--- title: "Bone Cancer Survivor Will Get Free Trip to Space This Year" description: "Bone cancer survivor Haley Arceneaux will be experiencing the trip of a lifetime on board SpaceX's first private flight some time this year." date: "2021-02-22" modified: "2021-02-22" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/bone-cancer-survivor-free-trip-space" categories: - "Cancer" - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "crew dragon" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Bone Cancer Survivor Will Get Free Trip to Space This Year ![Bone cancer survivor Haley Arceneaux will be experiencing the trip of a lifetime on board SpaceX's first private flight some time this year.]() *\Image: Jared Isaacman via Twitter\* ## Youngest in Space Bone cancer survivor and Haley Arceneaux will be experiencing the trip of a lifetime on board a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, the space company's first private flight to space later this year, [the *Associated Press* reports](). She won't be flying alone. The 29-year-old physician assistant will be joining billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and [two other contest winners]() who have yet to be chosen. Arceneaux, a physician's assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, could become the youngest American ever to travel to space — and the first to do with a prosthesis. She has a titanium rod in her left thigh bone after a knee replacement. "My battle with cancer really prepared me for space travel," Arceneaux told the *AP*. "It made me tough, and then also I think it really taught me to expect the unexpected and go along for the ride." https://twitter.com/rookisaacman/status/1363812407274045440 ## Trip of a Lifetime The SpaceX Dragon capsule is set to lift off from Florida later this year, the first crewed mission around Earth without a single professional astronaut on board. Despite her health conditions, Arceneaux has been cleared by SpaceX to fly. She will also serve as the flight crew's medical officer, according to the *AP*. Earlier this month, Isaacman pledged to raise $200 million, half of which was paid by him, for St. Jude. If all goes according to plan, it'll be an unparalleled opportunity. "I did ask, 'Am I going to get a passport stamp for going to space?'" Arceneaux [told *The New York Times*](). "But I don’t think I’m going to. So I’m just going to draw a star and the moon in one of my passports." **READ MORE:** [Bone cancer survivor to join billionaire on SpaceX flight]() \[*Associated Press*\] **More on SpaceX tourism:** *[SpaceX Says It Will Launch Space Tourists as Soon as Next Year]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()