  • June 13, 2022
Richard Branson Gets His Astronaut Wings, Aims to Eliminate Asterisk* Next Time
Unity 22 crew: Michael Masucci, Colin Bennett, Richard Branson, Sirisha Bandla, David Mackay and Beth Moses at the 37th Space Symposium. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
  • Billionaire aims to go higher and faster next time
  • Virgin Galactic still can’t get SpaceShipTwo all the way up (to Karman line)
  • FAA throws in the towel on deciding who is and who isn’t an astronaut

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Earlier this month, Richard Branson and two Virgin Galactic employees received commercial astronaut wings from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity flight test they took part in last July. The trio was the last group to receive the wings — FAA ended the program last year — and the honors came with a pretty big asterisk.

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  • April 18, 2022
Polaris Program will Undertake a Series of Pioneering SpaceX Dragon Missions, Demonstrating New Technologies and Culminating in the First Human Spaceflight on Starship
Polaris Dawn crew: Jared Isaacman, Anna Menon, Sarah Gillis and Scott Poteet. (Credit: Jared Isaacman)

LOS ANGELES, CA, February 14, 2022 (Jared Isaacman PR) – Today Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR), announced the Polaris Program, a first-of-its-kind effort to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities, while continuing to raise funds and awareness for important causes here on Earth. The program will consist of up to three human spaceflight missions that will demonstrate new technologies, conduct extensive research, and ultimately culminate in the first flight of SpaceX’s Starship with humans on board.

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  • February 14, 2022
Inspiration4 Auction for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to Include Payload Items that Orbited Earth
Inspiration4 medical officer, St. Jude physician assistant and cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux points to a license plate bearing St. Jude patient art that is available for auction. (Credit: Inspiration4)

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Nov. 1, 2021 (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital PR) — Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit the Earth last September, included special cargo for a post-splashdown auction, benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.

Now until Wednesday, Nov. 10, the general public may bid on various payload items, including a space-flown jacket with St. Jude patient art, unique pilot’s watches (chronograph edition by luxury watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen), license plates bearing patient art, and U.S. postage stamps featuring St. Jude founder Danny Thomas. Additionally, there will be vacation packages and unique experiences available for auction.

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  • November 1, 2021
SpaceX Projects Higher Commercial Flight Rate; Musk Donation Sends St. Jude Fund-raising Campaign Over the Top

A few notes on the Inspiration4 mission: Big Demand for Flights SpaceX senior director for human spaceflight Benji Reed said yesterday that the company wants to ramp up to six private commercial human spaceflights per year. “There’s nothing really that limits our capability to launch. It’s about having rockets and Dragons ready to go and having everything in the manifest align with our other launches,” he said. SpaceX officials said […]

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  • September 19, 2021
Inspiration4 Crew Makes Evening Splashdown, Completing World’s First All-Civilian Orbital Mission to Space
Crew Dragon splashes down with Inspiration4 crew. (Credit: Inspiration4)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., September 18, 2021 (Inspiration4 PR) – After three days orbiting Earth, the astronauts of Inspiration4  flying aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 7:06 p.m. EDT. The return marks the completion of the world’s first all-civilian human spaceflight to orbit, which launched on a flight-proven SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021.

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  • September 18, 2021
Inspiration4 Mission Announces Splashdown Time to Return from Orbit
Inspiration4 crew in orbit. (Credit: Inspiration4)

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL, September 17, 2021 (Inspiration4 PR) – Tonight Inspiration4, the world’s first all-civilian human spaceflight mission to orbit, shared the crew would return tomorrow, September 18, with a targeted splashdown at 7:06 p.m. EDT in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. To prepare for this return, Dragon completed two burns tonight to reduce the spacecraft’s altitude to approximately 365km and line up the ground track with the landing site. A timeline of activities for Dragon’s return to Earth and splashdown is available on SpaceX’s website.

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  • September 17, 2021
Inspiration4 Mission Launches into Orbit
Falcon 9 launches the privately-funded Inspiration4 mission into orbit. (Credit: Inspiration4)

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL, September 15, 2021 (Inspiration4 PR) – On September 15 the crew of Inspiration4, the world’s first all-civilian human spaceflight mission to orbit, officially ushered in a new era of space exploration at 8:02:56 PM EDT as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 lifted off from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. 

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  • September 15, 2021