Billionaire Space Explorer, Westfield Alum Visits Wilson School

WESTFIELD, NJ — Jared Isaacman, a billionaire pilot and commercial astronaut who orbited the Earth in a mission last September, touched down at Westfield's Wilson School on Wednesday — his elementary alma mater.

According to Westfield Schools, Wilson fifth graders were extremely excited when Isaacman walked into the school gymnasium, as his visit was highly-anticipated by all the students.

Besides attending Westfield Public Schools from kindergarten through sixth grade many years ago, Isaacman was the commander of an all-civilian crew of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, dubbed "Resilience," that orbited Earth last September. Isaacman spoke about that mission and shared planes for future space exploration with the Wilson Elementary students.

Isaacman said his future explorations include three more space missions with a new four-member crew as part of a SpaceX program called Polaris.

“We’re going to go farther into space than humans have gone since we last walked on the Moon,” Isaacman said about the Polaris program which he says is “designed to test technology required for future space missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.”

During the first Polaris mission — "Polaris Dawn" — which is scheduled to launch in November, Isaacman said his crew will spend up to five days in space, conducting scientific experiments and testing a new spacesuit while on a spacewalk 310 miles above Earth.

This mission will also help to raise awareness of St. Jude's Research Hospital, according to Isaacman. The crew plans to use SpaceX's constellation of low Earth orbit communication satellites to conduct "telemedicine," connecting patients in countries who may not have direct access to medical resources like St. Jude. Isaacman's mission with the Inspiration 4 crew last fall raised over $240 million for St. Jude.

As part of his Polaris Mission 3, Issacman said he plans to command the first spaceflight on Starship, which is the world's first reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to orbit Earth, the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Isaacman has become somewhat of a celebrity at the Wilson School, as the fifth grade teachers included the astronaut's trip to space as part of their traditional science unit. Students wrote fictional dispatches from the Moon and brainstormed ideas of how Isaacman inspired them.

The fifth graders illustrated cards and wrote letters with questions for Isaacman.

At the assembly, Isaacman said he dreamed of traveling to space when he was a kindergartener at Wilson. Isaacman answered many of the students' questions and was even presented with a "key" to the Wilson School.

Coral Venturino, one of the fifth grade teachers, said she hoped Isaacman will take the key with him on his next mission into space.

Fifth grader Emilie Ancri welcomed Isaacman at the beginning of. the program and thanked him for his efforts in giving back to the community.

“Thank you for being an amazing role model and inspiring us to be the best we can be now and in the future,” Ancri said.

Have a news tip? Email remy.samuels@patch.com.

Get a free morning newsletter with news in Westfield or another town: https://patch.com/subscribe