and the final frontier could, soon, open to space tourism. so far, hundreds of people have signed up for future virgin galactic flights. some paying more than $200,000, each. branson hopes that someday will be soon. i ve had to wait almost a lifetime to be able to go into space. hopefully, we can speed that process up for for many, many others. billion-dollar view. reporter: here at space port america, they are in their final stages of preparation for this hotly-anticipated space flight. but it s important to remember that this is, still, a test flight. virgin galactic is taking extra-safety precautions, as a result. all the passengers will be wearing parachutes, and supplemental oxygen will be onboard. in new mexico, i m rachel crane. earlier, my colleague michael holmes spoke with retired astronaut, leroy chiao, and he explained what these space travelers are likely to experience when they reach the edge of space. here s what he said.
because neil armstrong landed the eagle with what nasa said later was just 30 seconds of fuel left in the tank. wow. it s been 50 years since apollo 11 landed on the moon, and to celebrate, there s a projection this was so cool. the saturn 5 rocket on the washington monument in d.c. back in 1969, more than a half billion people watched on tv as armstrong stepped down the ladder and said the line we all know. listen that s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. joining us now, a man who knows what it s like to go into space. retired astronaut leroy chow. good morning to you. good morning. we ve spent the last 50 years celebrating the successful landing. it s really hard to imagine that
what are you making of the delay? who knows? he has been lying for years by his own admission. he has been dock things for president trump we know that were unsavory. he was the fixer. so who knows what his motivations are. the point is if he is georgetown to have any of his information been credible so we can say, gee, that s really important, he needs to get it done instead of coming up with excuses for why he isn t testifying. good to see you. retired astronaut mark kelley launched his campaign. he is married to former representative gabrielle gifford is the first to enter into the 2020 field. he will take on incumbent martha mcsally preefld held by the late senator john mccain. still ahead, the viral moments of one nfl superstar and a little boy with a unique
navy combat veteran and retired nasa astronaut mark kelly, notably the husband of former congresswoman gabby giffords, announced he is running for senate in arizona in 2020 as a democrat. the announcement was made via a campaign video that was posted on social media this morning with the title my next mission. we get the story tonight from nbc s cynthia mcfadden. reporter: tonight it s official, retired astronaut mark kelly is running for john mccain s senate seat in arizona. making the announcement in a highly polished video. you know, it becomes pretty obvious pretty early when you get into space that we re all kind of in this together. reporter: trained as an engineer, kelly became a navy fighter pilot and nasa astronaut. these missions are very, very challenging and very rewarding. reporter: he met his wife gabby giffords when he was about to turn 40.
welcome back to hardball. retired astronaut mark kelly announced this morning he s runneri running for the late john mccain s seat in 2020. and next to him was gabrielle gifford. you nearly lost your life serving your country. yes. but what do you do when bad things happen? move ahead. i learned a lot from being an astronaut, from being a pilot in the navy. i learned a lot about solving problems from being an engineer. but what i usesed from my wife is how you use policy to help improve people s lives. so please join us. ban the torpedos, full speed ahead.