15-year-old cancer patient dreamed of being an astronaut. So NASA and SpaceX gave her the gift of a lifetime

15-year-old terminally ill Olivia "Liv" Perrotto loved all things space and wanted to become a fighter pilot and an astronaut with SpaceX. So Elon Musk and NASA administrator Jared Isaacman made her dreams come true right before she passed. The story was shared by radio host and entrepreneur Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) on X. Beck met Rebecca, Liv's mother, during the launch of Artemis II. They sat next to each other as Rebecca shared the story of her inspiring daughter. Beck felt that the story needed to be heard by the entire world, and asked for Rebecca's permission to share it on April 16.

Liv was a huge Elon Musk fan and wanted to meet him one day. At 10 years old, she was diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer called undifferentiated sarcoma. It was a difficult time for the Perrotto family, but she never gave up on her dreams. During this time, she heard about the SpaceX mission called Inspiration4, led by Isaacman. The Inspiration4 crew also heard about Liv, and Isaacman himself paid for Liv's family to come witness the launch. 

Isaacman even asked Liv to design a zero-g indicator he could carry with him to space on the Polaris Dawn mission. She created a sketch that looked like Musk's dog, Floki, and named him 'Asteroid,' which later floated with the crew in zero gravity. According to Liv, the purpose of creating Asteroid was to show other children that if a plush toy can go to space, they can too. Liv's biggest dream was to become one of the first kids to go to space, and she even asked Musk when he would do it.

Ever since their first meeting, Isaacman became dedicated to helping Liv fulfill her dreams and helped with her care. He flew her on his private plane across the country to seek treatments. The Inspiration4 crew didn't forget about her either and sent her a cake on her birthday and flowers when she was in the hospital. They even got on a Zoom call with her right before she passed away. Liv, through Isaacman, got to meet Charlie Duke, William Shatner, and Victor Glover. This was all done quietly with no press involved. 

However, as Liv's cancer worsened, Musk heard about it and wanted to have a call with her. On the day he called, Liv was too tired to have a chat and asked if they could do it the following day. Musk immediately sent flowers and a card for Liv, but she passed away before they arrived. She had a list of questions to ask him, but she never got the chance. Beck shared a photo of Liv's questions on X, and Musk decided to answer them all in the comments.

The last question on her list was actually a request. She wrote, "Can you make Asteroid the mascot for SpaceX?" Two days later, after Beck shared the post, Musk responded to her request, saying, "Ok." Even though Liv did not live to see it, people hope that Musk will keep his word and honor her name. 

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