taken them, so they re now four years behind spacex. i think now that they have gotten this flight off, i agree with derrick, this was a critical mission not just for nasa, but for boeing to demonstrate, to give them confidence to demonstrate they have the capability to do this. we re far from complete. we have got to get off the centar, do some tests on the cst 100 over the next day and tomorrow hopefully we ll have a perfect docking, spend eight days on the international space station and then undock and come home. the ultimate test is how does the spacecraft handle the intense heat and pressure of re-entry, and then as the landing out in the desert, does it go the way we want it to go. only once they have touched down out in the desert ten days from now or eight days from now will we be able to take our breath and say we had a successful flight. such a good point as we watch these live images and they continue their mission, their journey into space at this very moment.
taken them, so they re now four years behind spacex. i think now that they have gotten this flight off, i agree with derrick, this was a critical mission not just for nasa, but for boeing to demonstrate, to give them confidence to demonstrate they have the capability to do this. we re far from complete. we have got to get off the centar, do some tests on the cst 100 over the next day and tomorrow hopefully we ll have a perfect docking, spend eight days on the international space station and then undock and come home. the ultimate test is how does the spacecraft handle the intense heat and pressure of re-entry, and then as the landing out in the desert, does it go the way we want it to go. only once they have touched down out in the desert ten days from now or eight days from now will we be able to take our breath and say we had a successful flight. such a good point as we watch these live images and they
experienced pilots. perfect. that s what we wanted to hear. the next landmark, jose, or the next milestone will occur at exactly 15 minutes into flight, that s when starliner, the spaceship separates completely from the booster rocket you see right there. but this is going exactly as they had hoped, exactly as planned and they will rendezvous with the space station in about 24 1/2 hours from now. that s unbelievable. this is something we re just kind of talking about, just think of what this entails and just how much technology and also just, you know, jose, i m thinking, much of this launch includes the actual astronauts participating in it. what is it like for you, what do you think back when you think back of these moments that right now these two astronauts are going through? well, it is very exciting. including to the point where you
important one of the initial part of this mission. it is critical. we re coming up on the next one, in about ten seconds here. it is going to be separation. so you re going to see the crewliner spaceship separating from the booster and that s a critical step. starliner is now on its way and will be firing its own rocket to get its own engine i should say to get it all the way separation. that s incredible. that s incredible. perfect. what are you thinking as you hear these communications? i m thinking, man, i wish i was up there. that s what i m thinking. i m being honest with you. but i m so happy for sunny williams and butch wilmore, two good friends, i trained with, i flew jets with butch and was a c
all the way to the 1960s. so, what s new is that spaceship on the top, as it is on its way to the space station. and, tom, real quickly, what happens to the rest of that rocket as it separates and you see all the things that happen before. all the different parts, what happens to them? unlike spacex, which has demonstrated it can re-use its boosters, this is not the case with atlas 5. they fall down into the atlantic ocean and what is re-useable is the spaceship itself. if it parachutes back to earth and they hope to re-use it as many as ten times is the plan for starliner. tom costello, jose hernandez, thank you for being with us this morning. so appreciate it. you re welcome. good to see you. still ahead, breaking overnight, a gunman attacks the u.s. embassy in beirut, lebanon. we ll bring you the latest on what happened there. plus, back at home, it is day