It is my privilege to introduce jim bridenstine. Jim . Thank you, jim thank you bob, our highest priority is and has been bob and doug, and a couple of days ago we had too much electricity in the atmosphere, and the challenge there is not that we were in a lightning storm, the challenge is that a launchgood in fact trigger lightning could in fact trigger lightning and the rocket could become a lightning bolt. We had these parameters set ahead of time, both nasa and the spacex teams knew what the parameters were. There were limitations i should say. The limitations were exceeded and that put us in a position to delay the launch. Though,this is certain, we will launch american astronauts on american rockets, from american soil and we will priorityh the absolute being the safety of our astronauts. I am very proud of the nasa team, proud of the spacex team. A lot of the comments that i had in the interviews ahead of time where, are you going to feel undue pressure, because of all of the attention on this, not just attention on the united states, but globally, all the vips, are you going to feel undue pressure, and we have all been in agreement that there will be no pressure, we will launch when we are ready, and the president and Vice President were proud of the nasa and spaces spacex team for making the right call for the right reasons. When we do this again saturday, if we do it again on sunday, we will feel no pressure. We will go when we are ready. Safety is the highest priority, and that is what we are focused on. We willie we will open it up to questions . Heart, and a great friend, and we are honored to have him as our deputy, having worked many years in the senate, he helps us a lot with the political aspects of the job that i deal with. Thank you, jim. Jim m. thank you jim. Good morning, i just really want to start by saying, we are at the dawn of a new age. We are really leading the beginning of a space revolution. And, think about it. This is really something much bigger than all of us. But really, our hope and prayer for tomorrow is for us to inspire the next generation and to give hope for many people who need it right now. And, also to unite our country, and the world and you think about i guess what you arch what im trying to say is we need our support we need your support and we hope you will stay with us whether it is the next day or the next day after that. Said ary seven astronaut good scrub is better than a bad launch any day, and that is where we are at. Thank you. We will just go to questions. Irene, orning, aviation week. Was there anything at all out of the countdown on wednesday that is being changed, anything that the teams learned that will be applied for this . And a quick question for nicole, of course this is not goings today, butngs day can you give us an update on where you are with your training for your flight. Thanks. , this wasinly interesting, we have done a dry dress rehearsal but never a wet dress rehearsal. So, heading from a position of fueling the rocket, and arming the launch abort system and these kind of things that we went through, and then defuel learning there were opportunities, and we are always gathering data. I will tell you the rocket was ready to go, the crew capsule was ready to go, all the ground systems were working according to plan. I would say not a whole lot of no big changes, but it is good for the agency to have a wet dress rehearsal behind us, that is all very positive, and every time we do one step further, we learn things, which is good for the agency. The second question was what . For nicole. Nicole thank you. Yes, we are absolutely tremendously proud of nasa and spacex. We are calling this the beginning of flight test season, and it really is. You will see that historic launch of the nasa spacex crew dragon following that, next year you will see the launch of boeings star liner. On the heels of that you will hear the launch see the launch of orion. We talked about the first step of us going to the moon, there will be a lot of launches and a lot of movement, and it is starting with the spacex launch. Good morning. So nice to be here and godspeed for tomorrow. I want to ask you about the 45th task force, specifically. Best atnow, americas Patrick Air Force base are going to rescue bob and doug, god forbid something goes wrong and they end up in the water. They showed us the equipment and they have been training for years. They told us that they started training after the Shuttle Program ended in 2011. They have this warehouse full of stuff, 150 men and women. You know,step in, as if something goes wrong. If not we are not going to see or hear about them. They did not say this but i sensed a little bit of sadness . That they are not going to get the glory when bob and doug come home and we can welcome our heroes back. Is there any way to give them some of the glory . Show,now this is spacexs but is there any way to involve them a little bit considering what they are going to do and probably never be seen . Jim i will be happy to take that, and i will tell you that bob works with the 45th state space wing day in and out, and they are amazing partners for nasa. Three is the organization that should something go wrong, and the launch abort system is triggered, they will be rescuing bob and doug, and they will be involved in recovery, but even beyond that, the 45th space wing does so much more than recovery. They are involved in helping us understand second by second what the weather is, helping us with the data, helping us with the numeric weather models for the weather. Withhelp us, of course, the range, making sure we have everything we need for the range and clearance of the range. This is their range, and they are amazing partners. This whole launch, we have branded this importantly, this is not launch nasa, it is not launch spacex. It is launch america, this is americas launch and the interagency is critical. Which is aace wing, new component of the brandnew space force, i want to reemphasize that they are now part of the space force. And, emphasize that we have other partners as well. , theaa is very involved department of transportation is the parent of the faa. This is an all of america effort, and when we launch, it will be launch america. Bob . Want to emphasize what the administrator said, spaceflight is a team sport, none of us are successful and less all of us are successful. We could not have a better relationship than we do with general doug and the 45th space wing. We would not be here without them. Everything we have done working with space wing and the faa to improve our operations, to enable commercial operations in a more userfriendly environment, this has been years in the making getting us to where we are, and it is not just the engineering team, not just this or the crew program, is acrosstheboard and all of the support organizations in nasa and the air force making this a successful launch. This is launch america, not just launch commercial crew. Our whole nation needs to take pride in this, and everybody has had a role to play. They need to own this. They are part of it. We would not be here if everybody was not playing their role in making a successful. Administrator, great to see you again. This is abc news. This is florida, the weather can do what it wants to do, but the forecast is not looking so great for tomorrow or sunday. Some of our viewers are wondering why not wait until the weather is good . Why go through the whole process with lightning in the area . Jim we are balancing so many things, and i want people to know that when we balance all of those things, there is always going to be uncertainty. We could wait another week and see that the weather is going to be good, the question is why is the weather got a week from now . The answer is because the wind are going to be east from west, so all of the cumulonimbus clouds and all of the storm systems are going to be the west on the west coast of florida. Windroblem is, when the are east to west, if we have a pad abort capability, which is what we did not have under the Space Shuttle. If we have that triggered, were going to have our astronauts landing on land, and that is not an option for us. We are balancing a lot of things, we are also balancing the time of day, making sure that we have to consider the sleep cycles of the crew to make sure that they are not in the middle of a very critical portion of the flight when they have been without sleep for a period of 24 hours, and that will not happen because we are managing for that. It is not just the sleep cycles of the crew, but also the International Space station, and all of these things that we are balancing have to match. We have these unique opportunities of time. When you talking about launching to the International Space station, it is not a window at all, is instantaneous, if you do not meet it, you do not go. You have to have all of these things ahead of time, and then you select a window. Go,he weather is good, you if the weather is not, you do not go. We have these different opportunities in the weeks ahead, but it is important to note, and bob just said this in a meeting earlier, we cannot forget that this is a test flight. We are a test flight, not in normal operations, we are learning. Everything we are doing as an institution is about learning. And, as we get ready for this launch, we want to make sure that we have everything as safe as possible. Again, cannot say it enough. Bob and doug are our highest priority, and we will go when everything is as safe as we can possibly make it. Good morning, this is marsha from the associated press. I would like the two active astronauts to answer this. This is being described as a revolution and i would like you to tell me what your image of the future is going to look like in your lifetimes. Is it too much to hope for jetsons, tony stark, ironman . Realistically, what do you want to leave people with and what is possible in our lifetimes . Thank you for that question. I am still waiting for my futurel jetpack, but the is incredibly exciting. It has been said many times already that we are really at the cost of the next generation of spacelike, and that is so true. What we will witness in the near future, and hopefully tomorrow is a culmination of that relationship between a government and commercial toergy entity helping us get to lowearth orbit and into the International Space station. My vision is that this ignites that next generation of spaceflight. I look forward to see artemis take the photos the first woman in the next man to the lunar surface for a permanent habitat where we will be doing research and science, and exploration on the moon. And that will serve as a launching pad to get us to mars. I think that is doable within my lifetime, and i am so excited about this launch, because i remember in second grade watching the Space Shuttle launch. The teacher wheeled a television into our classroom and that inspired me to recognize that this job of exploration was a possibility for me. Tomorrows launch will do that for our next generation of scientists, explorers, and astronauts. It is that generation that will take us to the moon, mars, and beyond. Thank you. Nicole thank you. I think what i look forward to is a vision where the Younger Generation sees no limitations in their life. Whether that be because of their gender, orientation, nationality, or anything, they see possibilities. What this allows, this partnership between public and private and commercialization of lowearth orbit, you see opportunities open up. I envision an opportunity where it is not just astronauts and government folks going to lowearth orbit, but there are other folks, scientists, doctors, poets, reporters. Imagine if you were able to capture with your own eyes and right this incredible story write this incredible story, you would be able to convey that much better than we can tell our story to you. I see it as a real possibility. The word unbelievable shall be stricken from the dictionary because you see a lot and go that is unbelievable, but it is believable, we are watching it. Place,ange is taking this step is happening. You will see lowearth orbit open up ncs go to the moon and see artemis, and a man and woman on the moon and eventually you will see us on mars. With reuters. A question for jim bridenstine, have you talked to bob and doug . How are they doing . Are they eager . Have you come to a decision on how long bob and doug will be staying on the iss since we locked down the august 30 dazed for the next Mission Quest date for the next mission . Jim we have to remember that this is a test flight and that will determine what we do. We are targeting a date of august 30. I know you used the where would locked down. Nothing is locked down before a test flight. We will do this test flight. Bob and doug are in great spirits and are ready to go, and certainly we have been in touch via text, and of course i will be talking to them before they launch again. Before they get ready to launch again. Thank you. Hello, Stephen Clark from spaceflight now. A question for the astronauts, have you had a chance to talk to bob and doug and if you have any more insights about their experience on wednesday, having propellant loaded into a rocket for the first time, there was a lot of discussion about the risk involved with the load and go fueling procedure, i want to get your perspective. For the administrator, just an schedule, ifings you have an update on when their second oft flight test will occur, and when the crew flight test might occur. Thank you. Nicole i was fortunate enough to talk to doug hurley the night before their first launch attempt, because and i think he gave me a call and he wanted to give me a little bit of fatherhood, we talked about the weather and i asked him how does it feel. Do you have concerns . And he did not. He mentioned the first time he flew on a shuttle he scrubbed five or six times before they launched. He said you just have to keep in mind that you have to remain flexible, and that calls and decisions will be made and everybody is out there keeping you safe and making sure you will have a successful mission. I thought that was a really good key for and applicable for the rest of your life. There are plenty of things that you cannot control, the weather being one of them, and you need to be flexible and not waste energy on things you cannot control, and do what you need to do to prepare, and one it is time for the next opportunity, you are ready to go. Kjell as far as a replay, that is eminently achievable, i would say for the first launch of carrillo, that has yet to be thatmined creo, crew has yet to be determined. This is daniel, with a question for the administrator. We are all hoping not hoping for another school scrub, i was hoping you could tell us a little bit about the precautions that nasa takes, so could you tell us about that and the costs per scrub. Importantis an question. A couple of things that we have to consider when we make these kind of decisions. Cost, becauseider again there is no cost to the lives of bob and doug. He will do whatever it takes to make sure they are safe. Now wer example right are going through a process, thinking tomorrow, it is about a 50 probability that we will have the conditions capable of launching at the time of launch. Here at the cape. When you add in uncertainty downrange because we have a launch abort capability, we have to have the right weather conditions down range. Is, we havequestion probability, and the next opportunity is on sunday, we could put ourselves in a position where we are doing back to back wet dress rehearsals saturday and sunday, and the things we have to do is consider the Human Factors. The Human Factors add risk as well because it wears everybody out, including our astronauts, although they never complain. We want to make sure that everybody is well rested and what ready to go. One of the things we might do, we might get another whether brief and make a decision that sunday is the day, not saturday. It will depend on every thing is a range of pop dutch probabilities. What is the probabilities on saturday and on sunday. If it is high enough on saturday, we target that day. We are looking at all of these different options. Earlier i mentioned that we have to consider sleep cycles. We want to lunch at a time when our crew, if the time to orbit that is in hours, the sweet spot, because they can get on orbit, get some rest, and then doc to the international spate dock to the International Space station. When we talk about their sleep day we depending on the launch and a timely launch, we have got phase burns and boost burns that we have to get accomplished, and if those are in the middle of the times when the astronauts are trying to catch sleep, and that is not optimum either. So, we are having to balance all of these things. There is cost associated with the delay, make no mistake. We load the rocket with liquid oxygen and unload. We have all of these people at the cape that are focused on getting the mission accomplished, there is absolutely cost associated. As far as the total dollar amount, given all of the things that we do, i do not have that number handy right now, but there are costs associated. Compared to the investments that took that it took us to get to this point, that is minimal. Compared to the lives of bob and doug, we are not worried about this. It is a test flight and we need to make sure that we are maximizing the opportunity for success, and that is what we are focused on. Do you have the ball park figure, hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars . Jim we will get you a number. Is Michael Sheetz from cnbc. I question is for jim, and bob could probably add color. Jim, youve asked people to stay home, given that we are all Wearing Masks and social distancing. Visitor complex reopened the day after the scrub. So this launch is going to see people being able to come to the Visitor Center, as well as it is the weekend, people do not have to take off work if they do not want if they want to watch the launch. What kind of measures is nasa taking that is different that we saw on wednesday . And what kind of crowds are nasa expecting in the local area, and even onsite . Jim so you are aware, yes, i do not know what the account is, but lots of people came to the cape to watch this launch. I will tell you what we are considering as an agency. This is an Important Mission for us, and in july we are launching a robot to mars. So, we have to protect the safety and the health of the workforce here at the Kennedy Space center. Demo two isse, once successful, which it will be, once it is successful, we will launch crew one. At the Kennedy Space center we have no shortage of opportunities we have to make sure that without question we are doing everything we can to keep our people safe at the Kennedy Space center, and keep them healthy. If we have an outbreak, all of the Contact Tracing begins, and then all of these Mission Essential people could end up getting sidelined. That is not the outcome we are looking for. So, the Visitor Center is open, there is no doubt that times are changing and people will travel in the Visitor Center is going to be open. What we expect is when people come here, they follow the guidance of the governor, and they follow the guidance for social distancing, and personal protective equipment. If you are not going to maintain that distance, and if people do that, they are going to be safe. We will make sure that the people involved in these Mission Essential functions for this country, launching american astronauts from american soil, launching our next rover to mars, that these functions will not be placed in jeopardy. I would like to add to that. The Visitor Center is a limited opening. They limit the number of people that could come on to the main complex. They are not going out to the saturn five, so it is in with keeping what disney has done, and universal has done. Not even all of the venues on the main complex are going to be open, and this was plans to open , had we launched on time, it would have been after the not after the launch. Now those folks will be able to view it from the Visitor Center. But, they have strict rules in place for cdc guidance, and all i can say is that they are doing it in the safest way possible, and in keeping with the governors guidelines for helping open up the state of florida, but it is by no means a full opening of the Visitor Center, the kennedy Visitor Center. It is limited participation. Onsite, as the administrator mentioned, we are in phase three for our guidelines for the coronavirus. We require folks to wear masks in common areas, in buildings, if they cannot be six feet apart, they have to wear a mask, in hallways, commonality areas, and elevators. We are taking this seriously. We have to protect our workforce to make sure we can complete essential work. Hello. New york times, i was wondering what bob and doug are doing these two days of during these two days of downtime . Jim i dont know honestly. They might spend time at the beach house, again i do not know, that is probably what they will do. They started a new tradition of launching little rockets, i do not know if you have seen any of that. They started a new tradition of launching rockets from the beach at the beach house before they launch, and so, i would imagine they are getting downtime. They are probably thinking about what is coming, there may be changes that they would like to have for their next route to the rocket. Do you have any insight . Rocket, launched on a and even with our launch we experienced a delay, so, you certainly get excited about the launch, you are prepared and your mindset is such that you are ready to fly. And doug werebob ready to do that on wednesday. And so, the scrub represents an opportunity for the team to learn, and then an opportunity for them to reunite with their families. I know they are spending time with their families and enjoying this little bit of time before they get ready to fly again. I am sure they are getting briefings from the nasa team on what the weather looks like and how the vehicle looks. The zoneing back into for whatever we decide for tomorrow or sunday. Greg from news 13. This is for the administrator and mr. Cabana. It has been nine years since america saw launch. This area was devastated after the shuttle was retired. What inspiration after nine years does this flight mean for the space coast in particular, and florida. Jim it is huge. Cabanat complement bob and his team enough. As you mentioned, when the shuttles were retired nine years ago, this area was devastated, and then that was with the cancellation of the moon program, constellation. All of those jobs anticipated were eliminated, and it was all at once and absolutely devastating. Happened, bobas and his team has put together and i will say this because bob l not brak write about brag about himself. We have commercial, civil, and military launches and a robust way, and the economy has come back. The markets are working here in a way we could not have envisioned nine years ago. Budget, a nasa a budget that is the highest it has ever been in history in nominal dollars and as high obviously apollo in real dollars was higher. Our trajectory is right. When i took over this job, our budget was 19 billion, and the request for next year is 25 billion dollars. For the First Time Since 1972, we have a human landing system funded to go to the surface of the moon, not just funded, but under contract for the development of that system. Of course, with the development of space force in the 45th space wing, air force station, it will be lots of economic opportunity. Some of it for good reasons because we want to do exploration and science. Some of it for not so good reasons, because we have bad actors around the room around the world making space more dangerous. We need the 45th space wing and the air force to do it to keep our country and the commercial capabilities of space safe. But, i will tell you right now, we are thrilled to have the support from the administration at the level that we have it. We have strong bipartisan support. One of my jobs, and i took this seriously when i took the job, how do we create a program that is sustainable and not going to invest billions of dollars and then get canceled . We do it by getting strong bipartisan support, which we are having. We do it by making sure our International Partners are engaged and contributing in dollar values and in capabilities, which they are doing. We think about building a space station in orbit around the mehran. Our International Partners want to go to the moon with us and they welcome that. Policysidents space says go to the moon sustainably with international and commercial partners. When we go to the moon in 2024, we will go with a commercial human landing system. We are expecting providers to get customers that are not nasa driving down costs and increasing access. We are building the markets that make it sustainable. The history of spaceflight is that the government created the demand and the supply, and when you do that you are limited and subject to the whimsical budgets of politicians. And that is where we were nine years ago. Because of bob and his team, and the vision to commercialize space, that is not where we are today. We need a resilient Space Program that includes the best that america has to offer from a government perspective, commercial perspective, and bring a coalition of nations with us, which was what the International Partnerships are about. We need bipartisan support, and we need these people that are watching on television to support the program, and they do. That is why we do so much communication outreach. If we have public support we get the support of the representatives in congress, which provide nasas budget, and they have been overwhelmingly supportive. So, yes, we all remember what happened nine years ago. Doingember it, and we are everything in our power to make sure that it doesnt happen again. And that is my job. Bob, i will let you say a few words. Bob first off, thank you for your kind words and i am pleased to be a member of this team. It is awesome what we have accomplished. You have you say we have not seen a launch. Every time a rocket ship leaves planet earth, it is worthy of note. When you talk about humans and what names and what it means, i looked at the last launch attempt in titusville, and it looked like the last flight of the Space Shuttle. In our nation, it means a lot to see astronauts launching on u. S. Rockets from u. S. Soil. Anytime you put a human on a rocket, it is another step up. It raises the level of concern, the level of importance, the level of are looking into it to make sure that everything is right. And, it is awesome. I cannot tell you what it will mean to me to see a u. S. Rocket launching crews off the pad. That is what they were designed for. We went from the moon to the moon from that pad. To see bob and doug launch off of it and then get boeing launching, we are on the verge of a new era. This is just the beginning, and it will only get better. It means a lot and i truly am excited. It is the culmination of a lot of hard work by this team and i cannot be more pleased. Jim i enjoy every launch, you know that. Thank you very much. This will be our last question. Credit do you put on elon musk personally to be where you are today . I know it is a big effort, but he is the linchpin in that all, and he is a colorful, highprofile figure for lots of reasons. How much attention is being drawn to all of this just by virtue of him as a person . Jim you are making a wonderful point. What elon musk has done for the american Space Program, he has brought vision and inspiration that we had not had for 10 years , since the retirement of the Space Shuttle. And, i will tell you, he is brilliant. He is capable. I have been the nasa administrator for over two years, and there have been times when maybe there has been a little tension because of the priorities we were focused on. But, when i talk with him and meet with him, he gives me a commitment and delivers on that commitment. That has happened every single time, so we are proud of the team that he has at spacex, we are attacked proud of the partnership between nasa and spacex. In this case, we are at a point in time where we have asked him to do certain things, and he has absolutely delivered. I would just like to add to that, i witnessed the flight readiness review last week, and it was said, we started out as a partnership, and in many respects, it has become a friendship. There is still a healthy distance between a contractor and this agency. But, there are a lot of relationships, and that is what makes our success. They actually embedded bob and doug into their manufacturing facilities so that their line workers got to know them personally, so they are personally invested in their says, and yes, as jim from elon, but it goes down to the line worker, and i cannot reiterate how much jim has said, and it is jims vision, the Vice President and president s vision, and they are helping us execute that vision. That was the last question. Do you have any Closing Remarks . Jim i want to reemphasize that this is a test flight. We learned a lot a couple of days ago, and in the days ahead we will learn more. Part of what we are learning is what we need to be safe to launch and how it relates to the weather. Of course, we are looking at saturday and sunday. We have some other days beyond that where we could launch. The seventh and the eighth are reserved, but we are looking at maybe the second and third as well, although that is not a certainty. But, i want to reemphasize that this is a test flight and that we will do everything we can to keep bob annes dog hundred percent safe. Bob and doug 100 safe. They were ready to go before and even more now. This agency that we call nasa will pull off something spectacular with our partners and we are excited about it. Thank you for coming and covering this press conference. Thank you, this concludes the press conference, have a great day. Saturday morning, beginning at 11 00 a. M. Eastern, cspan has live coverage of the rescheduled launch of the spacex crew dragon. Liftoff is scheduled for 3 22 p. M. Eastern as bob behnken and doug hurley launch to the International Space station. Cspan. Orgon cspan, or on the free cspan radio app. Tonight, starting at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, watch class of 2020 commencement speeches by dr. Deborah birx to her alma mater in new york. Ohio governor, mike dewine to his alma mater miami university, in oxford, ohio. Speaker of the house to northampton college. Joe biden delivering remarks to Columbia Law School graduates. To theretary of Defense Naval academy in annapolis. Watch class of 2020 commencement speeches tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, and on cspan. Org, or listen on the freebie radio app the free radio app. Cspan has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and Public Events from the president ial primaries to the impeachment process, and now the federal response to the coronavirus. 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