Hayley Arceneaux is a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital physician assistant, a career she committed to at age ten, after surviving pediatric bone cancer. She is also now a member of the SpaceX medical team, where she helps medically train commercial astronauts. She joined SpaceX's first private spaceflight, Inspiration4, on September 15, 2021, and successfully water-landed three days later. At age twenty-nine, she became the youngest American to orbit the Earth, the first pediatric cancer survivor in space, and the first astronaut with a prosthetic body part.
In this episode (Episode 50), Ben and Hayley discuss how Hayley had to keep the fact she was going to space a secret, the overview effect, how she never got claustrophobic on Crew Dragon and her new memoir, Wild Ride: A Memoir of I.V. Drips and Rocket Ships.
What you will hear in this episode
How Hayley found out she was going to space
Keeping the secret
Reaction to the space news
Hayley's journey through fighting cancer
Whether Hayley feels the pressure of being an inspiration
Thoughts around free health care
The overview effect
What it was actually like on Crew Dragon
Sleeping on board
Responsibilities on board
Inspiring the next generation
Landing at sea
Hayley's motivation for writing her book
What Hayley learnt about herself
Hayley's plans for the future
The audiobook
Follow Hayley Arceneaux
Listen to the Astro Ben Podcast
More episodes: Jared Isaacman, Shift4, John Kraus, Spaceflight Photographer, or browse all episodes.
New space interviews every week. Look up. Listen in.