A West Virginia University alum is trying to secure a seat on a flight to orbit with SpaceX through a social media contest.
Emily Calandrelli, a Morgantown-born Truman Scholar, posted a video to Facebook explaining the terms of the contest, referred to on social media as #Inspiration4Contest, in more detail.
According to Calandrelli, Jared Isaacman – who will be commanding the civilian SpaceX Inspiration4 flight and is the person behind the contest – required contestants to set up an online shop through Shift4Shop, which he owns, and sell something.
Calandrelli chose to offer personalized cameo videos for kids. She promised to match all donations up to $5,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The other requirement of the contest, according to Calandrelli, was to make and post a video on Twitter that explains contestants’ “inspirational business story.”
In Calandrelli’s Twitter video, which was uploaded Feb. 9, she said she’d like to be chosen for the seat because she would like to make the first TikTok video from space.
“If that sounds silly to you, keep listening,” Calandrelli said.
Calandrelli complied with the requirements of the contest and shared her story: she has a total of four degrees in science – two from WVU and two master’s degrees from MIT – and now works as a science communicator.
“My business is making science more accessible for everyone. I do that with books, TV shows, public speaking and, of course, social media,” Calandrelli said.
Calandrelli said her business strategy heavily relies on empathy as a vessel to teach others, an idea Calandrelli said comes from her roots in West Virginia.
“Empathetic education means first listening to those we’d like to convince so that we can understand where the distrust in science comes from. Without first doing that, science education can’t happen,” Calandrelli said.
Calandrelli said she works to make sure children without access to the Internet can access educational information, such as Calandrelli’s show Xploration Outer Space, which airs on FOX broadcast stations and doesn’t require an Internet connection or even cable to view.
“Everybody learns a little differently, but it’s easier to learn when it’s in a style of media that you naturally enjoy, which is why it is critically important to meet kids where they’re at and bring science education to social media,” Calandrelli said.
Calandrelli said she’s developed a significant TikTok following of nearly half a million people, mostly young women, who are interested in learning about science.
“I’d love to bring that education to new heights and talk about science, space exploration and the benefit of protecting our planet from a powerful perspective for my online community and my fellow West Virginians,” Calandrelli said.
Calandrelli, who hosted the educational show Emily’s Wonder Lab while 9 months pregnant, said she also wants to increase female representation in the field of science.
“Because only 12% of people who have gone to space have been women, I’d like to help expand the female representation in space and become the first woman from West Virginia to reach orbit, giving kids from Appalachia and little girls around the world an astronaut they can see themselves in,” Calandrelli said.
On Feb. 10, Calandrelli tweeted that all 100 of her personalized videos had sold and $5,000 had been raised for St. Jude, which Calandrelli matched for a total donation of $10,000.
In a Feb. 11 Twitter post, Isaacman said he’d like to raise more than $200 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as part of the Inspiration4 mission.
“I have committed to fund the first $100 million for this effort, but I will match dollar for dollar up to [an] additional $25 million in Izzy Mattocks’ name to [St. Jude] above the $200 million. The new goal is a quarter of a billion,” Isaacman said in an additional tweet.
Accompanying Isaacman and the #Inspiration4Contest winner on the mission will be an unidentified St. Jude ambassador and another person who has donated to St. Jude through Inspiration4. The crew will be selected on Feb. 28.
In addition to being an alum of WVU and MIT and a Truman Scholar, Calandrelli is the Emmy-nominated host and producer of Xploration Outer Space on FOX, the host and producer of Emily’s Wonder Lab on Netflix and co-author of the Ada Lace Series.
To learn more about the Inspiration4 mission, visit https://inspiration4.com/.
Donations to St. Jude through Inspiration4 can be made at https://inspiration4.com/donate.
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