Are We There Yet?

We’re just a day away from the launch window opening of SpaceX’s Inspiration-4 mission. It’s the first all-civilian space mission to orbit, taking four people on a three-day trip to space and back. It’s also unlike any launch from the U.S. People are leaving the planet, and they’re not NASA astronauts.

We’re just a day away from the launch window opening of SpaceX’s Inspiration-4 mission. It’s the first all-civilian space mission to orbit, taking four people on a three-day trip to space and back. It’s also unlike any launch from the U.S. People are leaving the planet, and they’re not NASA astronauts.

Virgin Galactic’s founder Richard Branson flew to the edge of space back in July, riding in his company’s space tourism vehicle SpaceShipTwo. The trip grabbed headlines and news coverage worldwide as the billionaire raced to beat another space-faring billionaire Jeff Bezos to the edge of space and back.

Branson was welcomed back to Earth with fanfare and the flight signaled the start of what could be a very lucrative market for private space tourism. But recent reporting from The New Yorker uncovered a perilous flight with the founder and prompted the FAA to ground the vehicle as it investigates the "mishap."

We’ll chat with The New Yorker writer Nicholas Schmidle about that perilous flight and what it reveals about the culture of safety and risk at Virgin Galactic.

Then, another group of civilians are set to take to the skies next week. SpaceX’s Inspiraiton4 crew is slated to launch from Kennedy Space Center Wednesday. The crew of four private astronauts have been training since early this year for the three-day mission -- and photographer John Kraus has been there snapping photos of their journey.

We’ll talk with Kraus about the crew and the places they’ve gone as they train to fly to low-Earth orbit next week.

An inside look at Virgin Galactic as the FAA investigates a recent "mishap" and a conversation with the photographer documenting the all-civilian SpaceX mission Inspiration4.

An inside look at Virgin Galactic as the FAA investigates a recent "mishap" and a conversation with the photographer documenting the all-civilian SpaceX mission Inspiration4.

An all-civilian space mission is set to take flight in about two weeks. the crew of four will fly in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule mission on a three day trip to low-Earth orbit and back. But it’s not all about fun and games for this private mission. The crew will be performing crucial science experiments that will help get humans to farther places in our solar system like the moon and Mars and survive longer in the harsh environment of space.

An all-civilian space mission is set to take flight in about two weeks. the crew of four will fly in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule mission on a three day trip to low-Earth orbit and back. But it’s not all about fun and games for this private mission. The crew will be performing crucial science experiments that will help get humans to farther places in our solar system like the moon and Mars and survive longer in the harsh environment of space.

A crew of four civilians is set to take flight to low-Earth orbit next month, flying in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule.

The mission, bankrolled by billionaire Jared Issacman, will raise money for St. Jude, and will be broadcast in near real-time on Netflix. It’s a new chapter in space flight history -- so how did we get here? Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer explores the mission’s origin and purpose in a new season for Axios' How It Happened podcast. We’ll speak with her about her reporting and what’s ahead for the Inspiration 4 crew.

Then, earlier this summer scientists observed a giant arc of galaxies -- stretching three billion light years. Some say this finding has the potential to change the foundations of cosmology and the standard model of our universe.

Is that really the case? We’ll chat with our panel of expert physicists from UCF including cosmologist Jim Cooney about the findings and the meaning behind the discovery.

It’s a new chapter in space flight history -- so how did we get here? Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer explores the mission’s origin and purpose in a new podcast for Axios. We’ll speak with her about her reporting and what’s ahead for the Inspiration 4 crew.

It’s a new chapter in space flight history -- so how did we get here? Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer explores the mission’s origin and purpose in a new podcast for Axios. We’ll speak with her about her reporting and what’s ahead for the Inspiration 4 crew.