Health Trotter

August 10, 2021 at 03:55PM Jared Isaacman is not likely to forget the day he almost died at 10,000 ft., back in 2011. He was flying closely alongside three others, all in F-14 Tomcats, tearing along at 460 m.p.h. over the desert southwest of Las Vegas. The group, part of Isaacman’s Black Diamonds aerobatic team, was rehearsing for an air show and trying to come up with a flashy new finish. What they decided on called for flying in a square formation and then suddenly veering toward one another, before pulling back at the last second. It would be a nifty thing to watch go right—and a terrible thing to watch go wrong. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The pilots began the maneuver at their four separate corners and then banked in toward one another. But their coordination was a mess, and the fully fueled twin-engine fighter jets came screaming toward one another. “Holy sh-t,” exclaimed Isaacman over the radio. He yanked hard on his stick and veered sharply away; the others di...

August 10, 2021 at 03:55PM Astronauts are accustomed to celebrity status, and Jared Isaacman, 41, is learning that truth first-hand. Isaacman is the billionaire CEO of Shift4 Payments, an online payment company, who bought all four seats aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and, come September, will command Inspiration4, the first space mission crewed entirely by non-professional astronauts. But if Isaacman’s name is becoming increasingly well-known in space circles, those of the other crew members are less so. Here’s a look at who they are, how they were selected to make their improbable journey, and what they hope to accomplish while aloft. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Sian Proctor Philip Montgomery for TIME Dr. Sian Proctor of the Inspiration4 crew, the world’s first all-civilian mission to orbit. Two of the most memorable moments in Sian Proctor’s life involved a phone call—though the first she’d just as soon forget. That one came in 2009, when she was in cont...

August 10, 2021 at 03:55PM St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which looks after children with cancer while also researching how to eliminate the pediatric form of the disease, raised a record-breaking $2 billion in donations in its last fiscal year. It’s a record for an independent charity, and an impressive feat in a year when donors had more causes than ever vying for their attention and money. Richard Shadyac, the CEO of the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (St. Jude’s fundraising organization), attributes that success to a nimble pivot to different fundraising strategies—one of which was a collaboration with Inspiration4 , the first space mission crewed entirely by civilian astronauts. That partnership brought in not only $100 million promised by Jared Issacman, the mission’s billionaire commander of the flight, but a further $16 million through such initiatives as a sweepstakes to win a chance at joining Issacman as part of his crew [time-brightcov...