With the successful test flight of the dragon on the vulcan 9, that safely delivered the two that safely delivered the two astronauts from the one International Space station and brought them home safely, it set the stage for the crew one Mission Tomorrow afternoon. This is the first flight under contract the Crew Rotation Mission with spacex to the International Space station. This is truly a new era of human 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 crews on a regular cadence from here to Kennedy Space center on u. S. Rockets. It is also great that we are doing it with our International Partners. Suichi 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. It is my pleasure to introduce our nasa administrator, jim bridenstine. Through his outstanding leadership and advocacy for the commercialization of lowearth , the commercial crew 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. Thank you, bob, for that introduction and thank you for go your amazing leadership here center,ennedy space which has become a truly multiuser spaceport. We are looking forward to so many great things happening in kennedy in the years ahead. This is another historic moment. It seems like every time i come to kennedy, we are making history and this is no different. The history being made this time 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. Steve dickson 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 e numerous dividers numerous providers 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 equipment, hardware, and experiments to the iss. Success withving commercial crew. Tomorrows flight is the next major milestone in this development. The next big phase is commercial space stations themselves. Where we have private capital, and nasa as a customer as well, ultimately capitalizing funding and moving forward for this new era in human spaceflight, where nasa is one of many customers, and numerous providers are competing on cost and innovation. The ultimate goal is to have more resources to do things where there is not yet a commercial focus, like going to mars, the moon to mars program. Because of what is happening today, all these things will be possible in the future. This is a very exciting time for nasa. These are, again, historic firsts. Tomorrows launch is licensed by the federal aviation administration. Dickson 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 he went into management at delta as a Senior Vice President of Flight Operations before taking the helm of the federal aviation administration. Please welcome Steve Dickson to the microphone. [applause] steve thanks, jim. It is really a pleasure. Appreciate your hospitality, today at the Kennedy Space center along with bob. Its an honor for the faa to partner with nasa and spacex on the first operational crew dragon launch. This is what happens when you add a drop or two of rocket fuel to ingenuity. There is tremendous opportunity. 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 the right workforce and the 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 31 Space Operations. We set a record in the month of october with six in one month. We expect to license 56 more. 2021. Bout one a week in an exciting time in aerospace in the united states. In and of themselves, these numbers are impressive but just the tip of the iceberg. Once 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 say 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. We recently finalized the streamlined launch and recovery licensing requirements rule. The new rule will allow space launch operators to use a single license for multiple launches from multiple launch sites. It strips out restrictive requirements and has a flexible, performancebased criteria. We told this industry we would be out there on the launch pad with them, and we have kept that promise today. As we have cut red tape, we are also helping to establish our nations space transportation infrastructure. We have licensed several more sites forh consideration. And to 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 sdi, as we call it, that will telemetry data into the faas Traffic Management system so that we can manage 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 other spaceports users. To complement sdi, we are already using timebased air traffic procedures to help us better manage the flow of aircraft around the space launch or reentry. 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. As a matter of fact i will be , watching tomorrows launch 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 launch is a great example of americas american ingenuity, but also Global Leadership and partnership. But, there are even bigger and better days to come. America is watching, and the entire world is, too. They want to see the 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 hiroshi zuzaki. The Vice President of jackson. Thank you. [applause] hiroshi thank you, steve, for introducing me. On behalf of all [inaudible] expressd like to [inaudible] it is a great pleasure for me for this exciting missions. On another note as well, well prepared for the launch. The module of iss is also ready and waiting for the crew arrival. This mission is a symbol of the japanu. S. Partnership, and we want to go together to the iss and beyond. King forward to the launch tomorrow, and wish you a successful launch. Thank you. I would like to introduce an astronaut and very famous even in japan. [applause] thank you. Your it is great to be here in florida. Im so excited to see our mike, victor,w, shannon, suichi. 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. Probably at the end of next year. 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 astronauts newest class of , astronauts, johnny kim, who will be leading that exploration charge. Thank you. [applause] johnny 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. We are here 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 we would not be here if it was not for everyone. You have heard all of the benefits the commercial crew program is bringing to the American People and humanity. I am excited to see four of my friends launch on that rocket tomorrow. Brothers, sisters, parents, children, but they are all humans. They represent us and everything we stand for, for humanity. The successes of the commercial crew program and the iss, which has been inhabited for 20 years, has set the stage for future Space Exploration. As we go deeper into space, 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, one question per reporter. 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. Bridenstine. 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 allow him to be in launch or crew quarters, even if his next test comes back negative . Jim i talked to elon two days ago before this news came to be. Ill tell you, when somebody all 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 do 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. This is a program that has 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 receive 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. This is for jim, rachel joy with florida today. Wondering if you could briefly talk about the falcon 9 engine issue that started with the gps 3 mission when they had the last second abort. And, how that played out in terms of engine 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 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 benefits 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 rocket,on the falcon 9 about the performance of the avionics systems, etc. Each one of these missions is informative for what we are trying to achieve as an agency. That is in fact what i think is 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 flights, as bob cabana has done. 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 talk about 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 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 mission in a lot of ways. Jim when we think about flights, to space, we take all of them with great percussion. Precaution. We take them very seriously. Every bit of attention to detail that we have on a test flight, we also have on operational flights. That being said, we learn from every single flight, 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. You 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. Each one of those requires us to be diligent, which we always are. But make certain we do not take any of this lightly. 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 leave my comments there on that. Hi, irene with aviation. Jim, what is the status of the discussions with the russians to do swaps for commercial crew . Jim 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 seats, we want to have an exchange of seats where american astronauts can fly on russian flights and russian cosmonauts on american flights. That is something both countries are interested in achieving. We want to see a day where, if there is a time where there is a challenge with one of the vehicles, we have continued access to the International Space station by both partners. Those discussions are ongoing. We do not have a resolution, but it is something both countries are working toward. Dickson, is the process you went through to certify this mission, how similar will that be when you are asked to certify nonprofessional astronauts . Steve thats a great question. It will really be the same process, similar to what we have been using for many years on unmanned commercial missions. I think, to 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 bridenstine. I wanted to get your response to the appropriations bill in the senate 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 of the hls 2020 for artemis. For suni williams, what are you hearing from the boeing team 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 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. Very positive for the creation 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. 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. I will also tell you the process 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 the Artemis Program in general. Suni a quick note on star liner, its an amazing vehicle. We are making sure all the ts are crossed and 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 ready to follow by spring time. Hoping me and my crew will be ready by the end of next year. We also have to worry about what ports 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 launches 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 some that are salient. We are advancing medicine, using the microgravity of space on my space in ways you cannot do in the gravity well of earth, compounding pharmaceuticals. We are advancing immunizations and the two i talk about the most our salmonella and pneumonia. Immunization capabilities that have been advanced using the microgravity of space that have had transformational impacts for life on earth. We are talking about four astronauts going to the International Space station. The amount of research we can get given the complement 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 to maybe save lives one day. These are the kind of technologies when we talk about industrialized biomedicine 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 macular degeneration. We are creating artificial retinas for the human eyeball on 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 four missions, who has done great work as the leader of this center. We have had cases at the center, 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, mask wearing. If you do not need to come to work, work from home. These are the protocols we have put in place at 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, very near and passing over the core stage. Are facilities doing how nasa facilities doing . 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 test complete and we are working on that every day. The reason we do the green run test, we go through every subsystem and we test all of the limits, and we will find things. When we find things we will get them corrected. The sls rocket is a test vehicle. It is going to the moon. That rocket will fly to the what 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 vab, 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 and tested. The European Service model is ready and tested. The adapters, everything is ready. We just have to get that core stage. We saw just recently the mobile launcher roll out 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 launch done. As of this point, the november date of 2021 for the first launch 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 slip. 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. When they had to stop work on some projects because of covid, they went to work in their own homes and 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 mask manufacturing if and when needed. I will tell you that the way we 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. We have now partnered with a company in ohio to use the fog to clean the inside of ambulances and and now it will be scaled up to clean the inside of classrooms and businesses. You name it, and closed space. Any closed space. 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. One question, but two parts. Have any technical issues arisen d 39ad 39 on launch pa with the crew one stack, and after the splashdown of demo two and all of the analysis 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 heatshields. 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 safe. We just wanted to understand it a little bit more and make some adjustments and we did. I will turn it over to bob. Bob the pad is ready to go. After every launch, regardless of what pad it is their are 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 on 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. Good morning. Tomorrow is going to be a historic cooperational flight of crew one. Japan will be flying alongside american astronauts. How significant 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 is one of the finest. I will tell you when we think about the partnerships 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 seeking to achieve humans 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 Amazing Things 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, and if not, 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. There is a chance you could contact the tracing gets back to the crew . I am not going to say that. There is a lot to learn. Thank you so much. We will close out the press conference with final remarks from the administrator. I want to thank everyone for once again coming to a launch. This is the first time we go with the crew of four to the International Space station on crew vehicle. It is the first time we go with one of our International Partners, japan, and we are amazingly grateful for the partnership we have with japan. It is the first time on a commercial vehicle, licensed, with humans, into orbit, licensed by the faa. There is a lot of amazing discoveries that will happen by these four amazing astronauts over the next fix months, so it next six months. So it is a great time to be at nasa and it is a great time if you are an enthusiast of Space Exploration. There is a lot happening now, not just with lowearth orbit, but with the Artemis Program and all the way to the moon. Thank you for attending and we look forward to a great launch tomorrow. Thank you. Nasa will launch four astronauts aboard a Spacex Dragon capsule tomorrow. We will bring you coverage beginning at 3 30 here on cspan, with the launch scheduled for 7 49 eastern. We will bring you nasa updates throughout the weekend. Youre watching cspan, your unfiltered view of government, created by americas table Television Companies cable Television Companies and brought to you today by your television provider. Give andent trump will update today on covid19 been seen efforts vaccine efforts. We will have live coverage starting at 4 00 p. M. On cspan, cspan. Org, or listen with the free cspan radiopp