The crew for SpaceX and Shift4’s all-civilian Inspiration4 mission is now complete. The final two members of the groundbreaking mission were announced on Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center in Floria, where the Falcon 9 rocket carrying Inspiration4’s Crew Dragon capsule will be launching later this year.
Joining 38-year-old Shift4Payments CEO Jared Isaacman and 29-year-old physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux will be 41-year-old Chris Sembroski, an Air Force veteran and educator working for Lockheed Martin, and 51-year-old Dr. Sian Proctor, an entrepreneur, educator, and trained pilot who has a passion for space.
The final two crew members representing the #Inspiration4 mission pillars of Generosity and Prosperity have been named! Stay tuned to meet the full crew today at 10AM ET live on the Inspiration4 YouTube channel! https://t.co/K6Owk59wK9 pic.twitter.com/hSQbsuU6as
— Inspiration4 (@inspiration4x) March 30, 2021
As per Inspiration4’s website, Sembroski will represent the virtue of Generosity, and Dr. Proctor will represent Prosperity. Isaacman represents the virtue of Leadership, while Arceneaux represents the virtue of Hope.
In an interview with TODAY‘s Tom Costello, Dr. Proctor remarked that being selected for the Inspiration4 mission felt like “opening up the chocolate bar and seeing the golden ticket to Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory.” She remarked that she had no worries about the mission at all, and that her reservations were actually more rooted in the prospect of the opportunity to go to space slipping by.
“I was more worried that this opportunity had slipped me by and I would never get the chance to go to space, but now here I am and that just shows you never give up because that moment for me is here… I’m ready. Just strap me in, let’s go!” she said.
As for Sembroski, launching from the Kennedy Space Center would be a rather symbolic experience. Twenty years ago, Sembroski showcased his passion for education and supporting passions by serving as a Space Camp counselor, an experience that he highlighted during his interview with TODAY.
And the last two crew members of Inspiration 4 are…
– Sian Proctor, scientist and science/space communicator. She was a finalist for NASA’s 2009 astronaut class.
– Chris Sembroski, an aerospace worker at Lockheed Martin who used to work on Minuteman missiles in the Air Force. pic.twitter.com/NIKIVwEEAw
— Emre Kelly (@EmreKelly) March 30, 2021
“I’ve taken that experience with me to really drive the passion for getting kids to seek their passion in science and technology and really spark the interest in those fields by using space as that medium, and then ever since it’s stuck with me,” he said.
Isaacson, for his part, remarked that he is extremely excited for the Inspiration4 launch. “This is a very real moment, but I can’t help but be overwhelmed just thinking about all of the history that came before us here. That’s what’s going through my mind, like the astronauts climbing into the Apollo missions and Skylab and the space shuttle. It’s just so incredible to be here,” he said.
The Inspiration4 crew would now be undergoing intensive training for their upcoming mission, which is expected to launch sometime this fall. Previously, Isaacson has noted that Inspiration4 could launch around October, but in his recent interview with the US media outlet, he noted that the mission could launch before the end of September instead. Such a timetable would give the crew just about six months to get fully trained and ready for a multi-day trip to space about 335 miles above Earth.
Watch TODAY’s segment on Inspiration4’s completed crew in the video below.
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Investor's Corner
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2026 on Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what the company reported compared to what Wall Street analysts expected.
The earnings results come after Tesla reported a massive beat on vehicle deliveries for the second quarter, delivering 489,126 vehicles and building 451,758 cars during the three-month span.
This was a major shock for those on Wall Street as they anticipated somewhere around 400,000 deliveries for the quarter, and showed Tesla still has plenty of demand for its vehicles around the world and in the U.S. despite losing the $7,500 EV Tax Credit last year.
Tesla Q2 2026 Earnings Results
- Non-GAAP EPS – $0.33 reported vs. $0.53 expected
- Revenues – $28.236 billion reported vs. $26.4 billion expected
- Free Cash Flow- -$1.092B
- Profit -$ 4.751B
Tesla (beat/missed) analyst expectations, so the market response to the company’s quarter is what we will look for next.
Tesla shares closed today down just over 1 percent, trading at $374.01.
In the past, it has been anyone’s guess with what Tesla shares will do after they report earnings. Strong quarters have resulted in sharp drops, while lackluster quarters have seen the stock shoot up considerably.
Tesla will hold its Q2 2026 Earnings Call in about 90 minutes at 5:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Remarks will be made by CEO Elon Musk and other executives, who will shed some light on the investor questions that we covered earlier this week.
You can stream it below. Additionally, we will be doing our Live Blog on X and Facebook.
Q2 2026 Earnings Call https://t.co/zZS6ii2TWK
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 22, 2026
Elon Musk
Tesla is about to make parking in busy lots less stressful than ever
Tesla is about to make parking in busy parking lots at businesses and other points of interest less stressful than ever by allowing drivers more control over where they park and how, CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X.
Tesla has been working to improve the parking performance of vehicles utilizing the Full Self-Driving suite, but now it is looking to add more customization, allowing drivers to choose the specific space they park in, but also potentially the orientation the car pulls into the spot:
It’s coming soon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2026
Musk has reiterated on X twice over the past several weeks that Tesla is working to make things with the FSD suite based more on the driver’s specific preferences and behaviors that were seen in past drives.
Essentially, it sounds like if you tend to park away from a business to avoid other vehicles, Tesla FSD will soon recognize that preference of yours and start parking further away as well. Additionally, the prospect of assigned parking spaces has been something many owners have voiced concerns about.
Living in a community with assigned parking spaces makes using FSD incredibly difficult as it will rarely park in the correct spot when there are so many to choose from. This is also pertinent in work settings where there are sometimes assigned parking spaces.
The updates to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite in terms of listening to driver preferences with parking are also extending to routing. Tesla announced yesterday that with the release of its 2026 Summer Update, it was adding Automatic Navigation and Preferred Routes:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla has always maintained the idea that any human input is bad input, and that, ideally, Tesla Full Self-Driving will always make the right decision. Of course, this is all in theory, but the issue is that so many of Tesla’s interventions have come because it does something that is not necessarily wrong, but perhaps not what the driver would prefer.
Taking these preferences into account will help Tesla alleviate some of the potentially unnecessary interventions that drivers perform.
News
Tesla starts preparing for Optimus in its smartphone app
Tesla is starting to prepare for the launch of the Optimus robot in its smartphone app, new coding strings show. Elon Musk has referred to Optimus as what will be the greatest-selling product of any kind of all time, and now, Tesla is getting ready for its launch.
Tesla’s smartphone app had several first-time mentions of the Optimus program, according to Tesla App Updates, who intially reported on the appearance. Here’s what they found:
A Dedicated “Robot” Phone Key Authentication
Tesla is working on a Bluetooth Low Energy, or BLE, authentication that is specifically for robots. This does not only apply to Optimus, though, as Robotaxi, which is Tesla’s autonomous ride-hailing platform, might also identify vehicles within the fleet as robots as well.
Tesla shows rapid teardown of Model S and X lines, paving the way for Optimus at Fremont
Essentially, pairing your phone as a key to anything Tesla identifies as a robot to a “whitelist” of authorized devices. Optimus, Robotaxi, or other products that fall into this category will only respond if the device trying to communicate with it is authorized.
This is a great security feature that will eliminate at least face-value and low-level threats.
Home Data Collection and System Alerts
This appears to be somewhat of a neural network for Optimus within your house. There will be a dedicated screen that asks for consent to collect both video and spatial data while Optimus performs in-home tasks. Everything from vacuuming, washing dishes, dusting, and other activities will be tracked.
There will also be a comprehensive alert system that will track everything from low battery to mechanical issues.
Other Changes
Most of the changes tracked in this particular app update are related to Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update, and include things such as image assets for new features, a preview of the new custom wraps feature, and other unique features.
You can check out our coverage on what is included with the 2026 Summer Update here:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
