Elon Musk donates $50M to Inspiration4's St. Jude fundraiser

Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, chipped in $50 million for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital to help it exceed Inspiration4’s $200 million fundraising goal.

SPACEX TO MAKE HISTORY WITH ALL-CIVILIAN CREW MISSION, INSPIRATION4

The billionaire tweeted out his pledge just hours after the space flight concluded its three-day mission by successfully splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida Saturday evening.

"Count me in for $50M," he wrote in the posting. 

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who bought the flight with SpaceX and announced the mission would raise funds for St. Jude’s, donated $100 million to the cause. 

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With Musk’s contribution and the $60 million donated by the public, $210 million was raised for children’s cancer research.

Hayley Arceneaux, the flight’s medical officer and a physician assistant at St. Jude’s, said Musk’s pledge "brings tears to my eyes."

"Thank you​ ​@elonmusk​ ​for this generous donation toward our $200 million dollar fundraising goal for​ ​@StJude!!!," she said on Twitter.​

The Inspiration4’s mission took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a SpaceX ​Falcon 9 missile last Wednesday.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carried Isaacman, Arceneaux, a childhood cancer survivor, Sian Proctor, a geologist, and Chris Sembroski, a Lockheed Martin employee. 

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The crew remained in orbit for three days and reached an altitude of 367 miles. 

The mission marked the first time a flight went into orbit with an all civilian crew. 

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