Washington (AFP)
The Inspiration4 mission, which will be the first to send only civilians for several days in space, in September aboard a SpaceX rocket, can be followed in a documentary series on Netflix, announced Thursday the platform of streaming.
Five episodes are planned in total on this mission, which represents a new stage for space tourism.
Two episodes will be released on September 6 to introduce the four members of the crew, two more on September 13 on the long months of training and the final preparations before the flight, and a final one at the end of September, "just a few days" after the end. of the mission.
This final episode will feature images of the interior of the ship during their journey, as well as their return to Earth, with the promise of "unparalleled access", in "near real time".
The series, dubbed "Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space", will be directed by Jason Hehir, the director of Michael Jordan's Emmy Award-winning documentary "The Last Dance" about the Chicago Bulls.
The take-off, scheduled for September 15, will also be broadcast live on Netflix's Youtube channel.
SpaceX's Dragon capsule will be launched by a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
This billionaire Elon Musk's company ship is already taking astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA, but the mission scheduled for September will not feature any professional astronauts this time around.
She was chartered by American billionaire Jared Isaacman, at his expense.
This 38-year-old boss of a financial company is keen on piloting and passionate about space exploration.
He decided to offer three seats to anonymous people, each symbolizing a "value".
"Hope" for Hayley Arceneaux, 29, survivor of pediatric cancer.
The young woman was treated as a child by St Jude's Pediatric Hospital in Memphis (Tennessee), for which Jared Isaacman organized a fundraiser.
One of the donors got the third seat, for "generosity": Chris Sembroski, 41, is a former US Air Force member who now works in the aviation industry.
The fourth seat represents "prosperity", and was offered to Sian Proctor, a 51-year-old professor who participated in an entrepreneurial competition, and twice a NASA candidate to become an astronaut.
They will spend three days in orbit around the Earth, above the altitude at which the ISS is located.
"If they can go, we can all go," says the blockbuster-like trailer released Thursday by Netflix.
Tourists have already traveled to space, including the ISS between 2001 and 2009, aboard Russian rockets.
But they were then accompanied by professional astronauts.
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