Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space (2021) s01e02 Episode Script

[Jared] It was very important to me that
this was a very fair, independent process.
I wanted no say in anyone
who was selected for this.
I wanted it to be as objective
as it possibly could be.
And that's where we came up
with our mission pillars.
We wanted a crew member
to represent leadership,
a crew member to represent hope.
We wanted a crew member
to represent generosity,
and a crew member to represent prosperity.
You know, for our mission pillar
of generosity, that was all gonna be
a fundraising campaign for St. Jude.
And the way you participate is,
you gotta make a donation
to an incredible cause.
And that donation would be an entry
into a sweepstakes
to have a spot on Inspiration4.
And this also plays right
into the Super Bowl commercial.
I wanted to energize a lot of people
and hopefully
inspire a lot of people as to, you know,
certainly what we can accomplish in space,
but also what we can,
we can do here on Earth.
[announcer] Are you ready yet?
Here we are.
This could be one for the ages.
Super Bowl 55 is underway
just get that pressure
[woman] Hayley, you know I love you
'cause I put on real clothes
for you on a Sunday.
[Hayley] Um loving it!
All right, I'm gonna taste test.
[doorbell rings]
- Hello! How are you?
- Good, how are you?
I love them! Thank you!
I was so excited for Super Bowl Sunday
because I was dying to tell people.
This is the biggest news of my whole life.
- with Michael last night.
- "With Michael" is a loose term, but yes.
[Hayley] I had some of my friends over,
and I'm like, "Watch the commercials!"
And so then they were like, "Oh, well
you're gonna be on The Bachelorette!"
It's not The Bachelor.
Or is it The Bachelor?
Because I know the new season starts soon
or they're starting to film
for the new season, like soon.
[all laughs]
[Hayley] "You'll see, you'll realize."
And, immediately after I said that,
the Inspiration4 commercial came on.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star ♪
[announcer] This fall, Inspiration4
launches as the first all-civilian mission
- to space.
- You goin' to space?
- No, you're not.
- I'm leaving I am!
- Are you really?
- Yeah!
- Oh, you're really you are.
- Excuse me?
Yes!
I'm really confused.
Wait, you really are?
I'm literally going to outer space.
- You're goin' to space?
- Yeah!
Look, I can't cuss on camera,
but what the F?
That's what's up! That's what's up!
- I'm goin' to space!
- [woman] Goin' to space!
[reporter] We're getting some news
from SpaceX,
plans for the world's first
all-civilian mission to space.
[reporter 2] People joining us
late Sunday night might have seen
the commercial that ran
during the Super Bowl.
[reporter 3] Anyone who contributes any
amount to the St. Jude fundraising effort
can be considered
for the third astronaut seat.
My name is Chris Sembroski,
and I am, uh, 41 years old.
I've got two beautiful daughters,
and married,
and living out in western Washington.
I first heard of this mission
from the Super Bowl ad.
It showed up on the TV, it's like,
"Oh, that's kind of an interesting
opportunity, and, oh, it's benefiting
St. Jude, just gonna pull out my phone,
oh, I'll just go to the website
real quick, take a look."
"Oh, okay, I'll donate to St. Jude."
Growing up I was in math competitions and
went to a science and math high school.
So I've always been someone who loves
space and rockets and science,
but I never thought I'd actually
have a chance to go to space.
Putting your name into a lottery,
it's like, okay, yeah,
that's fine, you're helping St. Jude
and you're raising money for them
whatever, Chris, okay,
you're never going to space, but here,
enjoy your dream.
There was a morning where Chris
was downstairs with the girls,
and I think it was one of those mornings
where I was able to sleep in a little bit.
And he had left his phone
on the nightstand and it started ringing.
And I looked at it and I saw Inspiration4,
and I thought it was a telemarketer
so I ignored it.
And then, they called back.
And it was Inspiration4 again
and I thought,
"This telemarketer is really persistent."
"Oh, okay, I remember donating, yeah.
Um, who are you?"
"And what kind of extended warranty
are you trying to sell me?"
You know, I
made up some shit about,
"We need to do some
administrative coordination,
we need to get on a Zoom,"
just made some shit up
and got him on the Zoom.
Kidd had called up the phone.
He's the mission director for this.
Hey, there we are.
Jared's obviously doing all the talking
and he pretty much just let him know.
"Hey, dude you're the guy."
Jared just kind of does this nod
in his very Jared way, and he's like,
"Oh, we'd like to invite you
to be a part of the crew of Inspiration4."
[Jared] You're now, uh,
gonna represent, uh,
that mission spirit
of generosity on Inspiration4.
For a minute there,
I thought the Zoom froze,
because Chris didn't flinch,
didn't say anything.
That was the extent
of my reaction at the time.
He was just in shock.
It's like, "Wow, this is really exciting!
But wait a minute I have a family."
"How am I gonna make this all work?"
Everybody had a different reaction
when I told them
that their spot was selected
for Inspiration4.
Chris, first thing is, "I'm gonna talk
to my family about this."
"No matter what, I'm a father first."
That was his reaction to it really, is um,
"I'm gonna talk to my family and see
what they think,
but I really appreciate this opportunity."
There you go! You got a skip!
[Chris] I went upstairs after
the phone call, though, and told my wife,
"I think I'm gonna ride a rocket?"
I think that's about how I phrased it.
And she just, "What?"
I could see it in his face,
and he was almost buzzing.
And he was just excited,
and kind of holding it back a little bit.
And we all kind of looked up at him,
and our oldest said, "What?"
"You're going into outer space?"
And Chris started smiling.
My eyes started watering.
And he looked at me and he said,
"I see you."
And we talked.
There's a lot of risk. What
what happens if something goes wrong?
What is that gonna do to her,
what is it gonna do to our daughters?
Did I know that my husband
signed up for a contest
to win a trip into outer space?
No.
Am I surprised that my husband entered
a contest to win a trip into outer space?
No, I'm not. [laughs]
No.
Chris and I were both living
in Great Falls, Montana,
fresh out of college.
I was working
at my first teaching position.
Chris was stationed with the Air Force.
We were at a friend's barbecue
and I'd walked out to the back deck,
and he was wearing this Space Camp
T-shirt tucked into his jeans.
And he walked up to me and the first thing
that he said to me was,
"Did you watch
the space shuttle launch today?"
And, um, I think
my first reaction was "Nerd alert!"
Not only is he funny, but he has
that ability to laugh at himself
which is really endearing.
And he's thoughtful, he's caring,
and he's my favorite person
to spend time with.
With this mission, there are times
when you feel so proud and excited,
and there are times when you feel anxious
and nervous.
All I really am thinking
about and wanting is, you know,
come back to Earth safe and sound
and then I'll party.
Hello.
[Jared] Right from the start
of Inspiration4,
knowing that this was going to be
the first civilian mission to space
Thank you so much.
it was just very apparent to me
that any time you have a a first,
like this, that it comes with
significance and responsibility,
and that's why we established
our our mission pillars.
The last was going to be
our mission pillar of prosperity.
Um, and I wanted that to be
an entrepreneur selection
process from the start.
We wanted a crew member
to share a business idea with the world.
And I know
how difficult it is to take a business
from a concept to a reality.
And if we can incorporate that into this
and find our next great,
inspiring entrepreneur,
then we should do that too.
[Sian] My name is Sian Proctor.
I am 51 years old,
and I am from Phoenix, Arizona.
I don't have a TV,
and I did not watch the Super Bowl.
But then halfway through the contest,
I saw a friend post their video
for the prosperity seat.
And I went, "There's another seat?"
So, you had to show
your entrepreneurial spirit
and do a two minute
and 20 second Twitter video.
I'm Gretchen Green.
My name is Brian K. Smith.
I'm Andrew Rader.
Like many people,
I've always wanted to be an astronaut.
I build my own rockets,
I watch every launch I can.
I've always dreamt of taking
an entire orchestra to space,
and now I might actually have the chance.
An opportunity
to create imagery from orbit
would quite literally
take my photography to new heights.
I want to bring the mystery
and wonder of space
to the everyday person
while simultaneously
supporting an amazing cause.
And I'm ready to be
an inspiration for all.
Live long and prosper.
And so, I think it was 50 takes,
and finally, I got one that I was like,
"Okay, I'm done, I'm gonna post this."
And, I just told my story.
I was born in March of 1970,
and I was born on Guam.
And the reason why we were
on Guam is because
my dad was working at the NASA tracking
station during the Apollo missions.
And I was born eight and a half months
after Neil Armstrong
stepped foot on the moon.
So, I literally am a Apollo 11
moon celebration baby.
Dad was responsible
for helping to track the spacecraft
as it moved around the Earth.
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin,
went on a tour of the tracking stations
to thank everybody that worked there.
And so, Neil Armstrong wrote
this really nice note that said,
"To Ed, thanks for all the help.
Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11."
I was a feisty, independent kid early on.
My passions were anything outdoors,
and airplanes.
[school bell rings]
In high school, you know
how you put up pictures in your locker?
I had a photo of an F-16 pilot,
inverted, in my locker.
I can't shoot this son of a bitch,
let's see if we can have
a little fun with him.
When I saw Top Gun for the first time,
it blew my mind.
I was like,
"Oh, this is exactly what I want to do."
But it was all about men,
I just thought that I couldn't be
a part of that world.
I had zero female fighter pilots
as role models,
and I had always seen being an astronaut
through the military fighter pilot lens.
And so, I thought that I couldn't
ever be an astronaut.
But then, years later,
somebody emailed me and said
"NASA is looking for astronauts,
you should apply," with the link.
I was 38 years old
when that announcement came out
that they were looking for astronauts.
There was about 3,500
that applied for that selection round,
and out of that, they chose nine.
And I I'm like,
"Why would they choose me?"
And then I realized when I looked
at the requirements that I'd met
most of the minimum requirements
for being an astronaut.
And I ended up being a finalist,
which meant that I got down to,
literally, a yes/no phone call.
The yes/no phone call comes in,
they just said, "Sorry, we didn't
select you, please try again."
And of course, you're like, "Oh,"
you know, 'cause you're that close
to this childhood dream, and
and it just slipped away.
When she got the news
that she wasn't selected as a NASA
uh, astronaut,
you kinda see the lights go down, right?
Because you don't think this opportunity
is gonna ever happen again.
You know, it was a devastating blow.
They put out a call for astronauts
not too long ago, just before COVID.
And people asked me,
"Are you gonna apply?" And I'm like,
"Now I'm, you know, 50, and I just
don't think that's the route for me
if I'm gonna go to space. But, I think
that one day commercial space will work."
When I submitted my video
for Inspiration4,
I didn't bill myself
as a scientist and a geologist,
I billed myself as a poet and an artist.
I opened up my shop where I sell my art.
Now, one of the rules for the contest
was that you had to be able
to go viral a little bit.
[Jared] The more likes
and attention it got,
the greater the chance it would
make it to the final selection process.
And so I rallied Twitter.
And in three days,
I had 70,000 views on my video.
I got an email on Saturday that said,
"Hey, we've got some administrative stuff
for you that we need to check on."
"Can you jump on a Zoom
really quickly on Sunday?"
- Hey, Dr. Proctor.
- Hi! Hi, Jared! Hi, Kidd!
Hi!
And I'm like, "Jared's on here."
The good news is is that, um, it's, uh,
it's not really part
of the vetting process,
because you've already gone
through that. It's, um, you're selected.
So, you are representing Inspiration4
in the prosperity seat.
So, you're you're gonna go to space.
- We're all gonna
- Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Oh, my God! Oh!
I have dreamt of this my entire life.
You know, um, life-changing.
Life-changing Zoom call.
[cries]
Oh, my goodness. Thank you.
[man] It would've been easy for Jared
to just take three friends and
do this in secret.
But, as John F. Kennedy
said about the moon, he said,
"We don't do these things
because they're easy,
we do them because they're hard."
It's much more than just him,
it's much more than his crew,
he's doing this for a purpose
and for a benefit for future missions.
[Sian] Hey!
- Hi!
- Girl, you're rocking that space suit.
- It's so nice to meet you!
- I know!
- I'm excited, I'm excited.
- I'm so excited!
- This is cool, this is awesome.
- Yes.
- [Sian] We're a crew, look at that.
- Yes!
Yes.
[Chris] We know not all of this
is going to be fun.
Some of this is going to be uncomfortable,
but we all are singularly focused
on making sure that we are successful
as a team and a crew together.
[Jared] The whole crew is
for a process that was
about as random as you could get,
um the stars have
always aligned with us,
I mean, we have a fantastic crew,
every one of them
brings amazing qualities to the mission.
[man] As space becomes an increasingly
egalitarian place
where you can fly and I can fly
and my kids can fly,
I think we will look back and say,
"Who were the first people who did this?"
"Oh, yes, that was Inspiration4."
Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!
This is gonna be so crazy!
What am I gonna say? Oh, and not cry.
[Hayley] Yeah.
[indistinct conversations]
I saw you photobombing me.
- Hi, I love your dress!
- Oh, thank you! Thank you!
Oh, look at everybody coming in!
I'm so excited!
- Now it just hit 31.
- Okay.
- Should I go ahead and?
- Let 'em in, yup, yup, "admit all."
Okay!
- Hi, everyone!
- Hi!
Turn your cameras on
so I can see everybody!
Okay. Um, so I just wanted to say, uh
I, I I'm gonna get emotional,
but you know my dream
of always wanting to go to space.
Um, I wanted to let you know
that I got selected
- as the Inspiration4!
- Oh, my God!
- I got my pass, and I am going to space!
- This is awesome!
- I am
- Oh, my God, I cannot believe it!
I know, like me!
I'm in Florida right now
with the Inspiration4 crew.
Okay, so I'm gonna bring
my crew members over.
Jared, Hayley, Chris.
Let's all get in here.
So this is the four of us
are going to space together.
You know, there have been
three Black female American astronauts
who have made it to space.
I will be number four!
So, it's a small number.
I feel very fortunate to help
advance women of color in space,
and particularly African American females.
We have been overlooked,
and we have not been supported
as much as we could be, uh,
and I would like to see that change.
My dad would always tell me about
how scientists stand on the shoulders
of the scientists before them.
And that's exactly what we want.
We want to inspire people to imagine that,
"Yeah, it's me in the seat right now,
but it can be you in the future."
I don't wanna cry, but you know,
I wish Mom and Dad
I wish they were here!
- I know Dad would be, you know, so proud.
- He'll be watching.
- Um
- He'll be up waiting for you.
- Yeah it's so, uh
- He'll be watching.
He'd be so proud.
to carry that legacy that Dad
started so long ago on Guam.
So, uh, Langley, I'm gonna need
that Neil Armstrong autograph
to take to space with me.
Right there! Yeah.
I can't take it.
- That was too good.
- Thank you.
Oh, I'm so glad it's over.
I'm glad they know.
I'm so glad that they know. Right?
- I'm just so happy.
- That's so powerful to
I'm so happy to be here with all of you.
- [Hayley] We're happy that you're here.
- [Jared] Agree completely.
- I know, we're the we're the crew!
- [Hayley] We're the crew.
- I-4.
- One, two, three, I-4!
[Sian] Okay, now let's eat.
- Okay.
- All right, yeah.
[Chris] Inspiration4 will be launching
from the Kennedy Space Center.
It's located on Cape Canaveral
on the east coast of Florida.
The Kennedy Space Center is really
the home to manned spaceflight.
If you think about people standing
on the beach and looking up in awe,
all of that is Kennedy Space Center.
[Jeffrey] It is a vast complex.
It has a military segment.
It has a civilian segment.
It has a range of launchpads.
There is the
vehicle assembly building there,
one of the largest buildings in the world.
Blue Origin has its own complex there.
SpaceX has its own complex there.
It is an entire mini megalopolis
built around a space industry.
The great thing about
the Kennedy Space Center
is it has this historical element to it
which is where Apollo launched from,
where the space shuttle
launched from.
And the place where Inspiration4
will launch is the same pad
that we launched people to the moon.
[Cronkite] If all goes well,
Apollo 11 astronauts
Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins,
are to lift off from Pad 39-A out there
on the voyage
man always has dreamed about.
[Chris] Kennedy Space Center
is home to so much success,
but it's also home to some
very tragic moments
in manned spaceflight history.
Lessons learned in blood are something
near and dear to our heart.
Spaceflight is inherently risky, right?
It is unforgiving of errors.
You're dealing
with high-energy propellants,
liquid oxygen, and rocket fuel.
[popping]
[explosion]
Things that in other cases
could be used as a bomb.
[Jared] The risk is not zero.
You're riding a rocket
at 17,500 miles an hour around the Earth.
In that kind of environment,
there's risk associated with it.
Let's look at where things
have gone wrong in the past.
We lost a space shuttle on ascent,
so on the way up,
and we lost a space shuttle
on the way down, on reentry.
[man] Ten, nine, eight
[Jared] When you're on launch,
you've got an awful lot of thrust
that's coming out the other end
of that rocket,
which is coming
from an awful lot of propellant,
that's basically going
through a controlled explosion.
[Hayley] I called my sister-in-law,
who's also an aerospace engineer,
I told her that I was invited
to go to space and I said,
"I'm gonna do it," and she was like,
"I would never do it,
you're basically on top of a bomb."
[man] Three, two, one, zero
[Sian] The biggest danger is:
you could die.
I mean, something could
happen with the spacecraft
that literally causes you
to lose your life.
That's the biggest danger,
but it's not about crazy risk-taking,
this is about going on a journey
that has all of the safety precautions
that you can think of built into it.
[Jared] None of the crew members
have expressed any, like, direct fear,
but I do think that there might be
concerns in other ways, like,
for family.
Like, hey, I know the risk
I'm taking, I'm not entirely sure
you know, my family might not necessarily
know fully their risk that they're taking.
[Todd] The families of the crew members
have a
significant yet different burden
than those actually going up,
and that's what they live with
day in and day out.
The crew are the ones at risk.
The families are the ones who
now bear the consequence of that risk.
[Colleen] I'm not thinking about
the launch.
I'm not thinking about her being in space.
I'm thinking about today.
I think, similarly to when
she was going through treatment,
one day at a time.
I know the people behind the scenes
and I'm very confident,
but of course, you know, as a mother,
I have those worries.
[interviewer] What are your biggest fears
right now?
I try not to go there,
but of course, I do at times.
Of course, something happening.
I'm the generation that was
watching the Challenger,
and I
Christa McAuliffe's parents'
face you know, pops into my head.
[reporter] The star of this mission,
New Hampshire school teacher
Christa McAuliffe.
[Dan Rather] The school teacher,
the first civilian person
to be aboard a space shuttle.
[Christa] Lots of students
at Concord High School
who would love to have that opportunity.
[reporter 2] A crowd
of some 500 spectators,
including Christa McAuliffe's parents,
Grace and Edward Corrigan,
watched proudly through tears of joy.
[reporter 3] Liftoff of the 25th
space shuttle mission,
and it has cleared the tower.
[NASA worker] Challenger,
go with throttle up.
[astronaut] Roger, go with throttle up.
[explosion]
[male voice] Flight controllers here
looking very carefully at the situation.
Obviously a major malfunction.
We have a report
from the flight dynamics officer
that the vehicle has exploded.
[NASA worker] At 11:40 a.m. this morning,
the space program experienced
a national tragedy with the explosion
of the space shuttle Challenger
approximately a minute
and a half after launch
from here at the Kennedy Space Center.
[Benji] When we talk about risks
in a mission,
the two times where you're
the most worried is at launch,
and then reentry is the other part
where you do you worry about that,
because now you're intentionally
falling back to the Earth.
Once you're in orbit,
you've gotta then get rid of the energy.
Your entry is like a meteor.
You're like a blazing meteor coming in.
And so, it's hard not to get vaporized.
Um there's meteors
hitting Earth all the time,
but they mostly get vaporized.
[reporter 4] We have booster ignition
and liftoff of space shuttle Columbia
[reporter 5] As Columbia blasted
into the last frontier this morning,
Racine native Laurel Clark
was along for the ride.
[Jonathan] My name is Jonathan B. Clark.
My wife Laurel, we were both
active duty Navy officers.
We met in Navy dive school,
and she had this kinda unique
just down-to-earth nature.
Laurel was a wonderful mom.
When she was applying to NASA,
she had been pregnant the first time,
and her attitude was,
"Hey, if I can't be an astronaut,
I'm I have this great job as a mom."
And, when she got picked up by NASA,
it was a shock to both of us.
I was at NASA for eight years
as a shuttle crew flight surgeon.
To my knowledge, I'm probably
the only person that was a family member
that worked the specific mission
that their wife was on.
Oh, Dad's got on
his Easter tie, looks nice!
[Jonathan] I had the ability
to communicate with her
through what are called
Private Family Conferences.
Ow Oh, God, that hit me in the eye.
Yeah! Good shot, Mom!
[Jonathan] Now in retrospect,
that's the last conversations we had.
Bye!
- [Jonathan] All right, honey, bye.
- [Laurel] Over and out.
[Jonathan] We were lucky to have
a landing that was gonna be
at a perfect time of day.
- [astronaut] Houston, comm check.
- [NASA worker] Columbia, Houston
[Jonathan] Communication was getting
very spotty.
It was very obvious it was breaking up.
[astronaut] Houston, we see
your tire pressure messages,
and we did not copy your last.
[Jonathan]
So, "copy your tire pressure alarm,"
and "did not copy your last."
I'm like
that's not right.
This indicates to me that something is
uh, catastrophically amiss.
[NASA worker] Communications with Columbia
were lost at about 8:00 a.m. Central Time.
[Jonathan] Within minutes, all the
family escort's cellphones were going off.
And then
very soon thereafter,
the head of the astronaut office,
he comes in and he goes,
"We We lo We lost the crew."
[reporter] The space shuttle
at some point after reentry
into the Earth's atmosphere,
traveling at 12,500 miles per hour,
seemed to break up,
according to the pictures.
So reminiscent of that fateful day,
January 28th, 1986, when we saw
something similar upon the takeoff
of the space shuttle Challenger
when it exploded shortly after takeoff.
Somebody had the insight
to take the kids away.
And it was Barbara Morgan,
who was an astronaut.
She was Christa McAuliffe's backup.
She was there at Christa's demise.
And she knows what to do.
It's almost like there was some
you know, divine intervention
that she would be there.
It was almost like
she's there for a reason.
And she gets the kids away,
and literally within ten minutes,
the kids are playing
and being kids.
And the adults are the ones that are
you know, sobbing,
and just horribly overcome with grief.
And
Barbara said to me,
"John, the kids will get us through this."
They were the strong ones.
And, uh
as much as it is painful to all of us,
you look at it and you go,
"Life will go on."
You have to
you know, deal with this.
So, my role is now:
make sure Iain is good,
make sure the other
family members are good,
take care of the team.
The tribe.
And we'll get through this.
[Monica] It's weird, like
now that we're getting closer to it,
you start dreaming about the stuff,
like
Good and bad, right?
Like, you start thinking
about, like, what could happen, and
the risks that are involved.
I'm trying to be excited for him
and show him how proud I am, but
you have your good days
and you have your bad days.
[Erin] I think, being the partner,
there is this expectation
that we are proud,
that we are grateful,
and we are happy to be here.
And the reality
is that, yes, we are all of those things,
but we also are anxious,
and we also are nervous.
This whole adventure and experience
has been a roller coaster ride.
[Monica] I know Jared's always been
this way.
He's always tried to do his thing
and I've always kind of let him
do that and be himself.
I don't want him to change because of me
or, like, because we have a family.
As hard as it is for me sometimes,
like, I know he has to do it for himself.
It's it's his life too, right? So
[Jonathan] Laurel
sitting in Heaven
would be looking down and saying,
"You go for it."
The higher we go, the farther we can see.
And it's a species imperative
for us to do this.
Your spouse or your loved one's journey
is now your journey,
and their dream is your dream.
To be a part of inspiring
the next generation,
to pass that torch, and recognize
that, whatever cost it takes,
that's your dream, you go for it.
There may be costs to that journey.
Is it worth it?
You bet it is.
[Benji] Crew-2 launched
in the Spring of this year,
and we brought the Inspiration4 crew
to the launch.
Crew-2 was the last time we flew humans
to space from SpaceX,
in the Falcon and in the Dragon.
Um and Inspiration4
will be the next time.
- [Erin] This is awesome!
- [Chris] Yeah, it is just
[Erin] Look at that!
Please, look out the window to the east.
Uh, you'll see our pad.
Uh, if you look at the very top,
you can see the crew arm
sticking out there as well,
uh, which will be your ingress
and egress to and from the capsule.
[Sian] Look at that!
I am here with my crew to watch Crew-2
lift off to the
International Space Station.
It makes me so proud that we can be a part
of the American history and legacy.
Inspiration4 are going to be
the next humans
to lift off from Kennedy Space Center
in five months.
Once you get to the pad,
you'll be there around two hours.
T-minus 45 minutes, we arm
what we call the Launch Escape System
so that's the safety net,
or like an eject button
if something were to happen.
[Jared] We recognize the risk,
you know, we have families.
But nobody's said like,
"Hey, I'm really nervous about this,"
because they're all very confident
in what SpaceX has built.
When you're coming down here,
what we have in the center lane right now
is our Crew-2 booster,
a reused booster after a flight use.
[Sian] That's so frickin' awesome!
We also have here on the other side,
here, in the hanger here
a life-leader booster.
So this is nine flights
uh on a booster.
And so, you can start
to see the patina, if you will.
[all laugh]
[Hayley] Getting to see the rocket,
you know, little things that
go through your mind like, "That rocket's
really tall," just made it so real.
This is the exact path
you guys are gonna take.
You're gonna come out of the cars,
get in the elevators, go up one floor.
Now you're in the 265.
Welcome to the top of the space coast.
[Chris] Every human being who walked
on the moon and climbed into a rocket
here on this launchpad
you know, almost every single
shuttle mission came from this launchpad.
This phone behind you
is a shuttle-era phone.
It's used by most astros to come in
and actually make the last phone call
they wanna make before
before they actually head to space.
So, we put time in the timeline
to allow you guys to use that phone.
[Chris] I think a lot of us had a
a pretty significant moment on Pad 39-A.
So many hero astronauts before us
had used that phone to make,
you know, what could have been
their last phone call.
- [Chris] Are you okay?
- Just practicing breathing.
You can hold my hand if you want.
Just try not to break it.
[guide] This is the crew arm,
completely suspended above thin air.
[Hayley] Oh, my gosh.
[guide] Yes.
- [Hayley] So cool.
- On the other side of this red stanchion
is a 270-foot drop, just so you guys know.
But normally, Dragon would be right here.
We have one tradition
that we do in the crew arm
that you guys will certainly be part of,
and that's before
you get into the vehicle,
you sign the edge of the white room.
[Chris] We're here watching Crew-2 launch,
and knowing that we're coming up next,
like, you know,
how fortunate we are to really be
standing on the shoulders of giants.
[Sian] It's gettin' real.
This is awesome! Whoa.
- Yeah, the capsule will be right here!
- [Hayley] Yeah.
The landing facility see that round?
Being up on top of that Pad 39-A,
this is where America leaves
to go to space.
This is, like,
an amazing dream coming true.
- Really cool.
- What a view.
Yes. We're higher than most
everybody else in Florida right now, so
- That's not hard.
- It's not hard.
- Yeah, yeah.
- That's cool.
Oh, Chris.
- Wow, yeah.
- What an adventure.
What This is just
Come here.
[cries]
[Jared] Chris, you want
to get in for a picture?
- [Chris] In a minute. Yeah.
- [Jared] Okay.
I'm happy for you. [crying]
Go ahead.
[somber music playing]
[Erin] I don't think I'll think
about the worldly impact
that this mission is going to have
until Chris is back on the ground
and it's one of those late nights
where we're sitting and we're chatting
with a glass of wine
that I think it'll start to sink in,
and we'll start to realize,
"Wow. This is what you did,
and this is what you're a part of,
and this is bigger than the both of us."
Like anyone would be ♪
I am flattered by your
Fascination with me ♪
[Jared] I think there's a lot of things
that people enjoy that have risk in life.
We talk about space and why do it,
there's a lot of reasons
why we should do that.
We are a speck
in the grand scheme of things
when you think about the universe.
And we know so little about it.
The questions that human beings
have been asking themselves
since the beginning of time
are probably answered
in the worlds beyond our own.
I think it's in our nature to want to go
and seek out some of those answers,
and we're gonna find them through
an accessible means to space.
And our mission
is one step in that journey.
Must be strangely exciting ♪
To watch the stoic squirm ♪
But you, you're not allowed ♪
You're uninvited ♪
An unfortunate slight ♪
Like any uncharted territory ♪
I must seem greatly intriguing ♪
[Sian] I just remember, just, excitement,
and the reality is setting in.
I am going to actually
experience what that feels like.
Wooh! I'm next. Let's do this!
[woman] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one, zero.
Mission.
["Uninvited" by Alanis Morissette
continues]
You have to be well-trained
to fly a SpaceX spacecraft.
You have to be able to tolerate g-forces,
a centrifuge,
and overcome your fear.
[Sian panting] Oh, God.
[Jared] Our mission to space
is not guaranteed.
There are a number of ways
that any individual or the mission
could be shut down.
[thrilling music playing]
[dramatic orchestral music playing]