Original subtitles

[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]