[ti:Cancer Survivor Looks Forward to Joining Private Space Flight]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:01.00]After beating bone cancer,
[00:03.64]Hayley Arceneaux thinks rocketing
[00:07.56]into orbit on SpaceX's first private flight
[00:10.92]should be no problem at all.
[00:13.84]St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
[00:17.04]announced the 29-year-old doctor's assistant
[00:21.40]will rocket into space later this year.
[00:25.44]Arceneaux — a former patient at St. Jude
[00:29.64]— will become the youngest American in space,
[00:33.12]beating NASA record-holder Sally Ride by over two years.
[00:38.80]She will travel with businessman Jared Isaacman,
[00:43.28]who is using the spaceflight he bought
[00:46.28]to raise money for charity.
[00:48.64]Two other yet-to-be-chosen space flyers will join them.
[00:54.32]Arceneaux will be the first person to launch with a prosthesis
[00:59.76]- an artificial device that replaces a missing
[01:03.40]or injured part of the body.
[01:06.24]When she was 10, Arceneaux had an operation at St. Jude
[01:11.72]to replace her knee and a piece of metal was put in her left leg.
[01:17.32]She still limps and has occasional leg pain.
[01:21.84]Limp is a term that means to walk slowly because of an injury.
[01:28.12]Arceneaux has been cleared to fly by SpaceX
[01:32.72]and will serve as the crew's medical officer.
[01:36.84]"My battle with cancer really prepared me for space travel,"
[01:41.68]she recently told The Associated Press.
[01:46.00]"It made me tough, and then also I think it really taught me
[01:50.72]to expect the unexpected and go along for the ride."
[01:56.00]Arceneaux wants to show her young patients
[01:59.20]and other cancer survivors
[02:01.84]that "the sky is not even the limit anymore."
[02:06.08]"It's going to mean so much to these kids
[02:09.64]to see a survivor in space" she said.
[02:13.96]Isaacman announced his space flight February 1,
[02:17.96]promising to raise $200 million for St. Jude.
[02:22.96]He will provide half of the amount himself.
[02:26.68]As the flight's self-appointed commander,
[02:30.52]he offered one of the four seats
[02:33.84]aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft to St. Jude.
[02:38.64]The hospital chose Arceneaux from among its many workers
[02:43.84]who had once been patients.
[02:46.40]The idea was that one of them
[02:49.00]could represent the new generation, noted Rick Shadyac,
[02:53.80]president of St. Jude's financing organization.
[02:57.92]Arceneaux was at home in Memphis, Tennessee,
[03:01.92]when she got a surprising call in January.
[03:05.84]She was asked if she would represent St. Jude in space.
[03:11.40]A lifelong space fan who loves adventures,
[03:15.72]Arceneaux has traveled widely and loves roller coasters.
[03:21.48]Isaacman, who flies fighter airplanes for fun,
[03:25.76]considers her a perfect fit.
[03:29.24]"It's not all supposed to be about getting people excited
[03:32.88]to be astronauts someday, which is certainly cool,"
[03:37.16]Isaacman, 38, said last week.
[03:40.76]"It's also supposed to be about an inspiring message
[03:45.48]of what we can accomplish here on Earth."
[03:49.16]Isaacman has two more people to choose,
[03:52.60]and he plans to announce them in March.
[03:55.68]One will be a contest winner who donates to St. Jude.
[04:01.64]So far, more than $9 million has been raised
[04:05.88]for the hospital, Shadyac said.
[04:09.00]The other seat will go to a business owner
[04:12.60]who uses Isaacman's credit card-processing company.
[04:16.88]The launch is planned for this fall
[04:19.56]at NASA's Kennedy Space Center,
[04:22.44]with the spacecraft orbiting Earth for two to four days.
[04:28.04]I'm John Russell. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM