Almost all kids dream of going to space, but it remains just that, a dream. In the case of Jared Issacman, this dream has gone further than anybody could have imagined, and he is on the verge of making it come true. Issacman is a billionaire who has always had a dream of going to space. He did not follow a traditional life path. In high school, he always had an interest in computers and was always repairing them as a way of making money. He was offered a job by one of his clients and decided to take this opportunity and drop out of high school. In 1999 when Issacman was just 16 years old, he founded Shift4 Payments in his parent’s basement. Shift4 Payments is an online program that processes payments. According to the Shift4 Payments website, he has grown the business to processing over $200 billion yearly, while Forbes states he has amassed a net worth of $2.3 billion himself. Issacsman’s interest in space travel began in kindergarten where he told himself he would one day go to space.

Issacman is now making his childhood dreams a reality with the Inspiration4 mission. The mission will feature a four-person crew led by Jared Issacman. The SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft will depart at the Complex 39A, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Jared plans for the launch to take place in the last quarter of 2021, but there is a possibility the mission could be pushed back due to covid. This is the first space mission that will feature a civilian crew. The crewmembers will undergo training by SpaceX, to ensure that they are prepared for all situations. The expedition is part of a charity initiative to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Issacman said the total cost of the mission has not been revealed to the public, but it is expected to be in the tens of millions. 

We wanted to discover if family and friends would take part in the Inspiration 4 mission if given the opportunity. We interviewed senior Wes Lathrop to get his thoughts. 

If you had the opportunity, would you go to space as a part of the Inspiration4 mission? Why or why not?

“Yeah, I think it would be fun. I don’t think I would ever get the chance to visit space otherwise so why not. I would want to see what earth and the rest of the solar system look like in person. Anyone that would say no is lame in my opinion.”

Do you believe that today’s technology can bring you to space and back safely?

“Yes, humans have come a long way with technology. Also, I would be with trained astronauts in a spaceship made by NASA. There isn’t a part of me that isn’t skeptical about it though…. I mean it is still space, and if anything went wrong we would be dead.”

Do you feel an all-civilian mission to space is a good idea?

“I think it is. The more we travel to space, it will become normal. I bet in 30 years this will happen all the time. I don’t know why anyone would think it’s a bad idea.”

Why do you think humans have such a fascination with space? 

“I think it’s because nobody really knows what’s out there. The universe is infinite and we have only explored a tiny bit. I personally want to know if there is alien life and how they compare to us.” 

Do you believe in aliens?        

“Definitely. There are too many galaxies for their not to be something. Plus, there has been footage released from the pentagon showing spacecraft remains. I think we have been visited by aliens countless times without even knowing.”         

We also had the chance to talk to Mr. Davidson, here is what he had to say: 

If you had the opportunity, would you go to space as a part of the Inspiration4 mission? Why or why not?

“If I got an opportunity like this I feel like I would definitely need to think it over, but in the end, I’d probably do it. I get that there is always a chance of something going wrong, but such a small number of people ever get a chance to do this, so I feel like you would need to take the advantage of the opportunity.”

Do you believe that today’s technology can bring you to space and back safely?

“As I said before, there is always a chance of something going wrong. But technology has come so far since the first space flights, so I would be pretty confident in today’s technology.

Do you feel an all-civilian mission to space is a good idea?

“I feel like it whether or not it’s a good idea, it’s going to happen. People have always been very interested in space, so this was bound to happen eventually. I think it’s starting to happen now because the technology is so good, and because prominent people like Elon Musk talk about people living on Mars, and other crazy stuff like that.”

Why do you think humans have such a fascination with space? 

“I think it comes down to the fact that we don’t know a lot about it. And it’s just human nature to be curious about the unknown.”

Do you believe in aliens?        

“I’m not quite convinced that there are aliens like we see in movies, but I think there is definitely some form of life out there. Space is so large that it would be almost impossible that Earth was the only place with life.”

The inspiration4 mission is the first of what is beginning to look like a long line of civilian space travel, and Elon Musk’s company SpaceX seems to be at the forefront of most of it. According to Joey Roulette of The Verge, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has teamed up with SpaceX to launch the DearMoon mission in 2023. This mission will bring eight people around the Moon, which is further than any human has ever been before. Another example of an increasing interest in bringing civilians to space is the planned opening of a space hotel, which is set to open in 2027. This hotel will be called the Voyager Station and will be built by a company called Orbital Assembly Corporation. For a long time, only highly trained astronauts were able to go to space, but these three projects are a sign that space travel is evolving and will continue to become more available for civilians as time goes on.