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The Next Astronauts Part I: A Few Ordinary People

Aug. 31, 2021 09:30AM EST
Dan Ackermann

In part one of How it Happened: The Next Astronauts, Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer traces how a multi-day orbital mission to space without professional astronauts came together in just a matter of weeks.

  • Kramer takes listeners back to February of 2021, to a press call where SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made a stunning announcement.
  • She brings listeners into her conversations with billionaire benefactor and commander Jared Isaacman to learn how he chartered and designed the mission.
  • She chronicles how the other three crew members were selected — one by raffle, one by contest and one as an ambassador for her employer — and how they felt watching the last crewed launch before their own.

Subscribe to the Axios Space newsletter for more of Miriam Kramer's reporting.

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.

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