Space Launch Live: America Returns to Space (2020) - full transcript

From the Kennedy Space Center,

America is blasting off into
a new age of space exploration.

For the first time ever,

American astronauts will be launched
on a privately owned spacecraft,

the thrilling countdown to this
historic event begins right now.

Counting down.

Hello and welcome to what
is truly a momentous day*

in the history of our space
program and in space exploration.

This is unprecedented, for the
first time in nearly a decade,

American astronauts will be launched
into orbit from American soil.

And for the first time ever,



they'll be traveling on a privately
owned reusable American space craft,

their state of the
art transportation,

the crew Dragon capsule
atop the cutting edge

reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

will take them to the
International Space Station.

To get there,

they'll orbit the Earth gradually
reaching the same altitude

as the International Space
Station and then rendezvous.

Most importantly, this is
the first time ever NASA astronauts

will travel aboard a
spacecraft not made by NASA,

but by entrepreneur Elon Musk and
his forward thinking team at SpaceX.

He's in launch control
now and no doubt

these are anxious
final moments for him

after an 18 year journey
to get to this day.



For the past nine months,

we've been granted unrivaled
access to this mission.

We've got views inside SpaceX
that you won't see anywhere else,

we've got to know our astronauts,

Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken

and you'll hear
what they have to say

and see them training
for this historic flight.

And we've got the only
interview with Elon Musk,

plus we've got exclusive access at
the legendary Kennedy Space Center

where you see the rocket
on the pad right now.

There in Florida,
we're inside firing room four

at NASA's launch control.

We're also inside
SpaceX headquarters in

Hawthorne, California.

Now, just as our courageous
astronauts have been doing

for the last several weeks
in preparation for today's launch,

we are practicing
proper social distancing.

I'm here in our studios in Burbank,

California and giving us his insight

from one of our exclusive locations

at Kennedy Space
Center is my co-host,

author of The Space Barons

and reporter from the Washington
Post, Christian Davenport.

Also ion Cape Canaveral, Florida

where today's launch
will take place,

former senior transportation
correspondent for ABC News,

David Kerley is standing
by to bring us all of the action.

And we also have an all star line up

with guests including
celebrity superfans

like Katy Perry and Adam Savage

who will be joining
us throughout the day.

Now before David sets the
scene for us down in Florida,

a bit of background
on this historic mission.

We are a nation of explorers,
we're also a nation that leads.

We choose to go to the moon in
this decade and do the other things,

not because they are easy
but because they are hard.

And this time when we leave

we're doing it differently
than we've ever done it before.

Ignition, lift off.

Today's monumental launch will
usher in a new era of space travel

that starts in lower Earth orbit

but will eventually
take human beings

as far as our wildest
dreams can carry us.

It's just one step
on this longer road

to creating a mass transit system
for people to other planets.

This is an experiment to
see if a disruptive private company

such as SpaceX can
fly NASA astronauts

and reinvigorate space exploration.

We wanna enable a,
a base on the moon

and ultimately a city on
Mars that is self sustaining.

This is very important
for the future of humanity.

SpaceX knew that to
revolutionize space exploration

they would have to reduce
the cost of access to space

and the key was the development
of reusable rockets.

Most people thought it impossible,

but SpaceX proved that
they were up to the challenge.

What SpaceX has done is developed
a rocket that can be reused,

its first stage booster
delivers its payload to orbit.

UNSURE OF WORD preparations burnt.

Then it flies back and lands
on land or at a ship at sea.

We need to make sure that we are
constantly pushing the envelope,

constantly moving
forward technology.

I've heard it described

as you standing on the top
of the Empire State Building

and you drop a pencil off

and you have to land the pencil
on its eraser on a postage stamp.

When we're able to fly rockets,
land them and reuse them,

that means we can access space

on a weekly basis versus
like a monthly or yearly basis.

Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken
will be the first astronauts

aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule.

I don't generally get nervous

but when I start thinking
about this mission

I actually get quite
nervous about it.

But we've done everything
we can to ensure their safety

and their health and make sure that
they come back to their families.

So in this very challenging time

when we launch to the
International Space Station

something we haven't done
from American soil since 2011,

I do think that it gives
people an opportunity to dream big

and to look up and to know
that we can do stunning things

and it gives people hope,

not just to the United
States of America

but throughout the entire world.

It's a scary thing
to be launching people,

you know and risk is never zero.

Sometimes things do blow up.

Space is hard.

How do you manage
telling your son

that you facing that
risk as you go forward?

The second golden age ...

- Three ...
- ... of space travel ...

- ... two ...
- ... begins ...

- ... one.
- ... now.

And this is a proud day
for NASA's commercial crew program

and a make
or break day for SpaceX.

Right now let's
check in with the man

who literally wrote
the book on both,

Christian Davenport
of the Washington Post.

Christian, we're witness
to a new era of human space flight,

talk to me about the
specifics of today's mission.

Yeah, Chris it's
a big day here today,

if this launch goes off we're
gonna see that Falcon 9 rocket

light all nine of
its merlin engines,

lift off from iconic pad 39A,

propel that second stage with the
spacecraft with Bob and Doug inside,

on their way to the
International Space Station.

And then we're gonna
get a little bit of a treat

because SpaceX does
things differently,

that first stage rocket
is gonna reorient itself,

fly back down to Earth,
land on a ship at sea,

meanwhile the second
stage is gonna take off,

continue on to the Space Station

and really that's
the main goal here today,

to get Bob and Doug out
to the Space Station safely

and then eventually bring them back.

Great insight there Christian
and amazing technology of course,

stick around we are
gonna see you soon.

I'd now like to go to David
Kerley who is also standing by,

David please bring us
up to speed on the type of day

the astronauts have had so far.

I will Chris,
let me tell you right now

we are talking about the weather,

we are under a tornado
warning right now,

you can look behind me

and you can see pad
39 and you see the clouds.

Doug and Bob are up
in the capsule right now

and we're hearing them talking to
them doing a comms check right now.

But it's an amazing day so far,

you know we've seen
a lot of rehearsals

but today we saw for
the first time Doug and Bob

in the suit up room actually
getting their SpaceX suits on

and checking them.

You can see the techs
that are working with them,

they are actually
strapped into seats

just like the ones in the capsule

and they go through making
sure that everything's working.

There's Doug Hurley giving
us a little bit of a wave

and then you're gonna see
a thumbs up from Behnken as well

as they're checking everything
out and ready to go.

Now there is an iconic shot
that after they get this look,

they, they actually
had a little meeting with

Elon Musk there on the right
and Jim Bridenstine on the left

and then this iconic shot,

there it is, they come
out of the building and wave

and this is their last chance
to actually see their families.

But they're social distancing,

so there's Bob Behnken waving
to his wife and six year old boy

and Doug Hurley waving
to his ten year old boy,

those were virtual
hugs they were giving them,

waving to everybody else,
Vice President Pence was there.

Once they're in the Tesla Model X's,

the kids could get up
to the window and say goodbye.

Very emotional moment
actually to watch them do this,

then the two Teslas take
Doug and Bob out to the pad,

this is them arriving there.
There was a shot, there it is,

of them looking up,
having to lean back in their suits

and see the top of that Falcon
9 and the Crew Dragon at the top,

they take the elevator
all the way to the top,

then here they are coming
out getting ready to get in.

They have gotten into the capsule

and they are testing
everything right now Chris.

David, thank you so much,
those are amazing shots

and we'll be back with
you in just a bit as well.

Now today's groundbreaking
mission has attracted

the attention of the entire world

including the eyes of some pretty
famous faces like our next guest.

She is no stranger to simila ...
simulated space flight,

check this out,

there is Katy Perry
as the moon person

hosting the MTV video music awards

and she is joining us now. Katy,

thank you so much for being here,

I know you're a super
fan of the space program,

how excited are you
for today's launch?

Well I'm very excited, I'm nervous,

I was thinking about Elon
and all the SpaceX people

and Bob and Doug

and I was thinking about
Elon has just had a child

so he's not sleeping
but did he sleep at all?

I barely slept last night,
I tossed and turned

because what's about to
happen is going to make history

and be a great day for America

and space travel
and NASA and SpaceX.

I'm just excited for it to start.

Absolutely, now Katy a few years ago

you learned all about
NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover

which has spent more than
2,700 days exploring the red planet.

What do you think about Elon Musk's
goal to some day colonize Mars?

Well, I am, you know,
in agreement that we,

we definitely need to have a plan B

especially after
all we've been through lately.

But will there be WiFi
and will it be too hot?

Those are two very,

- very cogent considerations.
- Those are my main concerns

Yeah, definitely.

Katy, we're thrilled
that you're gonna be

- back with us again
- I definitely will need some snacks

throughout the broadcast.

Yeah, definitely bring snacks.

Now we're a nation of explorers,

it's part of the DNA of our country
and to pioneer today's mission,

NASA has selected
two fearless voyagers

who have already paid
their dues in space.

Their first hand knowledge
of what it takes to survive

outside of the Earth's atmosphere

was instrumental in the creation of
the first ever Crew Dragon capsule.

That first flight is something
you dream about as a test pilot.

Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are

super experienced
pilots and astronauts.

I did fly on the space
shuttle previously,

I flew a couple of missions.

I flew on STS-135,

the last shuttle flight
and then before that STS-127.

- Hi Doug.
- Hey Doug.

Never flown in space together
and that's what's really exciting,

we kinda know each other's
moods and strengths and weaknesses

and we try to compliment those.

Bob and Doug both
served in the military

and then were in the same
astronaut class at NASA in 2000.

Not only that,

but they actually met their
wives in that same astronaut class.

That's Megan McArthur who
his our flight engineer.

Astronaut, Karen Nyberg
blasted off for her mission

aboard the International
Space Station.

Having spouses that are astronauts
that have been through

what we're going through that kinda
recognize that there's long days

that are involved and they
appreciate that aspect of it.

Just make sure the backups
are doing their job.

They're not all that bad.

They understand
the ups and the downs,

they understand thee risk,

it just makes it a lot
easier in some respects.

We both have young boys
that are in elementary school

and so I'm really excited to
be able to share this with my son.

He understands that
rockets are dangerous

and he first said,
"You can't fly on that rocket."

And we had to get him
over kind of that, you know,

the emotion that goes along
with riding on a rocket ship

and getting him
comfortable with that.

But we went through the
process of taking him to Florida,

watching a rocket launch,

he was ready for me to go

and idea was that I
would go on the first one,

mommy would go on the second one

but he needed a chance
too for the third one.

As we get ready to fly two
humans to space, Bob and Doug,

for the first time in our history

we often refer to them
as these two fathers,

right, they were these, these
two people who have families.

It's something that we take very,
very seriously,

we wanna make sure that
everything we do is right

and that we're gonna
bring them home safely.

You know Bob and I are extremely
excited to kind of put Dragon

through its paces
in space and by the way,

this is as excited as Bob gets so,

so this is ... it's gonna be fun.

Oh that's great stuff
there and joining me right now

is a man who knows a lot about

what Bob and Doug are
going through at the moment

he is former NASA shuttle astronaut

and Columbia University professor,
Mike Massimino.

Mike thanks for joining us

and you are the first
man to Tweet from space,

that's pretty cool.

Now we talk about Doug
and Bob as fearless test pilots,

veteran shuttle astronauts,
but you know them as humans,

you know them quite well
for the past 20 years actually.

What are these guys really like?

I've known these
guys a long time Chris,

thank, thanks for having
me here on the broadcast,

they're both great guys.

Doug Hurley who's
nickname is Chunky,

that's what I ...
we all call him,

Chunky's a kind of
a fun guy to be around,

he's always got something to say,
always seems to be high energy,

I love flying in a jet
with him on our training jet,

just a fun guy to be around.
Bob's a really good guy,

he's kind of on the quiet
side but he can sneak up on you

'cause he's also really fun,
he's got a great sense of humor,

kinda guy you entrust
your life with.

Now I wrote these guys
some notes just like a,

a day or two ago to wish them luck,

I told them I was gonna
be part of this broadcast

and they have a message for us.

This morning,
Doug Hurley sent me a note

that he wanted me to
share with the audience

and what he said was,

'the message from
us is to hugely thank

the literally thousands
of people from SpaceX to NASA,

past and present who
worked on this vehicle.

Their long hours and hard
work over the last six years

is why we are here today.'

And to me that kinda gives you a
sense of what these guys are about,

they're hard workers, they're very
competent in what they're doing,

great guys but they're
also very appreciative,

have a lot of gratitude for the
opportunity that they have today.

Absolutely, alright let's talk
a little bit about today's mission,

you know it,

what goes through your mind sitting
on the pad waiting for lift off?

It's, you know,
you're finally there,

it's, it's game time, they've
been waiting for years working hard,

helping the SpaceX engineers
get the vehicle ready,

long hours, time away from home
and now all that comes in the past

and right in front of them
is the adventure of a lifetime.

So they're very focused, probably
kidding around with each other,

maybe telling a couple of jokes,
maybe one game of tic tac toe,

but they're really focused on

getting off the ground
and very excited.

So Mike you launched
on the space shuttle,

this is a space capsule,

how have things changed
since you flew on the shuttle?

Yeah it's,
it's absolutely amazing Chris,

everything looks
so much different to me,

looks like we are really
in the 21st century,

you know, the, the shuttle,

we had these big bulky
orange space suits,

they got these sleek looking
ones with these cool helmets.

They're getting to
drive out there in a Tesla,

we went like in an old
Airstream but it was kinda cool,

it was very nostalgic but there,
everything about it is the pad,

I've been on that launchpad,
launched from it twice, 39A,

looks completely different,
absolutely completely different now.

We're ready,
we're ready for the 21st century

and beyond with this new spacecraft.

Mike, thanks for joining us,
stick around

'cause we're gonna get
back to you a little bit later

- in the broadcast.
- My pleasure, you bet.

Lets check in with David
Kerley at Kennedy Space Center,

the site of today's launch.

David, do you have an update?

I wanna show you the astronauts

actually getting
into the crew capsule,

this happened just a few minutes ago

and Doug Hurley who's
the commander on this mission

was the first to go in

and you can see him there as Bob
Behnken is standing by next to him

and there's a four person
SpaceX crew wearing those kinda

cool looking black uniforms
to get them in there.

This is called the White Room
because it's painted white,

that started way back
in the early days of NASA

but it's also kind of a
clean room to a certain extent

because they are really worried

about the potential
of the astronauts

carrying something
to the Space Station,

including Covid which is
completely changed everything

about the way this
mission has put together.

There are no people
here watching this,

there normally would be like
hundreds if not thousands of people

behind me on the lawn
here looking out at pad 39,

nobody has been allowed
to come onto the base

and they have asked Floridians
and others to stay away if they can.

There are some VIP's here,

the Vice President
was there as the astronauts

got into their Tesla
to head out to the launch pad.

The President is in Air Force
One and on his way down here. Chris.

Thanks for that David.

And joining us now to talk
about the exciting role SpaceX

is playing in this historic
launch is the original mythbuster

the one and only Adam Savage.

Now Adam, you're known
for your one day builds,

let's talk about the
speed of innovation at SpaceX,

they see it, they build it,
they send it into space.

It might not be one day,

but how impressed
are you with the speed

at which they build, test and fix?

I am super impressed but,
like really to be clear,

they've spent over a decade
and a half on this problem,

they have some of the
best people in the world

thinking in the
most innovative ways.

I ... everything SpaceX does feels
like a science fiction movie to me,

watching those,
those rockets land themselves,

I'm just, I'm really,
really excited about what they've,

what they've got
done and about today.

Adam, why is today so important,

especially with everything that's
going on in the world right now?

Yes, well especially

because of everything that's
going on in the world right now,

we need stories about
how amazing human beings

are when they collaborate

and get together to do
things that seem impossible.

Going to the moon was impossible

when Kennedy tasked us
with doing it in the early 60's

and the Dragon capsule reaching the
ISS is a story of human ingenuity,

of collaboration and that
is actually what's gonna get us

out of this terrible
pandemic right now.

Adam, we will see you soon.

Right now let's head back to David
Kerley at Kennedy Space Center.

David, talk to me
about mission safety.

Now this of course
is space travel

and there are a
lot of risks involved.

If they have a problem there
are two ways to get out of there,

they can get them out of
the capsule if they have time

and then they actually transit
to what's a zip line of sorts

that they get in and actually zip
line down away from the launch pad

and all that rocket fuel,
all that explosive potential

and waiting for them
on the ground is an MRAP

which is a military
armored personal carrier

that will carry them further away.

Now if there's a problem
that they don't have time

to get out of the capsule
there is on this vehicle

a launch escape system,

seven superdraco engines
that are built into that capsule

and if they need to
go then those will fire.

And we saw this in a
demonstration earlier this year,

it's an amazing picture, you see
it getting like an ejection seat,

being pulled away.

That explosion was the
rocket actually exploding

because it was no longer
aerodynamically feasible.

It's an amazing system

that can actually pull
them away from the rocket

from launch to orbit

and there weren't a lot of capsules
that could have that advantage,

that's one thing that
Elon Musk is very proud

about his Crew Dragoon capsule,

they can actually
get them some place

away from that rocket very quickly.

Of course if they do do that,
if there is an abort,

then they've gotta find
them in the Atlantic Ocean,

up and down the east coast

and that's one of the reasons

that the go or no-go
will be about the weather,

not just here but up
and down the east coast.

That's a lot of,

of considerations to get
this thing up into the air. Chris.

Thanks David, yeah that
escape hatch is really amazing,

it is the final,
final safety measure in case

something goes wrong on the past.

David Kerley there
at Cape Canaveral,

we'll be back with him
again soon for another update.

Now, two of the key pieces
of safety equipment Doug and Bob

will be relying on will
be their high tech space suits.

Today's mission will mark
the first time these sleek,

futuristic looking suits
will be tested in space by humans.

The suit's been in development
for over five years,

we've been integrating on the
design with the astronauts as well.

One of the unique parts about this
suit is that it's a one piece suit,

so everything is connected;
the boots, the gloves,

the helmet, that way

the crew isn't looking for
different parts of their suit,

it's all right there
for them to quickly get in.

The helmet's 3D printed and it has
a visor that can articulate open,

so the crew can be in their suit

and still open their visors
during some parts of the mission.

The crew gets into this suit through
what we call the in-seam zipper,

so it's a zipper that runs
from the ankle to the ankle

and it runs up along the leg

and then there are
additional zippers on the

sides of the gloves here

so that you can be barehanded
up until the very last thing

you would do putting on this suit
is to put your hands in the gloves

and zip up those zippers as well.

The Dragon spacesuit
is not to do space walks,

that space suit is really to
protect you from a depressurization.

Pressure suits are a bit cumbersome,
even these suits,

albeit are a lot more
comfortable and a lot lighter,

a lot easier to get in

and out of than the ACES
suits we wore in shuttle.

In the event that
something's wrong with

the rest of the
capsule's atmosphere,

that space suit is your little,

little capsule that
you can go inside and

kinda hibernate in
to finish out the mission.

The outer layer is designed to be
flame resistant to protect the crew

in the unlikely event of a fire,

so the white is
a material called PTFE

or more commonly known as Teflon

and the gray is our
different versions of Nomex

which is a fire resistant
material that's often used

in firefighter suits for example.

The gloves are also flame resistant

but the leather that's
used on the fingertips

works with the touch displays
inside of the capsule.

Now there is another super fan
with a space suit in her collection

who is known not just for her hit
music but also for her bold style,

of course I am talking about Katy
Perry who is joining us once again.

Katy, the new, the new suits aren't
as flashy as your moon person outfit

but what do you think,
runway worthy?

I think they're
absolutely elegant and beautiful

and I agree, they are the
definition of the future now,

but my dog Nugget here has
a little space suit of her own

that she's wearing, she's
participating in this launch as well

so she's ready to go.

But I'm so excited for these suits,
they look absolutely comfortable,

they look, like an incredible
feat of engineering

and know that they're gonna
keep these astronauts safe

and that is the most important part.

I'm such a huge fan
of the space program,

huge fan of NASA huge fan
of SpaceX and huge fan of Elon,

I mean I've been a fan of, you know,

just the idea of traveling
to space for over a decade.

I had a ticket to space,
I still have a ticket to space

with Richard Branson but I am happy

to transfer that over to
SpaceX when that starts happening.

Katy, appreciate
you checking back in,

stick around 'cause we're
gonna come back to you again

a little bit later in the broadcast.

And an exclusive interview
with Elon Musk is on the way,

Adam Savage and Mark
UNSURE OF WORD return

as we take a look inside
the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

Plus more from Katy Perry,
stick around.

We are only an hour and 19 minutes
away from witnessing history.

The launch of two American
astronauts above,

aboard a privately
owned spacecraft.

Christian Davenport
of the Washington Post

joining me once again,

Christina please summarize
the mission for us.

Yeah Chris, I mean obviously the
stars of today are the astronauts,

Bob and Doug, but hopefully we're
gonna get to see a real performance

by that Falcon 9 rocket
when it takes off from 39A.

Nine merlin engines firing
all at once to get that spacecraft

and that second stage into space,
into orbit

so that that spacecraft
can ultimately then meet up

with the international space
station at some point tomorrow.

The space station
traveling at 17,500 mph,

the, the stages will separate,
the second stage will keep going,

it'll light its engines and
then at about T plus 12 minutes

the Dragon spacecraft will separate

and take Bob and Doug on
their way to the space station.

That first stage, remember
we've been talking a lot about it,

will fly its way back
and land on the landing pad.

Christian, let's talk about
what this launch means to SpaceX

and what it means
to the United States.

Yeah you're absolutely right,
this is a huge launch for SpaceX,

they've never flown people before

and now they're gonna be flying
NASA's astronauts because right now,

NASA cannot fly astronauts anywhere.

It relies on Russia to fly American
astronauts to the Space Station,

that costs us about
$85 million a seat,

so they're hoping that Elon and the
private sector will take over that.

Chris.

Appreciate that Christian,

looking forward to seeing
more of your exclusive interview

with Elon Musk, that's coming up.

Now let's head back
down to David Kerley

who is also on site there,
David what have you got for us.

Back behind me there
you can see pad 39A,

that's where the
Crew Dragon capsule,

aboard which Doug and Bob will
be headed up to the Space Station

marking a crucial milestone.

Now it's kind of interesting that

a look at this
groundbreaking spacecraft

that probably only Elon Musk and his
crew at SpaceX could've designed.

The Dragon spacecraft is
really a 21st century spaceship.

It's beautiful inside,

it's incredibly functional
and it's very, very safe.

The Dragon capsule is 16 ft tall,

13 ft in diameter and
can carry up to seven people.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft has
two types of engines on board,

the first are 16 draco thrusters,

those are small engines
that make about 100 lbs of thrust.

And those engines are what
we're gonna use to maneuver

and dock to the
International Space Station.

And then there are eight superdraco
engines for a launch escape scenario

in an emergency situation which
make thousands of pounds of thrust.

My first impression of
the inside of Crew Dragon,

I was amazed, it's obviously
a modern space vehicle,

it's a very sleek design inside,

very comfortable, flat screens,

the seats are actually
heart racing seats

so the safety factors
go up considerably.

SpaceX Dragon
successful read, check.

Some of the great
innovations that we've made,

we have wonderful touch screens

so you can see everything
that's going on in the vehicle,

you can get all the data
that you need about the vehicle

and you can also control the vehicle
all from these touch screens.

SpaceX Dragon we've
got two good LED's.

Copy all Dragon.

The interior of the Dragon capsule,

it does draw a lot from the Tesla,

I think maybe some
of the display content

or at least the display themselves.

It's exciting to see, you know,
modern components in a spacecraft.

The Dragon is almost
completely automated

so it should be able
to fly the entire flight

without us intervening at all.

I'm pretty excited to have a chance
to fly on a brand new spacecraft,

proud to be a part of a, a new ship

that's gonna bring back
that mission of taking crews

to the Space Station.

Throughout NASA's history,

rockets have been extremely
expensive and used only once,

whereas Christian Davenport has said

it's like flying across
the country from New York to LA

and then throwing away the plane,
doesn't make sense.

The key to efficiently
traveling to space

is to reuse and SpaceX
thinks they've' figured it out.

We have lift off at the
UNSURE OF WORD .

What SpaceX has done is developed
a rocket that can be reused,

its first stage booster
delivers its payload to orbit.

State separation UNSURE OF WORD .

Then it flies back and lands
on land or at a ship at sea.

I've heard it described

as you standing on the top
of the Empire State Building

and you drop a pencil off

and you have to land the pencil
on its eraser on a postage stamp.

Ultimately it's not
beyond the realm of physics

and if it's not beyond
the realm of physics

there's an engineering
way to get it done.

To bring Falcon 9 back to Earth
we've got a navigation system

in the first stage.

Most first stages don't have that.

The Falcon 9 rocket is
composed of two main parts

called the first stage
and the second stage.

What it does, after letting
go of the second stage is

flips itself around,
starts its engines back up

and the whole first stage is
re-entering the Earth's atmosphere

and slowly making its
way back down for a landing.

Currently the Falcon 9 is
designed to be flown ten times,

each time we do a refurbishment,
what we call vehcile maintenance.

This is launch complex
UNSURE OF WORD ,

this building houses
and processes Falcon 9's

that have landed
at our landing pads

or have been landed
on the drone ships.

To refurbish a rocket
they roll into the hanger,

we load them into
their processing rings

and it's a matter
of weeks to process them

and get ready for launch.

Re-usability is incredibly
important to space exploration,

if every time you had
to build a new vehicle

we would be waiting and waiting

and waiting for a new
rocket to be produced.

But when we're able to fly rockets,
land them and reuse them,

that means we can access space

on a weekly basis versus
like a monthly or yearly basis.

The end goal is obviously
to have zero refurbishment,

to be able to land and
then relaunch like airplanes

to ensure that we're able
to access space on a daily basis.

Truly incredible the
way that they can do that,

now former astronaut Mike
Massimino is back to weigh

in on the importance
of these reusable rockets.

Mike, the space shuttles that you
flew on were designed to be reused,

how does the Falcon 9 take
re-usability to the next level?

It's a good point Chris, we did
have a reusable rocket ship with,

space ship with the space shuttle,

the space shuttle would
come back and land on a runway

whereas the SpaceX vehicle can ...
will land in the ocean.

Part of the problem
we thought about weather

is that they need good weather

for them to be able
to recover the spaceship

if they have an abort up the coast.
Well for us with the shuttle,

we needed goo weather
to get to a runway,

I got delayed in space for
two extra days on my second flight

because the weather was
bad in the Kennedy Space Center

and we had to come back at the,
at the Edwards Air Force base.

So reusable on a runway,

the SpaceX vehicle reusable,
lands in the ocean,

the rockets, the boosters

you talked about the different
stages of the rockets,

with the space shuttle
we had solid rocket boosters,

kind of like giant
sticks of dynamite,

they can be packed
with solid rocket material.

They were recoverable,

they would leave the vehicle
after about two and a half minutes,

splash down in the ocean,

a recovery ship would go get 'em,

bring 'em back to
the Kennedy Space Center,

put 'em on a train to
go to Utah to get re, re-packed

and then the train would bring 'em
back to the Kennedy Space C Enter.

What SpaceX does
is they fly the vehicle,

the, the stage which is what you've,
you've been explaining,

first they had it come
back to the Kennedy Space Center,

now they have it go
back to a ship in the ocean,

so it flies its way back,
easier to recover,

get it very ... much more quickly
back to the Kennedy Space Center,

refueled right there.

So they've taken it to the next
level and I'll tell you what Chris,

when they came and briefed
us about what SpaceX had in mind

when I was in the astronaut office,
you know, ten, 12 years ago

I thought this was crazy, how
are they gonna do all this stuff,

I wasn't really sure
they could get it done.

But after seeing
them land the upper,

the first stage of their
vehicle on a platform in the ocean,

that was all the
credibility I needed.

I, I'm a total believer
in what they're able to do,

an amazing company.

Mike, thanks for joining us,
stick around,

when we come back we'll
talk with astronaut Jessica Meir

who just got back from
the International Space Station.

Plus, our exclusive interview
with Elon Musk, stick around.

Right now we wanna welcome
astronaut Jessica Meir,

she knows exactly what it's like
to experience the excitement,

the majesty and the
weightlessness of space.

In fact she just returned
from Doug and Bob's destination,

the International Space Station.

Jessica, welcome, 205 days in space,

86.9 million frequency flier miles,

part of the all female
space walk in history,

welcome back to Earth,
first of all how are you feeling?

Thank you so much Chris,
I'm feeling really good,

I have to say but I'm also pretty
jealous of Bob and Doug right now

'cause I'd much rather
still be floating.

Now logistically you
took off on a Russian rocket

and then landed in Kazakhstan,

why is the return of our
ability to fly US astronauts

from American soil so important to
you and so important to the program?

Well first of all more vehicles

we have that are capable
to get humans to space,

the more access we have
for everybody on the planet.

This will be the second INAUDIBLE ,
second vehicle

which can carry humans to
the International Space Station,

soon hopefully we'll
also have a third.

This means that we
can continue to support

all of the scientific experiments
with the Space Station

and continue our
human presence in space.

And of course lastly it is
a huge measure of national pride

to be launching from Florida
space INAUDIBLE again.

Jessica, we are glad you
are back on Earth safe and sound

and so happy that you could
be with us on this incredible day,

thank you very much.

Now once in a generation,

a visionary comes
along unlike any other;

Thomas Edison was one of those,
Steve Jobs was, was one of those,

we're talking about people
who can look across the ocean,

see beyond the horizon
and know what society needs

before society even knows it.

One of those people
also is Elon Musk,

now where do these visionaries
get their uncanny ability to know

what the people of the
world need before they know it?

Well author of Space Barons,

Washington Post Reporter
Christian Davenport

who we just heard from,

practiced some cross
country social distancing

for this exclusive interview with
Elon Musk in Hawthorne, California.

So when you founded
the company in 2002

did you imagine this day would,
would come, I mean what is it like,

you know that it's ... now its here,

you know,
we're gonna have human space flight?

Well we've done everything

we can to make sure that the rocket
is safe and the spacecraft is safe,

you know, where you're going
25 times the speed of sound,

you're, you're circling
the Earth every 90 minutes.

It's just like a speed that's

difficult for people
to even comprehend,

it's, I don't know, it must
be close to 30 times faster than a,

than a bullet from a handgun.

One of the things that I always
found so interesting about SpaceX

is that your job is not just
to create a multiplanetary species

and lower the cost
of human space flight,

but also to inspire
people and get people,

like really fired
up about the future.

Yeah, absolutely,

I really wanna get the youth
excited about the future of space

and get us thinking about
the future in exciting ways,

like that the, that the future
is gonna be better than the past,

that we'll be out there,
a space fairing civilization.

You know, having cities on Mars,

have cities on the moons
of Jupiter and Saturn,

ultimately going beyond the
solar system to other star systems.

I think the United States
is a nation of explorers.

Anyone with a spirit of
adventure anywhere in the world,

I think this is something
that has gotta really appeal to,

to people,
you know, with a adventurous spirit.

You know, UNSURE OF WORD
from that is it's like you,

you don't wanna truncate hope

and so the possibility of
being a space ranked civilization

out there among the stars,

it's very important to keep that,
that hope alive.

Talking about your design
and the SpaceX aesthetic, I mean it,

it's kind of like you're designing

the future the way
you want it to be.

Yeah, it's very important
that since it is the future

that it look and
feel like the future.

And that seems
exciting and appealing

and you want kids to look
at that space suit and say,

I wanna wear that
space suit one day.

No it's gonna be exciting and I,

I should've said earlier
congrats on the baby,

- that's awesome man.
- Oh thanks, yeah sure, absolutely.

Mars needs babies,

Mars needs people and the moon .

Mars needs babies, I love that.

Alright, the anticipation
for this epic launch is building

inside mission control.

As closely as the world
is watching today's launch,

there are two people
who have a deeper,

more personal reason
for its success,

they're veterans
of the space program

that astronauts
Bob and Doug come from

and we're talking
about their wives,

Karen Nyberg and
Kay Megan McArthur.

How do you like the food so far?

Well so far all I've had
is a peanut butter sandwich

and that was tasty.

We were all in the same
class of astronauts in 2000

and we all started
training together,

but we also spent a lot of time
as a group socializing together

as lots of people do when
they work for larger companies.

We made sure that our boss
knew that we were dating before

he made his flight assignment

so that he wouldn't accidentally
assign us to the same flight.

Once we had a child,
certainly because of the risk

we decided we absolutely did not
want to be on the same flight.

Our son was 18 months old when Doug
flew on the last shuttle flight,

so now he's ten and I,
I anticipate that

it really wont hit him
until we get down to Florida

and start seeing things in action.

We did watch the Space
Station go over last night

which was really special, so Doug
talked to him a little bit about

the fact he was going
to be living there

and reminded him when he
was three watching me go over.

There are a lot of things
of course that I love about Bob,

his sense of humor
I think partly because

it's such a stealth sense of humor.

Also he's a tremendous dad.

I'm really excited to be
able to share this with my son,

he understands that rockets
are dangerous and he first said,

"You can't fly on that rocket."

And we had to get him
over kind of the, you know,

the emotion that goes along
with riding on a rocket ship

and getting him
comfortable with that.

One of the hardest things to do is

watch the person that
you love launch into space,

it's much harder than
actually doing it yourself,

it's hard for people like
us who are used to being able to,

you know, at least contribute
if not control the situation.

It can occupy your mind with
all of the different possibilities

that you know are out there.

I think for me, when we watched
them go through the process

of getting on board and leaving
crew quarters and all that,

there will be a
lot of pride for sure.

I think there will
be a lot of emotions

and I don't even know if
I could pinpoint what they'll be,

they'll be, there will be a lot.

I am proud of Doug all the time,
I'm, I'm happy for him.

This is kind of a dream assignment
to fly a brand new vehicle

in a test flight configuration.

And I'm really looking forward
to seeing them get to enjoy

that success and
that achievement once,

once everything is mission complete.

I certainly would be lying if
I said it wasn't exciting, you know,

as that clock counts
down towards the launch

the anticipation is incredible.

I am humbled, honored,

lucky to be just one small
part of this, this mission.

Hey Bob.

Hey Doug.

Good luck.

Have fun.

We're proud of you.

Don't goon it up.

Well Karen and Megan,
very cool, calm and collected there,

of course they're astronauts
too so that's to be expected

and I would like to bring in another
one of our experts right now,

former astronaut and Colombia
professor, Mike Massimino.

Mike, from your perspective
you've been there before,

it's almost go time, it's
looking like the launch is a go,

what is going through
the minds of our astronauts,

Bob and Doug right now?

They're, they're pretty focused
on getting off the ground,

they're very excited
about it I'm sure.

I got a note from Bob's wife,
Megan McArthur,

very close friend of mine, you
see this plaque over my shoulder,

both Megan's name and
my name are on that plaque,

we flew together in space, she's,

she text me last night
and wanted everyone to know

that the crew is in great
spirits and ready to launch.

They are absolutely
100% ready to go,

but what's interesting here I think,

we're all sharing this
feeling of are we gonna go or not

and it's a launch attempt.

I actually told my guests
when they were coming to Florida,

plan a trip to Florida and maybe
you'll see a launch 'cause you,

'cause you never know if,
if, if, if you're gonna go

and get off the ground or not and
that's what we're experiencing now,

whether other systems issues,
luckily it's not a systems issue,

the crew is feeling great,

it's just a weather issue
and hopefully that'll, that'll pass.

Mike, please stand by, we've got
another update from David Kerley,

David what have you learned?

Unfortunately some
very bad news Chris

for all of us who have been
anticipating this for years,

this launch has just been scrubbed,
it has been canceled,

they are aborting the
mission at this point.

So they are starting
to de-fuel the spacecraft

and we just heard from Doug Hurley,

I heard him tell the crew,
"Good effort by the team,

we'll see you back at
the NASA headquarters here

just off of pad 39."

So we will see the fuel come off and
then the astronauts will come off,

unfortunately they will
not be going today, Chris.

Like to bring back Mike
Massimino for his expert opinion

on this scrubbed mission.

Mike you said earlier
you've been here before,

this is routine,
that launches get scrubbed,

safety is paramount,

please give us your take
on this unfortunate development.

This is very disappointing
for those guys,

but they're professional about it,

they know there's
gonna be another day

and it's really better to be safe.

I always felt with
delays was if you,

if you get delayed by whatever,
how long it is,

people might remember, here,
remember that was delayed a couple,

a couple of months or a year, here
we're talking just a couple of days.

People might,
probably not gonna remember a delay

but they're certainly
gonna remember an accident

tor something bad happening,

so we don't want that to happen,

that's kind of the difference
between launching a satellite

and launching a spacecraft
with people in it,

you wanna make sure that,
that it's safe.

So I think, I think that the crew,
although they're disappointed

they know it's the right decision

and they'll be ready to
go again in a couple of days.

Mike, very well said,
so many things can go wrong

and so you do not
wanna take the chance,

safety is paramount
with this launch.

And as Mike very well pointed out,

no one's gonna remember a delay

but they certainly
will remember a disaster

so we want to avoid
that at all costs.

So I have to ask you out there,

what are you doing on Saturday?

Wanna come back for
our next launch attempt?

I'll certainly be here,
we hope that you will too.

If you were with
us earlier this week,

welcome back for take two
from Kennedy Space Center

as America blasts off into
a new age of space exploration.

Today, for the first time ever,

American astronauts will be launched
on a privately owned spacecraft,

the clock for this historic
event has been reset,

the thrilling countdown
beings right now.

Bob and Doug were
strapped in moments ago

starting to do their final
check with launch control.

Now they've got a long trip ahead,
orbiting the Earth several times

in order to reach the
proper altitude to rendezvous

with the International
Space Station.

Now to understand
why we're back today,

we had to take a look
at the events of Wednesday

and the reason the
launch was scrubbed

just 16 minutes before lift off.

It's been an amazing day so far,

we saw Doug and Bob
in the suit up room

getting their SpaceX's suits on,

they come out of
the building and wave

and this is their last
chance to see their families.

Once they're in the Tesla Model X's

the kids could get up
to the window and say goodbye,

very emotional moment.

They have gotten into the capsule,

the hatch has been closed.

It is raining right now.

We are under a tornado warning.

The latest is a 50/50
chance of launch,

the only thing they're
concerned about right now

is a cell that is over Orlando

headed this way but they
think it's actually gonna break up.

So they started
fueling right on time,

even though the weather
is iffy we are good to go.

We just had a presidential
motorcade come by where we are.

American astronauts
Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken

are going to make history
here today we hope.

We're all sharing this feeling
of are we gonna go or not?

Launch has just been scrubbed,
it has been canceled.

Well that was quite
an ending to a dramatic day

and bringing in
Christian Davenport now,

Christian,
tell us what we've learned

since we went off
of the air on Wednesday.

Yeah, what we learned Chris is
that they're not messing around,

safety's gotta be first, I
mean they had the President here,

they had all these VIP's, they
had all this attention on the launch

but the conditions were not safe,

there was too much
electricity in the atmosphere

and so they called
it and you know what,

they may do the same thing today.

As Deke Slayton,

the famous astronaut and
former crew mission manager said,

"It's better to have a
good scrub than a bad launch."

Now I got a chance to talk
recently with NASA administrator,

Jim Bridenstine, he was
in the middle of that decision,

let's go have a look and
see what he had to say about it.

It went right up to
almost T minus 17 minutes,

looked like you guys were
really working the weather,

can you walk us through

hat happened and the
decision making process?

Yeah so the,
the challenge was, you know,

we were in and out all day
as it relates to electricity

in the atmosphere and so we have a,
a limitation,

within 15 minutes of
launch we have to have,

you know,
less than a certain threshold

of electricity in the atmosphere,

otherwise there is a risk

that we could trigger
lightening by launching

and/or the rocket becoming
a lightening bolt itself.

And so, so we had to make
a call 15 minutes ahead of time to,

to delay the launch, I know
everybody's talking about scrub,

I wanna be really clear,

we are launching American astronauts

on American rockets
from American soil,

that is going to happen,
it didn't happen on Wednesday,

it might happen this weekend.

So that's what Jim
had to say about that,

about Wednesday's launch,
we've got more weather today,

it's currently drizzling
on us right now.

Another thing that's
transpired since Wednesday

is down at SpaceX's
Boca Chica facility

they were testing their
next generation starship rocket,

now let's be clear

that rocket and that test
had nothing to do with today,

it's their next generation rocket

they hope to take astronauts
to the moon and Mars

but it ended up blowing
up on the launchpad,

a spectacular fireball,

that shows how SpaceX
always is testing the limits

but that's probably not
the image that NASA wanted out

right before they were gonna
launch America's astronauts.

We are now just about mmm,

an hour or so away from the launch
of the SpaceX demo two mission,

the first ever launch
of American astronauts

from a privately owned spacecraft.

And joining us again today,

space shuttle astronaut and current
Colombia University professor,

Mike Massimino.

Now Mike, you flew on the space
shuttle with Bob Benkhen's wife,

Megan McArthur and we know
you've been in touch with her

and of course you're close
friends with Bob and Doug,

so what did Bob and Doug have to
go through to be ready for lift off

and then disembark and
head back in to quarantine?

Well Chris, they, you know,

they got to spend a little
more time with their families

which is always nice,
I heard from Megan this morning

so they got to do that
the last couple of days,

but they are ready to go and

hope that they're
gonna be able to launch.

One thing they had to go through

is that the tradition
was with shuttle program,

is that the commander
of the spacecraft

played a hand of poker
with the chief of the office.

And they kept playing until
the chief of the office won,

this way the commander left
all of his bad luck on the ground

and then he could
leave for the launch pad,

so that's another thing
they had to accomplish today.

That's a great story.

Now Mike, I know that bringing
launches back to the US

means a lot to you personally,

talk to me about that
and what it must mean

for the families
of Doug and Bob as well.

It, it, it's such ... becoming
an astronaut is such a dream

and then getting a chance to fly
in space is another dream come true

and you like to share
with the people that you love.

And that ... I, I'm very happy
that we're moving back to the US to,

to launch again because
you can invite people

and lots of people can come.

It was more difficult
for them to come to Kazakhstan

to watch launching into
space for the past nine years,

so this is something
that a lot of people can,

can now participate in.

We can't do it right
now because of the pandemic,

I had about 600 guests
on my first launch,

every, everyone from,
like my elementary school teachers

came to my neighbors,

of course my family was
there and so it's very meaningful

to people to have this
happen on the US again.

And I'm sure that all
of Bob and Doug's supporters

are there with the in spirit,

well thank you very much Mike,

we'll be bringing you back into our
coverage soon so please stand by.

Now right now we wanna
have a visit with the man

who has the right outfit
for every occasion,

of course I'm talking
about original Mythbuster

Adam, welcome back I
hear that you couldn't resist

making a slight upgrade
to one of your helmets

since we saw you on Wednesday.

Totally,
I have an intimate relationship

to a certain extent with
every single one of these suits,

they represent a
part of my life and

just seeing my ACES helmet again,

I decided to go back in the inside

and make the inside pieces
and parts and connectors

all way more accurate,

I've been doing it
for the last three days,

I, I just can't stop,
it's a sickness.

Attention to detail is key.

Alright, thanks Adam,

we're gonna check back
in with you again in just a bit.

Hello, this is George W. Bush

with a message for the
teams at NASA and SpaceX;

thank you for your work in bringing

about a new era
in human space flight.

Your space craft and the
commercial crew program are

testaments to the ingenuity and
determination of our great nation.

To Bob and Doug, good luck.

Lord, I send our best
wishes to you and your families

as you embark on this far
reaching and important journey.

May God bless you.

Thank you for that
sentiment President Bush

and welcome back
to Space Launch Live,

lift off is now just
about 49 minutes away

and we're awaiting
the critical moment

when the SpaceX launch director
verifies the go to load the fuel,

that is a key moment and
for more on that let's bring back

Christian, David and Mike.

Christian I wanna start with you,

why is this particular
fueling process unique to SpaceX?

Yeah you're right Chris,
I mean this is SpaceX,

this is Elon Musk, they've
gotta do everything differently,

that's how they disrupted the
entire space industry by innovating

and iterating and
their fueling process

actually is a really
good example of that.

As David was talking about
they take that liquid oxygen

and super chill it,
now that doesn't mean

that liquid oxygen is
really hip or really cool,

it means it's really cold,
-340 degrees Fahrenheit

and when it's, it's at that
temperature it becomes more dense,

the more dense it is the
more they can pack into that rocket,

the more they can
pack into the rocket

the better performance
they get out of it.

That's important, not just
for lift off because obviously

that propellant is
helping it get to orbit,

but remember they then fly
that booster back down to Earth

and they need that extra
fuel to be able to do that.

They're gonna fire the engines
twice, once during re-entry

and then firing that
engine one more time

just before it lands
on that ship at sea.

Chris, back to you.

Really interesting animation
of the fueling process there,

Christian thank you.

David Kerley, please
take us through the steps that

we're about to see
leading up to the launch.

At T minus 35,
they start loading the fuel,

now they're gonna
load what's called RP1,

that's refined petroleum 1,
it's rocket fuel,

it starts out as diesel,
they refine it, becomes jet fuel,

they refine it even
more and it's rocket fuel.

So they'll load that in the
first stage and the tank above it,

a much bigger tank,

is that liquid oxygen that
Chris Davenport just told you about,

it's super cool and super
cold and you will see it,

it starts to warm up in the rocket,

they just can't keep it cold enough.

And it'll start to condensate,
you'll see that coming off,

it's just oxygen, very normal.

They are go for propellant no ..

load, I just heard that, that's
from the, the flight director,

so it came a minute earlier,

they are gonna go starting
to put the fuel in.

Now the next thing we're
gonna watch is at about 16.5 minutes

they'll have another chance
where they will go no-go before

they put liquid oxygen
in the second stage tank.

I just heard them say that
they are ready and this is the,

kind of the last visual
cue that we are gonna see

that the crew access
arm can be retract now,

so you'll see a shot
here pretty soon from NASA

and SpaceX of that access arm,

the really sleek one
that they walked down to get

into that capsule's
going to pull back.

That's great, David Kerley and as
we can see on our wide shot there,

it looks like they have moved the
crew access arm away from the rocket

which is another good sign that
we are going to have a launch today.

And joining us again today
is astronaut Jessica Meir,

Jessica on Wednesday a
lot of people were wondering,

well why not just wait
for a break in the clouds?

I mean this mission
has what's called

an instantaneous launch window,

tell us what that means
and why it's important,

why they just can't go whenever.

Right, so of course the first thing
to remember is that you're not

just launching the
spacecraft to get to space,

the goal is to get to the
International Space Station.

So I got my globe here,

if you think about the
orbit of the Space Station

being around the Earth
and it is a moving target,

Space Station's covering around
the entire planet every 90 minutes.

Now the Earth is
also spinning below,

so really to optimize
UNSURE OF WORD

and your launch capability
you wanna be directly underneath

the Space Station so you
need to time both of those elements,

taking into account
the spin of the Earth

and that the Space
Station is a moving target.

The second factor is
as you were just hearing about

the different fuel, the super
cooled for the SpaceX vehicle

and because as this fuel warms up,

as the liquid oxygen warms
up it becomes less dense,

then it loses thrust capability

and so they to reserve some
in order to retain that INAUDIBLE

as well as be able
to easily project it,

so those two factors make
this an instantaneous launch window.

Jessica, thank you so much for that,
that was very well explained,

appreciate that and let's
not forget also that the

International Space Station
is traveling in orbit at 17,500 mph,

it's just simply amazing.

Now I wanna get back
to Mike Massimino,

Mike getting back
to the launch itself,

you described your shuttle
launch as riding a beast,

please describe that
sensation of lift off.

We can all talk about it,
you've actually done it,

tell me what that's like
and how loud does it get?

So what's gonna happen
is they're gonna go down

thorough their countdown,

the beast that I referred to,
the, the spacecraft, the rocket,

will come alive, that beast
looks very calm out there now,

very peaceful but it's gonna,

it's gonna,
it's gonna come alive pretty soon

and when that happens
the engines will fire up

and they'll move, very quickly.

You know you're going somewhere,

100 mph before you clear the tower,

0 - 17,500 mph in 8.5 minutes.

On the shuttle we had
solid rockets that we ...

got shook around a lot, more than
they'll get shook around but still,

a lot of violence,
lot of motion, G forces build up,

last couple of minutes,

about 3 G's of force hitting
you right in the chest,

it's kinda like you have
three big dudes sitting on you.

And then the engines cut

and everything is peaceful
and quiet and you're in space.

Mike, thanks a lot
for that information

and just a couple
of things to point out,

I think I heard mission
control say that they

were gonna begin
the fueling process,

another great step towards
having a go launch today.

And also,
Air Force One has just touched down

at Kennedy Space Center,

so the President will be
on hand for today's launch as well.

Now this is obviously
dangerous business,

exciting,
yes, dangerous, definitely.

The risk of an anomaly
on the pad during

fueling or during
launch is very real,

but SpaceX has built
in some unique safety features

to protect Doug and
Bob from a catastrophe.

We have main engine start,
three, two, one and lift off.

Lift off of the 25th
space shuttle mission

and it is clear of the tower.

Challenger, go with throttle up.

UNSURE OF WORD
going to throttle up.

January 28, 1986,

it was a disaster that shook
the foundations of our nation

and still haunts NASA to this day.

We watched the Space
Shuttle Challenger blow up,

a loss of the entire crew
was a result of the fact

that there was no
launch abort system.

The team at SpaceX is
taking every measure possible

to ensure that a catastrophic
failure like that

never happens again.

The launch escape system
on Dragon is how we save the crew.

If there was a emergency on the pad

or emergency on the way to orbit,

the capsule's able to separate
from the Falcon rocket.

Think of sort of like an
ejection seat on a jet, right,

you wanna kinda get away quickly
from something that's going wrong.

If the computers sense
a problem with the rocket,

the spacecraft will
automatically separate itself

and fly through the air
with it's superdraco engines,

so that it can safely splash down
in the ocean with it's parachutes

and save the crew from
an in-flight anomaly.

To demonstrate the full
functionality of the system,

SpaceX had to destroy
one of its own Falcon 9 rockets

in the process.

Three, two, one, zero.

Ignition, lift off.

Dragon launch escape initiated.

Yeah!

Dragon's away.

During an escape they will likely
pull between four and six G's,

it depends on the different
variables and the situations.

I think it's really
important than we retire as

much risk as possible ahead
of putting human lives at stake,

so this is a big moment.

Yes it's exciting, but more than
anything it is still a first flight.

That being said,
as much risk as we can retire,

space is always gonna be hard,

that's something that
our astronauts have taught us.

Oh say can you see,

by the dawn's early light,

what so proudly we hailed

at the twilight's last gleaming?

Who's broad stripes
and bright stars,

through the perilous fight,

o'er the ramparts we watched

were so gallantly streaming.

And the rocket's red glare,

the bombs bursting in air,

gave proof through the night

that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled

banner yet wave.

O'er the land of the free

and the home of the

brave?

Fantastic,
thank you so much Kelly,

even singing from
home she sounds great.

Bringing back in
Christian Davenport,

this is getting exciting man,

what is the latest
at Kennedy Space Center?

You know,
if you put a mic on the rocket Chris

you could almost hear the rocket
grunting and moaning and as it ...

it's almost like hissing,
it's about to coem alive

in these moments leading
up to the launch.

Now right behind me is
the famous firing room four

where everyone in
launch control center

is getting ready to
send this puppy on its way.

Chris.

It sounds like we were
getting a little bit of natural

sound from that fueling process,

really amazing stuff and
you can see from the shots there

behind Christian that
the weather seems to really be

cooperating with us today.

Thanks Christian, we'll
be back to you very, very soon

and joining us right now
is former NASA engineer Mark Rober,

who worked on the
Mars Curiosity Rover

and before I ask you to break
down the science behind rockets,

I hear that you actually
included a little Easter egg,

that is a hidden object
on the CAD drawing that you did

of the Rover,
tell me about that Mark.

Yeah so when I was at NASA,

you know I'm working on the Rover
so I had access to the CAD model,

so I made like a photo
realistic version of the Rover,

complete with like
a red laser and red rocks.

The press loved it, it's
like one of the top search sti ...

results still if you
search for Curiosity Rover,

it's on the Wikipedia page,
it was printed in text books.

It wasn't until like a couple
of months ago that I fessed up,

I actually photoshopped Alf,

the lovable alien from the
TV show into the red rocks and so,

you know,
people are always looking for

evidence of extraterrestrial life,

turns out we've
had evidence of aliens

on Mars for like over a decade.

You're bringing me back to my
childhood with that Alf reference,

now I guess we know
where Alf is from.

Alright Mark, now for the big one,

how do rockets burn without
oxygen in the vacuum of space?

This is such a great question
and an important UNSURE OF WORD

question is like why don't
we just use propellers in space?

And the way to think about that is

you know if you have
a helicopter hovering,

creates all this down wash,
all this wind,

well it's basically
staying in the air

by pushing down on
all these air molecules.

It's kind of like
treading water in a pool,

problem with space
is there's no air molecules

to push against so what do you do?

Well I'll answer that with a riddle,
let's say you're an astronaut,

you're working on the Space Station,

you look down and
your tether is unplugged

and you're sort of slowly drifting
away from the Space Station,

what do you do?

You take that hammer,

you throw it in the opposite
direction you wanna move,

Newton's Third Law,
conservation of momentum says

you're gonna equal opposite
force in the other directions,

back towards the Space Station.

That's all rockets are,

they're big metal tubes

and they're just throwing
hammers out the back, right.

Now obviously it's
a chemical reaction

it's little particles
but fundamentally a rocket

is just throwing stuff

in the opposite direction
that you wanna move,

that's why it can work in
space in a vacuum with no ele ...

air molecules even
when propellers won't.

You know we are so
lucky to have guys like you

because if it were
up to guys like me,

we would still be in the dark ages.

Mark, really appreciate
that information.

We are just about ten minutes away
from launch time, exciting right?

I know you're not going anywhere

so I don't have to
tell you to stick around.

We are now just about five
minutes away from lift off,

now on Wednesday the launch
was scrubbed unfortunately

but it's looking like
it is gonna happen today,

you just saw a picture
of the President,

he is on site here
at Kennedy Space Center.

We hear launch control
continuing to communicate with

Bob and Doug up in
the Dragon Crew capsule.

Dragon has transitioned
to figure of a terminal count.

Vehicle tanks pressing
for strong bank retract.

And of course are talking about the
fueling process there that we are

listening to also seeing

and you can see stage
two is being fueled now,

that's the rocket
that is directly beneath

the Crew Dragon capsule
and that means that the stage one,

the Falcon 9 rocket has been fueled

and now the stage
two rocket is fueling.

As we get down to one minute,
we're gonna lay out,

we're gonna listen to launch
control communicating with

Doug and Bob in the
Dragon Crew capsule.

Good luck gentlemen.

Falcon 9 is in start up.

Dragon is in countdown.

FTS is on for launch.

Dragon SpaceX, go for launch.

T minus 30 seconds.

Stage one, tanks pressing for play.

T minus 15 seconds.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,

five, four, three, two, one, zero.

This is lift off of the
Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon,

go NASA, go SpaceX,
God speed Bob and Doug!

Vehicle UNSURE OF WORD down range.

Stage one propulsion is nominal.

Falcon powering UNSURE OF WORD
nominal.

And 1D, throttle down.

That throttle down call is because
they are getting ready to the most

aerodynamic stressful
part of this flight,

so they take the power
down just slightly.

And there is the 1,000 km/h mark,
that 621 mph.

And 1D throttle up.

They're throttling up,
there's max Q,

the max aerodynamic pressure peak,

the most mechanical stress
on the rocket as I look up

and we can still see the
orange glow and I tell you what,

it took five seconds
for the vibration

and sound from that
lift off to affect us here.

You can still see it just
screaming almost straight up,

even though they're pointing
a little bit down range now.

Start of MVAC engine two.

Approaching rapidly 3,000 km/h,

that is 1864 mph.

And Chris, well you see that plume
coming out of the back expanding,

that's because there's, there's not
as much atmospheric pressure on it,

so that's why it
expands out like that.

And we are getting, that first
stage engine's gonna fire for about

another 20 seconds,
23 seconds or so.

And Christian, that is really a
step that we wanna pay attention to,

that separation of the first stage
that will then return back to Earth.

Yeah we're gonna get very
busy here in about five seconds,

you're gonna see MECO,
the main engine cut off

and then you're going
to see the separation

and we're standing by for that.

MECO.

Falcon stage separation confirmed.

So the main shut down and
you see separation there too,

that is the first
stage falling away.

So you're seeing in the first
stage you can see those grid thins

that you mentioned Chris
Jacobs that will help guide it,

but at 8:45,

so plus 8:45 coming
up in about two minutes

you'll see three of those
nine engines fire to slow it down.

The first stage doesn't
have any of that protection

when it comes back
into the atmosphere,

so the, the way they overcome
that is by firing the engines

and slowing it down enough that
when it re-enters the atmosphere

it won't burn up and
it'll be a 34 second burn

of that entry stage of those
three engines to bring us in.

And seeing some of these pictures
of Doug and Bob in the capsule

is just remarkable,

we haven't seen a lot
of American astronauts live.

And just to clarify, that picture
of the left is the stage two rocket

propelling the Crew Dragon capsule,

the picture on the right
is actually the stage one

Falcon 9 rocket returning to Earth,

so those are actually
moving in opposite directions

as we pass the 15,000 km/h mark

which is approaching 9,400 mph.

You know Chris, SpaceX would
love to get this booster back

and as we mentioned earlier
they learn a lot when they

get these rockets back
and take a look at 'em.

But it is secondary,
that's the picture on your left,

the second stage as Massimino said,

that's what you wanna burn,
you want that burn to go exactly

as it should on
the right trajectory.

This was an instantaneous launch,

they had to go at the right time,

there's your start of the entry
burn on the right, you're seeing it.

Phase two FTS is saved.

Yeah this slows it down,
this is going for about 35 seconds

as I mentioned, just to
slow it down and if you watch

those grid thins you can
start to see them kind of move

and that's what keeps
this as we heard earlier in one

of the pieces,
you know, putting a ...

landing a pencil,
that's what keeps it

north and south or up and
down as it's coming down back in,

in to land.

And it is landing on
a drone ship in the Atlantic.

So that, that burn is over,

the next thing we're
gonna see at 9:27.

MVEC UNSURE OF WORD .

Everything's good they say,
that's what ...

those are the reports
from mission control.

So coming up in about a minute
we'll see the final burn and

as Davenport has told us before,

you don't always get to
see the landing because you know,

got a camera that's getting
shaken and, you know,

this is a rocket actually
that's coming back to

there, you lost the pictures,
that's, that's kind of what happens.

And there's the 25,000 km/h

which is 15,534 mph so again,

continuing to accelerate
as they make their way to orbit.

MVEC shut down.

There's the second stage
engine cut off right there.

That's good news Chris,
that means that,

that means that
they've got their ...

UNSURE OF WORD
nominal orbital insertion.

There they go.

Launch escape system is disarmed.

That's great news.

And that's even better news,
so they're in the orbit

they're supposed to be in,
they have just de-armed

the escape system, they
are where they're supposed to be

at the right time and
in a couple of minutes

we will see separation of the Dragon
and loss of that second stage.

That's really good news and Chris,
you asked a little bit

about the atmosphere down here,
there were

some people here even though
they didn't open the gates

who were applauding as that

Falcon 9 took off and
really rattled our chests.

And it looks like Falcon
9 has returned successfully

to that drone ship,
just amazing, amazing

technology that that quickly,
in under ten minutes,

that Falcon 9 rocket
has propelled Doug and Bob

into orbit and has returned
safely to it's drone ship.

I mean hats off to SpaceX
for developing that technology,

truly incredible.

Joining me right now is a
man who knows a lot about what Bob

and Doug are going
through at the moment,

he is former NASA shuttle astronaut
and Colombia University professor,

Mike Massimino.

Mike just 11.5 minutes
into their 19 hour journey,

so a lot longer to
go before they reach

the International Space Station,

what do they do now for
the next 18 hours and 50 minutes?

Yeah they get ready,
you know they have to transfer

through an orbital stage,
we used to call it post insertion,

I'm sure you still
call it the same thing,

there's usually no
rest for the weary,

there's plenty of things to do.

They're gonna have
to set up their cockpit

so they can get ready
to do their rendezvous,

they're probably gonna
get some rest coming up here

I would think before they,
before they do rendezvous,

the final rendezvous and docking.

Dragon separation confirmed.

It's been a while since either
of these guys have been in space,

Doug, it's been
almost nine years and,

and, and Bob maybe just
a little bit longer than that,

I was a cab comm for his,
his last flight

so they've gotta get
their space legs back and

sometimes you don't
feel as well as you'd like

when you first unstrap because your,

our body's getting used to it,

your vestibular system
is not working any longer.

But I think these guys
will probably be just fine.

I understand that Bob and
Doug have opened their visors inside

the Crew Dragon capsule,
I believe that gives them a view.

Mike Massimino, I wanna bring you
in 'cause you're the only one who

knows first hand what
they must be experiencing.

What are they looking
out on right now?

Well that ...

what you've ... what ...
the thing you wanna do as soon as

you get to orbit is
unstrap and take a look,

if you need to unstrap
or look through the window

you wanna take a look and
look back at our beautiful planet,

it is extraordinary.
We can see pictures,

we can see some high fidelity video

but there's nothing like
being there and actually seeing it

and when I looked
at our planet from space,

what I thought to myself was,

this must be what heaven looks like,

it is an absolute paradise and you
can look and see the blackness of,

of space in the other direction,

we've checked out the neighborhood,

you realise we only
have this one option,

it's very fragile,
you see that thin atmosphere.

If you think of
the Earth as an onion,

the, the top layer,
the top skinny layer of the,

of the onion is
the size relationship

of the atmosphere of
our planet through our planet,

you see that,
you can see that in these images.

And you realise how
lucky we are to be here

and it changed my view
of how I feel about our home,

it's home we all share
and it is an absolute paradise,

so that's what they're looking at.

And we're getting a
really nice picture of that

on our feed right now,
I presume from

where Bob and Doug are
up on the Crew Dragon capsule.

David Kerley,
please weigh in, give us a sense of

what it's like down
there at Cape Canaveral,

I mean of course relief, major joy,

what's the feeling like right now?

There's a delay,
you know, the speed of sound is,

is fast but it's not that
fast and it, it took a while

for the sound to hit
us and then the vibration,

that rocket fuel
and oxygen when it's,

when it's burning,
it's just, you can feel it,

it's just trying
to rip the air apart.

It was fantastic to see
these guys get to the place

they wanted to be at the right time

they've done all that.

Now it's a 19 hour journey
to the Space Station

and inside talked
about it a little bit,

they have specific things
they are doing 'cause this,

this is a test mission,

they're going to make
sure it's a habitable

environment inside
the capsule of Dragon.

They're gonna try and eat, drink and

as somebody at SpaceX said earlier,

do whatever kind of bio

work they have to do
and then they wanna sleep.

NASA wants them to sleep,
everybody wants them to sleep,

see if you can sleep
inside this capsule.

Thank you very much David Kerley,
you know what,

remember this day because
you're gonna remember exactly

where you were when SpaceX launched
their Crew Dragon into space.

May 30th, 2020,

you're gonna remember this
for the rest of your lives.

Well today has given hope
to every living soul who dreams of

traveling throughout
our solar system and beyond,

I wanna thank all of
our guests for sharing this

unbelievable day with us,

one that none of
us will ever forget.

Now, here are moments we'll
be talking about for weeks and years

to come,
set to Katy Perry's Daisies.

And from all of us,
be safe, shoot for the stars.

Goodbye everybody.