InterNational Space station. Humans a new era of spaceflight and i could not be more pleased with what the nasa and spacex team has accomplished. Its truly an exciting time. Its great we are flying cruise on a regular cadence crews on a regular cadence from here to Kennedy Space center on u. S. Rockets and great we are doing it with our International Partners. Weve got one from japan on board. I could not be more pleased with what the team has accomplished. Im proud and humbled to be a part of it. Introduceleasure to our nasa administrator, jim bridenstine. Through his outstanding leadership and advocacy for the commercialization of lower lowearth orbit, the commercial route program, and transformation of the Kennedy Space center, to a multiuser spaceport that becomes a reality, please welcome a Great American to the stand, our administrator, jim bridenstine. [applause] jim thank you. And q, bob, for that introduction and thank you for your amazing leadership here at the entities base center, which has become a truly multiuser spaceport. We are looking forward to so many great things happening in kennedy and the years ahead. Moment. Another historic it seems like every time i come to kennedy, we are making history and this is no different. The history being made this time as we are launching is we are launching an operational flight through the International Space station. Make no mistake, vigilance is required on every flight, but as bob says, this is under contract. Another first for nasa is this flight is certified by the faa, the federal aviation administration. We have steve here and i will introduce him in a few minutes, the administrator of the faa. The whole goal is to commercialize our activities in lowearth orbit. Nasa wants to be one customer of many customers in a robust commercial marketplace for human spaceflight and lowearth orbit. But we dont just want to be one of many customers, we want to have numerous writers competing against each other on costs, innovation, and on safety, ultimately bringing more access to space than ever before. We have had success with commercial resupplies of the International Space station, where we are buying services to get our guttman and hardware our equipment, hardware, and other to the iss. Tomorrows flight is the next major milestone in this development. The next big phase is commercial space stations themselves. That is where we have private capital, an asset as a customer as well, ultimately capitalizing funding and moving forward for this new era in human face flight spaceflight, where nasa is one of many customers, and numerous providers compete on cost and innovation. The ultimate goal is to have more resources, do things where there is not yet a commercial focus, like going to the moon and the moon program. Because of what is happening today, all these things will be possible in the future. This is an exciting time for nasa, and these are, again, historic firsts. Tomorrows lunch is licensed by the faa and steve dixon has become a good friend of mine. Hes the administrator of the faa. He is a graduate of the air force academy, f16 pilot by trade who went to work for delta, flew the line at delta for nine years. He got a law degree in the midst of all of this. Then, you went into management at delta as a senior vice beforent of operations, of Flight Operations before taking the helm of the federal aviation administration. Please welcome steve dixon to the microphone. [applause] steve thanks, jim. It is really a pleasure. Appreciate your hospitality, here at the kennedys best center space center along with bob. Tos an honor for the faa launch. With nasa on the this is what happens when you fuel drop or two of rocket into ingenuity. We have all dedicated countless hours to make sure this launch is both safe and successful. The faas job in this mission and in commercial space generally is to protect public safety, property, and national security. We have the right skills and workforce, and team, to get this done. We have been doing it for many years, but this is our first manned, orbital spaceflight. We are really excited and privileged to participate today. In calendar year 2020, the faa licensed 30 ones base opportunities 31 Space Operations. In one month in october. We expect to license 56 more. It just about one per week in 2021, an exciting time in aerospace in the united states. In end of these salves in and of themselves, these numbers are impressive but just the tip of the iceberg. One Space Tourism turns the corner, we think we will likely see 100 operations per year. These operations will be a huge part of the new space economy, which some estimates could be worth 1 trillion by the year 2040. Its my job, under the leader of transportation secretary elaine chao, to make sure that the u. S. Is a doorway, not a barrier, to this innovation. Launchntly finalized the and recovery licensing requirements rule. The new rule will allow space launch operators to use a single license for multiple launches for multiple launch sites ash from multiple launch from multiple launch sites. We told this industry we would be out there on the launch pad with them, and we have cap that promise today. As we have cut red tape, we are also hoping to establish our nations space transportation infrastructure. We have licensed several space ports to space help us determine what services, rules, and regulations will be needed to support spaceports. Along with this, a suite of Game Changing technologies and procedures. To safely integrate Space Operations into the National Aerospace system. By the start of next year, we plan to deploy a prototype of the space data integrator, or sti as we call it, that will call it, thats we will feed Realtime Data into the faas Traffic Management system so that we can manager traffic much better than historically. We will be able to block off less space for Space Operation and release that space more quickly. So it is available for others spaceports users. To complement sdi, we are already using timebased receivers to help manage the flow of aircraft around the space launch or recovery. This is also an inspiring time for young people as well. We want young people to know what the opportunities are in aerospace and space in particular that can come from a career, and we are working to reach kids of all ages. I will be watching tomorrows lunch with a group of kids from tulsa, oklahoma, who really have a dream of going to space, and its within the reach in ways that it never was for my generation. I will leave you with this. Tomorrows crew dragon lunch is example of americas ingenuity but also Global Leadership and partnership. There are even bigger and better days to come. America is watching, and the entire world is too, and they want to see this industry continue to do great things. This industry is stepping up to the task from what ive seen. To that point, it is my privilege to introduce a row she hiroshio is the zuzaki. Thank you, steve, for introducing me. Behalf of all i would like to express [inaudible] it is a great pleasure for me for this exciting missions. On another note as well, well prepared for the launch. Of iss is also ready and waiting for the crew arrival. Is a symbol of the japan u. S. Partnership, and we iss to go together to the and beyond. I will be at the launch tomorrow, and wish you a successful launch. Thank you. Anould like to introduce astronaut and very famous even in japan. [applause] thank you. It is great to be here in florida. Im so excited to see our friends launch tomorrow, my, victor, shannon, sue ichi. It will be awesome to see them working up there for the next six months. The commercial crew program with boeing and spacex has been spectacular. Watching the innovation from both companies has been amazing. Im specifically looking forward to seeing them live up there, because our crew, my crew will be the complementary crew on the boeing star liner here. This is an exciting time for all of us, watching them pave the way, so we can do lowearth orbit with commercial crew and then move on to the next big step. With that, im going to introduce one of the newest newest class of astronauts, johnny kim, who will lead that exploration charge. Thank you. [applause] good morning. My name is johnny kim, and im honored and privileged to be here. Its crazy to be thinking about what we will be doing tomorrow. Its hard to imagine how far we have come. The First Certified flight of a commercial vehicle launching three american astronauts and an International Partner to the space station. Because of the thousands of people who work behind the scenes. We truly stand on the shoulders of giants. From former astronauts to our administrator and International Partners, we would not to be here if it was not for everyone. You have heard all of the benefits commercial crew program is bringing benefits the commercial crew program is bringing to the American People and humidity. Humanity. What im excited about to see for my friends launch on that rocket tomorrow. Brothers, sisters, parents, children, but they are all human. They represent us and everything we stand for, for humanity. The successes of the commercial and the iss, which has been inhabited for 20 years, has set the stage for future Space Exploration. As we return to the moon and beyond. I am greatly privileged and honored to be here. Im looking forward to tomorrow. [applause] thank you. We will start taking questions from reporters. Please leave one question for reporters and our focus is on crew one. Any questions other than crew one we will be happy to take after the press conference. Our first question . Associated press for mr. Bryden stein. Elon musk has been tweeting that he is not feeling so good, and some of his covid tests are positive and some are negative. What is he telling you, personally, and are you going to launchim to be in recorders, even if his next test comes back negative . Jim i talked to e line two days twobefore this new elon days ago before this news came to be. Ill tell you, when somebody tests positive for covid here at the Kennedy Space center and nasa, its the policy for the person to quarantine and self isolate, so we anticipate that will take place. And we are looking to spacex to do any Contact Tracing that is appropriate, and of course, if there are changes that need to be made, we will look at those, but it is early to know if any changes are necessary, at this point. We just dont know. Im lauren with the verge. My question is for jim. Crew one comes at a transitional time for our country, and as we prepare for a new administration, im curious, what are your hopes for the commercial crew program, the future of human spaceflight at nasa, and how you plan to work with any successors to ensure a good future for the program. Jim when we think about the commercial crew program specifically, and i have said this a lot, we are exceptionally grateful to the leadership of Charlie Bolden and his commitment, going back many years. Then of course, Robert Lightfoot and the leadership i have had. That has program spanned multiple administrations , and ive always said, and will continue to advocate for nasa, creating sustainable programs. Thats what we look for. That is something i think we are achieving with the Artemis Program. We have seen bills in the house and senate received strong bipartisan support that fund the human landing system for the moon, that fund the Artemis Program, and the things we need to do to achieve what we would say sustainable programs we are thinking about programs that last not just decades but a generation. I would like to see a day when my children are my age and we have People Living and working on the moon and on mars. To achieve that, we are going to need to have strong, apolitical, bipartisan support. We have worked for that day in and day out since i came to nasa, that was my commitment. Im looking at the house and senate, and im confident we have strong bipartisan support to result in a sustainable program. Thank you. Is for jim, rachel joy with florida today. Wondering if you could briefly talk about the falcon nine engine issue that started with the gps mission when they had the last second abort. And, how that played out in swap outs and how many are ultimately swapped out across all three rockets . Jim i will address your question kind of big picture, but i would referred refer you we will have a flight readiness review and then a press conference after that. I would refer those questions to the press conference after the review. When we talk about the commercial program itself, remember what we are trying to achieve. Nasa wants to be one customer among many customers in a robust marketplace. One of the things of that is that when the air force, space force, or commercial Communications Satellite launches, we are going to get data and information about the engines on the falcon nine rocket, about the performance of the avionics systems, etc. Etc. Each one of these missions is informative for what we are trying to achieve as an agency. Ist is in fact what i think so magnificent about the commercial crew program in general. When we go back to the shuttle era, every flight was a human flight. Every flight was in fact a nasa flight. In this case, we have commercial done. S, as bob cabana has he turned this facility into a multiuser spaceport where we have all of these different entities using these commercial vehicles, including now nasa, so we can get benefits from these other launches. I leave it to that but i would refer you, the flight readiness review will happen today. At the conclusion, there will be a conference and that is a question i would refer to them. Chris davenport from the Washington Post for jim. You touched on this in your opening remarks, but there is a lot of remark on this being the beginning of operational flights from u. S. Soil, regular flights with ruse to the space station, but the fact of the matter is, the clue crew dragon has only phone a couple times. Can you talk about what youre are doing to ensure it is safe. It seems to me this is a test missing in a lot of weight mission in a lot of ways. Jim when we think about flights, to space, they are all we take all of them with great percussion. We take them very seriously. Every bit of attention to detail that we have on a test flight, we also have on operational light. Flight. That being said, we learn from every single flights, whether it is operational or a test flight, but we are launching four astronauts, three american astronauts, a japanese astronaut , they are going to the International Space station for six months to do serious and real work on behalf of the American People and humanity at large. It is operational but also true that, when you think about spaceflight, every flight is a test flights. There is always something new and different. In this case, they are going for a longer period of time and will be doing Different Things on the international station. They are going with a crew of four and will be doing Different Things on the way. Toh one of those requires us be diligent, which we always are. But make certain we do not take any of this lightly. And q. Thank you. Good morning, i am melanie holt and this is for the administrator. Im piggybacking on an earlier question. We were talking about the change coming now with this administration, and i would like to know, if given the opportunity, would you like to continue the work already begun here . Jim i will refer you to the comments i made to irene standing behind you. I made them on sunday, and i will he might mince there on that. Leave my comments there on that. Irene with aviation. Jim, what is the status of the discussions with the russian to do swaps for commercial crew . I know both countries are committed to the International Space station and the amazing work going on there now with humans on board for 20 years. We are moving into this new era where, instead of nasa purchasing seeds, we want to ane sets, we want to have exchange of seats where russian ronauts can fly on american astronauts can fly on russiancosmo flights and russian cosmonauts on american flights. We want to see where the if there is a day where there is a challenge with one of the vehicles, we have continued access to the International Space station by both earners. Those discussions both people. Dixon, is a process that you just went to through to certify this mission, how similar the will that be if you are asked to certify nonprofessional astronauts . A great question. It will really be the same process, similar to what we have been using for many years on unmanned commercial mission. Jims point, about sustainable programs, the faa involved, this is about scaling man commercial Space Missions in a larger way, because it will become a more routine part of the Aerospace System in our country. Again, it is really building on the work we have all done together, nasa and the faa, partnering on many issues over the years. This is just another form of that partnership. Thanks. Stephen clark from spaceflight now. If i could have two, first for administrator brian stein, i want to get jim bridenstine. I want to get your view on the bill and the stimulus that provides less than a third of what the administration requested, and a little more than a house version. Not as much as requested. I wanted to see how that whole process will affect hls pyramid and 2020 for for artemis. For sonny williams, what are you hearing from the boeing team onstar liner on star liner, and when are those test flights and when you will fly. And what is driving the schedule right now . Thank you. Jim great questions, both. When it comes to the bills we have seen in the house and senate, we have currently enacted 600 million appropriation rate human landing system, which was done with bipartisan support in the house and senate and has now resulted in three contractors being contracted to develop the human landing system. I want to be clear, that is something that has not happened since 1972. We are exceptionally grateful for where we are right now, because of the bipartisan support from the house and senate. I would say, when we look at what we are looking for for 2021, number one, the house has passed a bipartisan bill that funds the human landing system at 2 million. The Senate Passed a human landing they have not passed it but they have presented a bill that has the human landing system funded at 1 billion area billion dollars. Creationtive for the of a sustainable program, which is our highest priority. We have been through times in the past where the vision for Space Exploration where we have plans to go to the moon, and they get canceled. We have plans to go to the moon and they get canceled with the space x initiative. Thats why bipartisan support is so important. Im grateful for the fact that as hard as we have work to achieve it, we have that. Is it everything we requested in the budget request . The answer is no. Processlso tell you the is ongoing. There is a bill in the house and one in the senate. They will be conferenced and there will be discussions with the white house. I think, at the end, we would like to see the full amount funded, but i will also say it is critically important to recognize the strong, apolitical, bipartisan support for the human landing system and artemis graham in general. Liner k note onstar note on star liner, its an amazing vehicle. We are making sure all the ts are crossed and eyes are dotted is are dotted. Its a little different from ot one where we did not have all of the systems in place. Its more diligent that we are working on the spacecraft. At the end of this year and beginning of next year, we should have cft not too long two. Ost im hoping me and i crew will be ready by the end of next year. We also have to worry about what warts are open on the space station. Its getting crowded in space, and that is a good thing. We will have to work it into the schedule. So standby. It will be before you know it. This question is for the administrator. Mr. Administrator, we talked about this before and i know it is not lost on you, that these historic lunches are happening in the midst of a global pandemic. We could argue that more people are suffering now than they were in may when we saw that other launch. How do you convince the American People that this is an Important Mission that needs to happen right now . Jim it really is an Important Mission. You look at the work happening that will be beneficial for humanity, and i will give you a some give you some that are salient. We are advancing medicine, using the microgravity of space on my in ways you cannot do in the gravity well of earth, compounding pharmaceuticals. We are advancing immunizations. The two i talk about the mostar salmonella and pneumonia. Capabilities that have been advanced using the microgravity of space that have transformational impact for life on earth. Are talking about four astronauts going to the International Space station. The amount of research we can get given the complements on the International Space station is good. When we have additional astronauts, a full complement of crew on the International Space station, the amount of research will be transformational. It is critically important as we advance the human condition on earth, whether we talk about creating human tissue in the microgravity of space where it does not go flat like it does in the gravity well of earth. That human tissue is regenerative in nature and can be used for maybe save lives one day. These are the kind of technologies when we talk about industrialized bio medicines happening on the International Space station right now that may relate to this pandemic, that may relate to the next pandemic, that may relate to people who have vascular degeneration. We are creating artificial eyeball onthe human the space station using advanced material. These are the kinds of things that are transformational for life on earth, and we believe it is critically important. I also want to give compliments to bob cabana, shuttle astronaut for four missions, who has done great work as the leader of this sector. Center,had cases at the but people are not getting it. They are getting it other places because of the protocols bob has put in place and the adherence to those protocols. Social distancing, mast wearing. If you do not need to come to work, work from home. These are the protocols we have put in place in kennedy. Bob has led the effort and there has been success. We need that to continue. I feel good about where we are and i think the American People do as well. Thank you. Thank you for doing this. Jim, thank you being a great administrator. Youve motivated everybody and excited everybody with artemis just like the faa gentlemen, exciting the kids. Weve been waiting decades to go back to the moon. Thank you for your impetus and your team for getting that done. My question is about artemis. We have had a lot of hurricanes in the gulf of mexico, very near and passing over the course date, how is the core passing over the core stage. How is nasa doing . Rep. Pelosi first jim for sure there been impacts from hurricanes and covid and people are aware the core stage of the sls, that is the challenge. We have to get that complete. We have to get the green run complete and we are working on that every day. The reason we do the green run subsystem and we test all of the limits, and we will find things. When we find things we will get them corrected. Is a test vehicle. It is going to the moon. That rocket will fly to the moon. It will launch orion and the European Service module to the moon. We have to make sure we get it right. When we get this first one right , we know the second sls will launch american astronauts around the moon. This is a program that is on the five yard line and we are very excited about getting the test complete, getting the core stage here. Yesterday i was at the Vehicle Assembly building and the solid rocket boosters are there ready to be integrated. They are not in the Vehicle Assembly building but theyre the processing facility. They are here at kennedy. We saw the orion crew capsule is ready. The European Service model is tested. The adapters come everything is ready. We just have to get that core stage. We saw just recently the mobile launcher rollout and then rolled back in. Yesterday i saw it in its completed form and it is beautiful. Bob told me that will not be what holds us up. So far he has been right. There is a lot of positive things happening and we are very excited about getting that first launched on. As of this point, the november date of 2021 for the first launched has not changed. We have margin in that schedule, but i will also tell you that with covid and the hurricanes and some other things, that margin is going to flip. Right now we are holding to that schedule. Is that going to stay that way . It depends. As time goes on we will learn more about how the impacts are affecting us. Can i ask one more question about covid . If there is any research on the iss directed toward covid or have you been contacted by the Vaccine Companies at all, where the iss could assist in that research . Jim not on the vaccine per se, but i will tell you when the pandemic first began we had great folks at the jet Propulsion Laboratory which is one of the nasa centers at caltech university. To stop work on some projects because of covid, they went to work in their own homes than they created a ventilator that used none of the parts that come from the other ventilator manufacturing capabilities. That ventilator has now been licensed to a number of companies for mast manufacturing if and when needed. Weill tell you that the way make sure we protect planets when we fly robots to other worlds, that is basically with a fog. We make sure we do not take any microbes to any other world. That fog kills viruses as well. With a now partnered fogany in ohio to use the to clean the inside of ambulances and lb scaled up to clean the inside of classrooms and businesses and now it cleane scaled up to the inside of classrooms and businesses. It is being scaled up with nasa, but as far as any immunization capability, if there is ive not heard of it at this point. Hello. Question, but two part spirit have any but two parts. Have any technical issues arisen with the crew one stack, and after the splashdown of demo two and all of the analysis post down. Was it concluded post splash down. Was it concluded that was a flawless launch and mission . Jim i will identify two issues we took up and then i will turn it over to bob regarding the launchpad. When the capsule came back it looked like the heatshield had some spots where it may have ablated more than anticipated, within margin, but more than we anticipated. The good thing about commercial crew and commercial resupply is we tested a lot of heatshield and we have seen a lot of heatshield. We have made adjustment to the heatshield to ensure we understood what the issue was and fixed it, and then there was an issue on the parachutes where they opened a fraction of a second later than we anticipated. All within margin. I want to be clear. All within what we specified as far as the realm of safety, but it might have taken a little bit longer for the parachutes to deploy. I think they deployed around 6000 feet instead of 6500 feet or whatever the number was. Those are two issues that have been resolved. I want to be clear. They were within margin and save. We just wanted to understand it a little bit more and make some adjustments and we did. I will turn it over to bob. The pad is ready to go. After every launch, regardless of what pad it is their maintenance procedures that have to be followed to inspect the pad and correct some things that have been damage to but to make sure the pad is ready for the next launch. That goes for any pad. Spacex went through everything after every launch and they are good to go. The capsule and the rockets as we approach launch tomorrow night . Bob right now we will have our launch review with spacex at noon and find out the latest detail and everything. As far as i know they are working no serious issues and we are good to go, but we will have the details after the launch readiness review at noon. Morning. Tomorrow is going to be a alstoric cooperation flight where soviets will be flying alongside american astronauts. Housing of get is this, what is the meaning . Jim it is extremely significant. He is an amazing human being, not just a japanese hero but an american hero. He has one of the finest. I will tell you when we think about the partnership we have around the world, japan is among the best partners we have. I will also say the significance of that partnership is here we are on the first Operational Mission of a commercial crew vehicle, and japan is with us. On day one, japan is with us. With us on the International Space station. We are looking at the enthusiasm and japan for the Artemis Program and the budget japan is humans to achieve landing on the moon for the First Time Since 1972, and knowing japan wants to be with us on the Artemis Program and committing themselves, not just to the effort, but backing it up with financial resources. Japan is an amazing partner and we are grateful for the nation of japan. I look forward to all of the the astronaut will do on the International Space station. He is a special individual and we look forward to a long and Strong Partnership with japan as we continue. This will be our last question. David from discovery channel. About elon musk and the possibility he is not feeling well and could be ill. I know the crew is in quarantine. Has he had any contact with the crew or others. Have you been able to Contact Trace all that come in if not, is there to is there a chance and if he is ill you might have to delay . Jim as far as any contact with the crew, i am unaware of it. The Contact Tracing should be underway right now, and of course nasa and spacex will work through it together and come to the right conclusion. This news just broke before the press conference, so if there are adjustments that need to be made, we will make them. Our astronauts have been in quarantine for weeks. They should not have had contact with anybody. They should be in good shape. There is a chance you could delay if there is a context trace that gets back . Jim i do not know that. I will not say that. There is a lot to learn. Thank you. Thank you so much. We will close out the press conference with final remarks from the administrator. Jim i just want to thank everybody for once again coming to a launch. This is the first time we go with the crew of four to the National Space station on a commercial vehicle. It is the first time we go with one of our International Partners, japan, and we are so grateful for the amazing partnership we have with japan. It is the first time we go as a ,ommercial vehicle, licensed into orbit, licensed by the faa. A lot of firsts on this flight. A lot of amazing discoveries that will happen by these four amazing astronauts over the next six months. It is a great time to be at nasa and a great time if you are an enthusiast of Space Exploration, there is a lot happening, not just in lowearth orbit but with the Artemis Program and all the way to the moon. Thank you for being in attendance and we will look forward to a great launch tomorrow. Thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the next big sex launch is tomorrow evening at 7 30 the next spacex launch is tomorrow evening at 7 39. Up next nancy pelosi will hold her News Conference on capitol hill. Watch Live Conference on cspan at cspan. Org or the free cspan radio app. At noon former Homeland Security secretaries Michael Chertoff and Janet Napolitano will be part of a discussion on president ial transitions and the peaceful transfer of power in relation to national security. It is hosted by the university of virginias Miller Center and starting at noon. We are waiting for a News Conference with how Speaker Pelosi starting just a few minutes. Right now, a discussion from this mornings washington journal. Host we did republicans only yesterday. Your thoughts on how joe biden will govern. How she could how should he interact with republicans on capitol hill