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