The Next Astronauts Part III: What It Takes

Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer goes inside SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, to see the factory floor, the Inspiration4 crew's training regimen and how this mission fits into SpaceX's broader goals. Kramer speaks with SpaceX senior leadership and tours the facility, culminating in a chance to see a brand new bubble window built specifically for the Inspiration4 crew. She gets to sit in on the crew training in a cockpit simulator and learn about the various scenarios they are learning to anticipate. She also peers inside the Dragon capsule simulator — a mock-up of the capsule they'll fly in — and hears the crew's testimony of a harrowing 30-hour simulation of their mission as the capstone of their training. Credits: The Next Astronauts is reported and produced by Miriam Kramer, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, and Alice Wilder. Dan Bobkoff is Executive Producer. Mixing, sound design, and music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Fact-checking and research by Jacob Knutson. Alison Snyder is a managing editor at Axios and Sara Kehaulani Goo is executive editor. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz.