Meet the athlete who Elon Musk promised a trip to space

Elon Musk prepares to take four tourists into space tomorrow in his company's rocket, while French athlete Philippe Croison closely follows the mission, as the amputee athlete hopes to swim in Earth's orbit with SpaceX.

One day, “We’ll make you fly on Starship,” Elon Musk told him in November 2020. At the time, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX responded via Twitter to Philip Croisson, who pledged to contact the famous billionaire if he exceeded the number of subscribers in His account is 50 thousand before Christmas.

This is a total that was reached within an hour.

"Hello, Elon Musk, I am a well-known French adventurer without arms or legs! Take me to space to prove once again that anything is possible!" tweeted Philip Croisson.

This 53-year-old former worker, who had his arms and legs amputated in an accident in 1994 and took part in sports, crossed the English Channel in swimming, achieving an achievement in 2010.

Philip Croisin did not expect any response from Musk to the message he sent "like a bottle in space", according to what he revealed to AFP after a seminar at the French School in San Francisco (California), and the students applauded him at the end of it.

"I'm going to Cape Canaveral to watch the rocket launch, and then in three days I'm going to get the craft landing in the sea and get them out so we can spend some time together, to see if it's possible to send a man like me into space," he said.

Elon Musk's company has previously transported ten astronauts to the International Space Station for the US space agency (NASA).

However, this flight, called "Inspiration 4", will be the first for amateurs with no experience in this matter in Earth's orbit.

Tips with tweezers

In July, billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos separately spent a few minutes in space aboard a craft built by his own space company. As for the passengers of the SpaceX capsule, they will spend three days in zero gravity. Philip Crouzon, who took intensive English courses, tried to write to Richard Branson 10 years ago, but received no response. He corresponds from time to time with Elon Musk, especially with American businessman Jared Isaacman, who uses the services of "SpaceX" to take a tourism trip in Earth's orbit.

The French athlete considers that these space flights deserve to be expensive in the range of tens of millions of dollars, as they constitute a source of inspiration for the inhabitants of the world and require in-depth scientific research.

To cross the Channel, engineers designed him prosthetics with paddles that athletes in his condition now use, he says.

To face zero gravity, he consulted a French company specializing in space equipment.

"We envisioned two ends with clips that would help me hold onto the cabin and secure it," he said.

"There is no doubt that my head will hit the inside, but I will not be alone," he joked, hoping that he would become the first disabled person to swim in space and achieve this dream that many cherish.

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