In mid-September, SpaceX will launch the first all-civilian mission into space. The process of getting astronauts trained and eventually into orbit will be covered in a five-part Netflix series called Countdown.Countdown, which was announced Tuesday, is the first Netflix documentary series to cover an event in real-time. Two episodes will be available on September 6th and two more on September 13. According to SpaceX, September 15th is the target date for its launch. If that schedule holds, SpaceX will release the fifth episode, a feature-length finale, by the end the month. Jason Hehir, the director of The Last Dance and Michael Jordan's series The Last Dance, will co-produce the documentary.The director of The Last DanceThe StoryBots Space Adventure is a live-action animation for children and their families. It will air on September 14th. This show will cover the basics of the mission and explain how rockets work. It will also discuss how astronauts eat and sleep in space.Elon Musk's space company announced the civilian mission in February. It will allow the crew to live aboard the Dragon spacecraft for five days around the Earth. At the time, Musk's CEO stated that he considered it an important milestone towards making space accessible to everyone. Jared Isaacman is the CEO of Shift4 Payments and will be directing the crew in the Dragon spacecraft for up to five days while orbiting around the Earth. He also plans to use the mission to raise $200million for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. (Isaacman donated $100 million to St. Jude at the time the mission was announced. He is now trying to raise $100 millions more.When @inspiration4x was launched 8 months ago, I never imagined that there would be a Netflix documentary. Amazing how quickly things can come together. This directly benefits @StJude and our $200 million fundraising goal. https://t.co/7Wslcd6m8a Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) August 3, 2021SpaceX has now announced that three additional civilians will join Isaacman's trip: Sian Proctor (a geosciences professor and two-time NASA astronaut candidate), Hayley Arceneaux (a St. Jude physician assistant and pediatric cancer survivor), and Chris Sembroski (a Lockheed Martin engineer and veteran of the US Air Force).If everything goes according to plan, the Inspiration4 launch will mark the fulfillment of a long-held goal for Musk and SpaceX. At least four private missions have been booked by the company on its Crew Dragon capsule, and one on its Starship rocket. Once fully developed, it will fly around and back to the Moon. Inspiration4 will be the second space tourism launch this year. Jeff Bezos was joined by three other astronauts on the first human mission to Blue Origins New Shepherd rocket/capsule combination. It took place in July. Virgin Galactic is close to flying its first customers next year. Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin Galactic, rode along with three employees to the edge to test Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo capsule experience.However, neither of these missions reached orbit. This requires much more precision and speed. SpaceX has sent three government astronauts into orbit (and to the International Space Station), three times.
