Star1 if you have a question and star2 to withdraw your question if it gets answered. All right. Lets jump in. We will start with michael sheets from cnbc. Reporter hello, guys. Thanks for taking my question. I hope you can hear me pretty well up there. Im curious to hear more about your experience testing out crew dragon in the interim time youve been up there as well as do you guys feel like youre ready to come back now, given the amount of time its been already, but whether or not this experience is one that youd rather see staying up there or coming back to test out the splashdown . Thanks. Michael, thats several questions, ill see if i can remember all of them. But i think from an onorbit testing standpoint, we did inhabitability test, we tested emergency equipment, and just generically how we work with the dragon docked on board. Transferring equipment, transferring supplies. Were going to do a fair amount of that again tomorrow when we return equipment or supplies back to earth. So most of that went exactly as we planned. There was a couple of little tweaks here and there. But for the most part we have , had pretty good luck with endeavour as far as onorbit testing has worked just as it did on launch. We expect nothing different for the splashdown. Our experience up here has been like i think every space flight for most of us is a once in a lifetime experience. This one probably is a great topper, at least for me personally, just to be able to live and work aboard space station, a facility the three of us all helped build during our during the shuttle flights. And just its been great to be a crew member with chris and bob on a daytoday basis supporting i. S. S. Operations, supporting science, supporting maintenance. The space walks, the four space walks these guys did. The robotics we did. It was just just an incredible experience. And one that i will absolutely never forget and always cherish. Thank you. So next up, we have russell pounds from pacific rim media. Reporter good morning. im not sure which one of you may have had this experience but theres a quote ive always appreciated from arthur c. Clarke that says any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. The question is, what experience did you have that gave you that aha feeling and embodies that notion of the first gasp of delight . Thanks. Its an interesting question. I think to really put something out there that is so advanced technologically we would have to describe it as magic in the way it works, i think for all three of us, i personally am from the showme state, missouri if Something Like that was to happen to me and i was baffled by it we wouldnt be scientists and engineers if we didnt strive to understand what it was. So theres that initial moment of wonder when you see something that you dont quite understand, and then we strive to understand it. I think thats really our calling as folks that seek out and continue to try to find the answers to unknown questions. Anything that we found lake anything that we found like that we would pound flat until , we did understand it. Those sorts of situations probably for us happened mostly when it comes to things that dont go exactly right. We think we fully understand something and it doesnt proceed the way we expected it to. We have a failure in a piece of equipment or an operation and its a failure of the imagination and then we strive to take it apart bit by bit. I think every Space Program has had its share of those sorts of events that we had to really dig down and try to understand what we didnt understand and make sure we had a handle on it before we continued with operations. I think probably the three of us at least from a technological perspective dont believe in magic. Thanks, bob. So now we have Chris Davenport from the washington post. Reporter hey, guys. Hope youre well. Quick question. Obviously the first water landing since 1975. I was curious if you have spoken to any of the apollo astronauts about that and what advice they may have given you . And then also wondered if you could talk little bit about your training and how much was dedicated to splashdown given the differences from a shuttle landing . Thanks. Good morning, chris. We didnt talk specifically with apollo astronauts but i remember specifically when i was still before i was even assigned to this flight, working in flight operations, reading the afteraction reports from the skylab astronauts which was a little more applicable in that those flights were a little bit longer. You know the water landing portion of it is pretty challenging from a physiological standpoint, just after coming back from being in microgravity for on the order of one to two months, i think the longest Skylab Mission was close to three months which is similar to what bob and i are doing. Obviously there was some challenges postsplashdown. Folks didnt feel well. That is the way it is with a water landing. Even if youre not deconditioned like were going to be. So we think what we need to do is do our fluid loading properly. Weve exercised very hard while weve been up here. And were just trying to put ourselves in the best posture to be able to deal with those effects. And well just see where it goes from there. The ground teams are fully aware of the challenges of a water landing and what it does to the human body and you know, well just take it from there once we get on board the ship. Weve got the flight surgeons on board that will be able to help us as well. All those things are have been thought about and are in place. You know, other than that, its just time to go give it a try and see how it goes. All right. Well go to eric burger from ars technica. Reporter hi guys, looking forward to seeing you come home at least this weekend. Is it true that the crew is is it true that the crew is referred to as Komodo Dragon and thewould you characterize habitable volume inside the dragon . Would you be comfortable in there for two or three days with a couple of people or sit kind or is it kind of cramped . Eric, good to talk to you. Were not familiar with that Komodo Dragon reference for our onorbit procedure. Thats not what we call it. The only other name weve used other than crew dragon is endeavour, and we appreciate the spacex guys allowing us or being ok with us putting a moniker on board the ship. Thats something we cherish the opportunity to do. And as far as the habitable volume inside the dragon capsule, its relatively small. If you tried to put a full crew of seven like we had on the Space Shuttle days inside that volume, it would be a stay in your seat sort of situation. But with three or four people, the operations normally will your job will be to be in your seat for the ascent and docking and then of course the splashdown. Theres plenty of room in those locations. Around the interior of the vehicle, there is some spaces that folks can get out of their seats and have their own small area to be in. So i wouldnt say its phone booth sort of densely packed but it definitely is cozy if you were to get up to four people. All right. Now we have james rogers from fox news. Reporter good morning, boys. So i have a quick question with regards to the splashdown. Two questions, really. Obviously the splashdown is such an iconic moment in terms of the in terms of Space Missions weve been seeing, but whats your First Experience of watching splashdowns on tv . And also related to that, we have this new spacecraft being designed to perform better in a splashdown scenario, how does what this capsule offer differ to the capsules weve seen used in previous splashdowns . Ok. We had a hard time understanding the question but i think just in relation to splashdowns, as far as what we would experience, is that what you were asking . Reporter yeah, in terms of how is this differ in terms of the prior capsules used in flashdown used in splashdown scenarios i know a lot of attention has been paid to that. How is it different . Or how is it better . Ok, i think we got it that time. Yeah. The recovery of dragon after splashdown is that therell be a couple of what we call fast boats will come up to the capsule at that point and make sure everything is safe on the outside of the cap seal capsule for it to be hoisted on board the recovery ship. At that point, the recovery ship is moving in and in communications with the fast boats and once everybody gives the thumbs up that were ready to be hoisted aboard itll get lifted aboard by a crane and cradled on board the aft portion of the ship. At that point once its secure on the back deck of the ship then they can open the hatch and itll be time for us to get out. Hopefully that answered your question. Thank you, doug. Next up we have david curley with discovery channel. Reporter dragon crew, thank you. And commander of the station thank you for taking the , questions. Everybody knows there are parts of flight that are extreme. It is reentry in this case. The chief engineer of spacex says he is a little bit worried about plasma, potentially getting into the pods. Bob you said you werent , nervous. You are a lot closer now. What do you think . And did you just say youre going to have a bag ready which is completely understandable for splashdown . Howdy, i think as we get closer, i think we really focus more and more on our preparations to be ready for the splashdown activities. We spent the day today working through the on board training that will refamiliarize with us that will refamiliarize us with the splashdown activities. What our responsibilities will be, the things well monitor. I know the spacex team, the chief engineer there and the nasa team are all looking closely at all the things that could possibly that they wish they had more information on or that they feel the most uncertain about. And they share those with us on a routine basis. Weve got an update on the flight readiness review activities. I know that the chief engineers job is to make that list of things that are areas of concern and then balance that risk with what they currently know and with going forward. That information has all been shared with us. Splashdown is closer than it was the last time we were asked questions about it. But i still dont feel nervous about it. And really were focused on the things we will need to do to be as safe as possible as we come back. It does take a little bit of time so ill answer for doug and say well both have the appropriate hardware ready should we start to feel a little bit sick on board while were in the vehicle after splashdown. But we know the team is going to get us pulled up and on board the ship relatively quickly and so were expecting to be as prepared as we can be and have a really good feeling about being under control as we get through all that. Next up we have andrea linefelder from the houston chronicle. Reporter hi, guys. looking forward to having you back in houston. My question is also about splashdown. You know, the vehicle pretty much lands itself, so im curious what you guys think youll be doing what with that thank you will be doing what will that experience will be like . If youll be monitoring anything or looking out the windows or just holding on . Thanks. Yeah for the free flight portion of the flight, after we undock and phase our way back towards the orbit burn and reentry, well spend a good share of that sleeping and then monitoring the systems prior to and after we wake up. Then once we wake up, we will eat, fluid load, go through suitup and then work our way into the entry portion of the flight and then the deorbit burn, then entry. Well be fairly busy when were awake. Throughout the whole process. And then those last probably two and a half to three hours will be busy as we get suited up, strapped into the seats and monitoring all the different systems of the vehicle ensuring that its doing what its supposed to be doing as we work our way back toward florida. And then it carries on all the way down through splashdown. There are very he milestones that have to happen in a key sequence, in order, on time, for everything to go the way its supposed to. If not we along with Mission Control out in hawthorne, california, the spacex Mission Control will be there to assist or intervene if they need to do as well. It will be very busy. There wont be a lot of looking out the window certainly at that point. Where we sit in the vehicle we can see through those forward windows somewhat but mostly well be focused on the displays and systems of dragon. Well go to gio benitez from abc news. Reporter bob, doug, chris, great to speak with you again and see youre doing well. I have two quick questions. The first, were all looking at that forecast. Are you at all concerned that this storm may be too close for comfort . And the second one, bob, we hear your wife megan is going to be going up this spring. This is going to be her first dragon flight. What tips do you have for her . I think from a weather perspective, just like everybody else on the nasa and spacex team, we look forward to the weather forecasts that are coming out daily at this point. Theyll even get more frequent as we get closer to the actual splashdown. I think on launch, the departure day well start to get every six hours another forecast. Sort of an update. Were watching those closely. Mostly to maintain awareness and see the trends and understand what the timeline would be if our recovery out of the water, for example, was delayed a little bit. We have confidence that the teams on the ground are watching that much more closely than we are and we wont leave the space station without some good landing opportunities in front of us, good splashdown weather in front of us. And so theyre keeping us informed but the lions share of that work happens on their end. We dont control the weather, we know we can stay up here longer, theres more chow, i know the space Station Program has more work we can do for the p. I. s and other folks who have sent science up here to the space station. As far as my wife goes, shes super excited to be assigned to a Spacex Mission right on the spacex capsule to the International Space station. And of course, i will have a lot of tips for her. Howt of them will be about life on space station goes. That has been the most unique other than the capsule itself. I think that is where i will have the most to share with her but i will definitely have some advice about living inside of dragon and what and where best to pack your personal items so you can get to them conveniently. Just like any trip come if you pack appropriately come it can be a fun trip. If you pack everything at the bottom of the big van you take on vacation, you have to get them all out one item at a time at various times and it can be tiring and eat into your enjoyment of the trip. I will have some tips for her but it will be hard to dampen the excitement she has with any suggestions i have. Joy rouletteve from reuters. Reporter thank you for doing this. Process what about the process of returning you and the space x team . And earlier, you said you will have the appropriate hardware in case you guys get sick, is that something as simple as a paper bag or do the flight suits have any hardware to anticipate sickness . I didnt get your first question but i can answer your second one. The appropriate hardware, just like on an airliner. There are bags if you need them and well have those handy and we will probably have some towels handy as well. Happen, it needs to certainly would not be the first time it happens in a space vehicle. But the first time in this vehicle if we do, but not the first time by any stretch as folks flying in space know going uphill a little bit can have an effect on your system and coming downhill is the same way and well let you know. What was your first question again . Reporter what about the process of returning do you and the spacex team wish you had more information on . I think the biggest challenge and it was that way with shuttle is the weather that we need in order to return home. Shuttle had some fairly significant weather criteria relative to dragon or capsule vehicle, but we still have weather to deal with and anybody who has lived on the gulf coast or anywhere in the south along the coast in the United States know that august and september are tough months to deal with the hurricanes that crop up and 2020 seems to be a pretty active year by all accounts. The biggest thing we would like to know is the weather. As with any tropical system, even with todays technology, they are somewhat unpredictable. They wobble, they move. The center moves. And you have fronts that affect them and where they go and that obviously has an effect on our landing area. If anything, would like to be able to predict the weather better than we can, but we have some of the best people in the business working on this. And if the weather is not good, we wont try to leave tomorrow we will leave on a different day when it is. Lets go to marsha dunn from the associated press. Reporter for bob, im wondering if you had a hunch that megan would be riding your same dragon to orbit so soon after your flight . And secondly, have you or doug been in touch with elon musk and if so, what is he telling you, asking you, is he reassuring you about splashdown . Thank you. Marsha, we have our hints that things might be in work as we go forward, but as anyone who will tell you who has been part of the flight assignment process before i know chris and i have , assigned people to that role and the decisions are kind of made and final really towards the very end of it. And so while there are hints , what might happen in the future, we dont count our chickens until they are hatched so just be with respect to flight assignments. While i had a hint, we wait before the final day before we go forward with it. As far as elon goes, we did spend time with him prelaunch and demo one, we spent time with him as well. Once we got in orbit and hans didnce we got in orbit, we hear hans reached out to us and lee and chris young. We have been in contact with the entire spectrum of folks on the spacex side and reassuring is the wrong word but confidence in the equipment and plan and continue to make updates to make it as best as it can possibly be for the splashdown we will go through here in a couple of days. I think that is probably the thing that is most impressive about that team is that willingness to continue to improve and make corrections. There are things that have changed, minor things, but things they thought a lot more about and tested on the ground prior to our splashdown but since we have launched and gotten updates on those things and it is the mark of a good team that they continue to strive to make the product and make the event as successful as it can possibly be. Now we have Robert Pearlman from collect space. Reporter hi, guys. the first space ship named endeavour