1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:04,740 Making your morning commute across the sea of tranquility. 2 00:00:04,740 --> 00:00:06,729 Waking up to a Martian sunrise. 3 00:00:06,729 --> 00:00:10,940 Vacationing on Jupiter’s moon Europa. 4 00:00:10,940 --> 00:00:14,730 Pure science fiction... 5 00:00:14,730 --> 00:00:15,730 Or is it? 6 00:00:15,730 --> 00:00:19,400 EGS Program Chief Engineer, verify no constraints to launch. 7 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:24,650 EGS Chief Engineer team has no constraints. 8 00:00:24,650 --> 00:00:27,830 I copy that. 9 00:00:27,830 --> 00:00:33,149 You are clear to launch. 10 00:00:33,149 --> 00:00:40,580 Five, four, three, two, one, and lift-off. 11 00:00:40,580 --> 00:00:41,580 All clear. 12 00:00:41,580 --> 00:00:44,309 Now passing through max q, maximum dynamic pressure. 13 00:00:44,309 --> 00:00:45,559 Welcome to space. 14 00:00:45,559 --> 00:00:49,650 While the idea of space travel is a staple of countless science fiction novels and motion 15 00:00:49,650 --> 00:00:54,820 pictures, the reality is that you, or someone you know, could very well find themselves 16 00:00:54,820 --> 00:00:57,670 walking on the surface of Mars in their lifetime. 17 00:00:57,670 --> 00:01:02,390 You’re listening to the Rocket Ranch and I am your host, Joshua Santora. 18 00:01:02,390 --> 00:01:06,810 2019 is gearing up to be an exciting year for human space travel here at the Kennedy 19 00:01:06,810 --> 00:01:08,070 Space Center. 20 00:01:08,070 --> 00:01:11,720 Taking their cues from the Shuttle Program, which captured the imagination of the world 21 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:17,640 through their last launch in 2011, the Commercial Crew Program, or CCP for short, is poised 22 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:19,670 to reignite that passion. 23 00:01:19,670 --> 00:01:25,060 Working in cooperation with NASA, Boeing alongside United Launch Alliance, and SpaceX, combine 24 00:01:25,060 --> 00:01:29,560 their innovative technology with the heritage forged from previous NASA launches. 25 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:34,890 The overarching goal is to, one day soon, make space travel as common and safe as flying 26 00:01:34,890 --> 00:01:37,840 on an airplane, for everyone on planet Earth. 27 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:42,130 In this episode, I spoke with three members of the Commercial Crew Program during their 28 00:01:42,130 --> 00:01:49,130 preparation for SpaceX’s Demo-One Mission, which successfully launched on March 2. 29 00:01:49,130 --> 00:01:54,040 First up is the NASA Mission Manager for Space X’s uncrewed flight test, Demo-1. 30 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:55,890 All right, welcome. 31 00:01:55,890 --> 00:01:59,700 I am in the booth today with Mike Lee of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. 32 00:01:59,700 --> 00:02:00,840 Mike, thanks for being here. 33 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:02,370 Yeah, thank you very much. 34 00:02:02,370 --> 00:02:06,670 So, give us a little bit of background on what brought you here today and where you 35 00:02:06,670 --> 00:02:07,670 came from. 36 00:02:07,670 --> 00:02:10,229 It had always been my dream to be an astronaut. 37 00:02:10,229 --> 00:02:13,030 So that's what I decided I wanted to do in high school. 38 00:02:13,030 --> 00:02:14,540 I wanted to be an astronaut. 39 00:02:14,540 --> 00:02:17,120 And I went to college with that in mind. 40 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:22,340 Had an unforeseen incident happen to me in college that basically made it such that I 41 00:02:22,340 --> 00:02:26,719 could not qualify to be an astronaut, due to a head injury that I experienced. 42 00:02:26,719 --> 00:02:31,790 However, I had already been studying for three years as an aerospace engineer, focusing on 43 00:02:31,790 --> 00:02:33,810 space, and so I continued that. 44 00:02:33,810 --> 00:02:38,730 And then wound up getting a job here at the Kennedy Space Center right out of college, 45 00:02:38,730 --> 00:02:41,439 and so I moved down here right after that. 46 00:02:41,439 --> 00:02:45,669 People probably have -- I hope they've heard about the Commercial Crew Program, but it's 47 00:02:45,669 --> 00:02:48,799 so much different than anything NASA's ever done before. 48 00:02:48,799 --> 00:02:51,219 How is Commercial Crew so different? 49 00:02:51,219 --> 00:02:56,349 The Commercial Crew Program and the commercialization approach, the individual companies actually 50 00:02:56,349 --> 00:03:01,269 own their hardware, they own their designs, and the government is buying rides on their 51 00:03:01,269 --> 00:03:02,269 hardware. 52 00:03:02,269 --> 00:03:07,730 This, of course, will keep our nation's ability to stay in space and keep humans in space 53 00:03:07,730 --> 00:03:13,120 and expand our capabilities beyond just low Earth orbit from there to going beyond to 54 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,339 the moon and to Mars and potentially other locations. 55 00:03:16,339 --> 00:03:20,659 This is truly an exciting time for human spaceflight and our nation. 56 00:03:20,659 --> 00:03:24,319 And believe me, it’s only going to get better as we charge off into the future. 57 00:03:24,319 --> 00:03:29,699 It will also allow the advancement and development of science that exists on the Space Station 58 00:03:29,699 --> 00:03:31,359 today. 59 00:03:31,359 --> 00:03:36,799 And is there some application for -- Thinking about people who live across America, so, 60 00:03:36,799 --> 00:03:39,090 why is this important for them? 61 00:03:39,090 --> 00:03:40,709 Why should they care about this? 62 00:03:40,709 --> 00:03:47,400 Well, because these commercial providers exist and consist not only of themselves, not only 63 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:52,510 of Boeing and SpaceX, but also of their contractors and their subcontractors and their partners, 64 00:03:52,510 --> 00:03:56,900 and so because of that, they engage companies across the United States. 65 00:03:56,900 --> 00:04:04,959 So you're keeping many people employed, returning energy and business back into the United States, 66 00:04:04,959 --> 00:04:07,510 keeping people here employed and achieving the goals that the United States has set. 67 00:04:07,510 --> 00:04:14,969 So, again, we're trying to keep all this capability domestically, within the United States, without 68 00:04:14,969 --> 00:04:22,740 having to vector our funds to outside countries to be able to achieve the goals of the program. 69 00:04:22,740 --> 00:04:27,810 Together we are delivering on the critical task of providing a capability to fly our 70 00:04:27,810 --> 00:04:34,720 crews on a U.S. built rocket and spacecraft from U.S. soil on Florida’s Space Coast 71 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:40,020 to the International Space Station so we no longer have to rely on our Russian partners 72 00:04:40,020 --> 00:04:41,680 to get our crews to space. 73 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:46,240 To be involved in that is inspiring. 74 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:56,200 If I look back on an equivalent time, back in the early 1900s, and think about the people 75 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:02,490 that were involved in the transition of government aircraft to commercialization of aircraft 76 00:05:02,490 --> 00:05:08,669 and look at where commercialization of aircraft is today, it is a huge industry. 77 00:05:08,669 --> 00:05:16,150 To think that I'm involved in that part of a transition in space is just really cool. 78 00:05:16,150 --> 00:05:23,310 Do you see a future where what we know to be true of the commercial-airline market becomes 79 00:05:23,310 --> 00:05:26,759 true of the space-traveling market? 80 00:05:26,759 --> 00:05:27,759 Sure. 81 00:05:27,759 --> 00:05:29,690 Why not? 82 00:05:29,690 --> 00:05:36,590 I would imagine, in the nearer term, you're gonna get low-Earth-orbit flights, sub-orbital 83 00:05:36,590 --> 00:05:40,639 flights, where people are able to fly from one continent to another in a matter of a 84 00:05:40,639 --> 00:05:42,830 few hours. 85 00:05:42,830 --> 00:05:48,570 Over time, I think we're gonna possibly develop hotels in space. 86 00:05:48,570 --> 00:05:51,800 I know there's been some discussion of that in other areas. 87 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:55,250 And, so, in order to be able to do that, you're gonna have to have a way to get people there. 88 00:05:55,250 --> 00:06:01,199 And, so, sure, as that, as an industry, develops, I think that the transportation of people 89 00:06:01,199 --> 00:06:04,680 to space is going to develop right along with it. 90 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:11,569 So, in order to buy that ride, I would assume that we have standards that have to be met 91 00:06:11,569 --> 00:06:13,759 for us to be okay putting a human on board. 92 00:06:13,759 --> 00:06:15,110 So, what does that process look like? 93 00:06:15,110 --> 00:06:17,449 And how do those standards get set? 94 00:06:17,449 --> 00:06:19,150 How are they established? 95 00:06:19,150 --> 00:06:27,150 Yeah, so, we have a set of requirements that were levied on the contractors, or on the 96 00:06:27,150 --> 00:06:32,729 providers, both Boeing and SpaceX, for them to build their spacecraft to in order to be 97 00:06:32,729 --> 00:06:36,460 able to certify their hardware for carrying humans on board. 98 00:06:36,460 --> 00:06:39,080 So, we levied those requirements. 99 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,560 They proposed what their designs are. 100 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:42,720 And that's what the government does. 101 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:44,300 That's what Commercial Crew Program does. 102 00:06:44,300 --> 00:06:48,819 We stay along with them during their design to make sure that they are actually staying 103 00:06:48,819 --> 00:06:51,949 compliant with what those requirements are to be able to make sure that humans are able 104 00:06:51,949 --> 00:06:53,539 to fly safely on their spacecraft. 105 00:06:53,539 --> 00:06:56,840 So, are we dictating things to them as they're developing? 106 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:01,120 So, we identify what the requirements are that they have to meet, but we don't dictate 107 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,560 what their design is to be able to meet those requirements. 108 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:09,629 The requirement, for example, to be able to return humans safely from Earth orbit. 109 00:07:09,629 --> 00:07:11,560 Obviously, getting there is half the task. 110 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:13,699 Getting home is the second half, so kind of a big deal. 111 00:07:13,699 --> 00:07:14,699 Exactly, exactly. 112 00:07:14,699 --> 00:07:15,699 Yeah, a big deal. 113 00:07:15,699 --> 00:07:21,610 The method by which that return occurs could be a land landing or a water landing or a 114 00:07:21,610 --> 00:07:25,199 landing under a parachute or a landing on our wings. 115 00:07:25,199 --> 00:07:26,879 So the implementation is different. 116 00:07:26,879 --> 00:07:30,740 The objective to get people safely back to Earth is what the common thing is. 117 00:07:30,740 --> 00:07:31,990 What does the rocket look like? 118 00:07:31,990 --> 00:07:34,069 What does the spacecraft itself look like? 119 00:07:34,069 --> 00:07:37,710 What are the capabilities within the spacecraft? 120 00:07:37,710 --> 00:07:44,460 Capabilities are fairly requirements-driven, but the providers actually have the ability 121 00:07:44,460 --> 00:07:47,669 to vary some of what they can provide. 122 00:07:47,669 --> 00:07:51,659 They can go above and beyond what is being required from a government perspective, for 123 00:07:51,659 --> 00:07:52,659 example. 124 00:07:52,659 --> 00:07:57,430 And, so, thinking about where you guys started and where you are today, can you give us kind 125 00:07:57,430 --> 00:08:01,139 of a brief fly-by of the history of the program. 126 00:08:01,139 --> 00:08:04,229 How did we get to this point where we're about to see two people launching -- two companies 127 00:08:04,229 --> 00:08:05,729 start launching spacecraft? 128 00:08:05,729 --> 00:08:13,620 So, back in around 2010, we had several Space Act Agreements, called SAAs, with multiple 129 00:08:13,620 --> 00:08:16,710 companies across the nation. 130 00:08:16,710 --> 00:08:22,169 Those were essentially study contracts, where they came up with initial design ideas. 131 00:08:22,169 --> 00:08:26,770 Those initial design ideas were developed to a certain level of maturity, and those 132 00:08:26,770 --> 00:08:33,930 were down-selected, ultimately, to the final two, Boeing and SpaceX, in 2014. 133 00:08:33,930 --> 00:08:39,180 As we went through the initial parts of those SAAs, we had several different design concepts 134 00:08:39,180 --> 00:08:42,149 -- capsules, winged vehicles. 135 00:08:42,149 --> 00:08:50,500 And, again, the down-select occurred in 2014 for the two primary competitors that had the 136 00:08:50,500 --> 00:08:57,130 most successful design implementations to achieve the mission objectives and minimize 137 00:08:57,130 --> 00:08:58,750 risk, essentially, to achieve that. 138 00:08:58,750 --> 00:09:03,890 So, Mike, you talked about -- You mentioned primary, and I want to kind of ping on that 139 00:09:03,890 --> 00:09:04,890 for a second. 140 00:09:04,890 --> 00:09:06,870 So, are there secondary partners you're working with? 141 00:09:06,870 --> 00:09:09,680 So, there are other partners that we're working with. 142 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:15,410 The original group of competitors under the SAAs -- two of them are still continuing on. 143 00:09:15,410 --> 00:09:18,680 One of them is Sierra Nevada, and the other one is Blue Origin. 144 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:24,601 So, although neither Sierra, nor Blue actually won the Commercial Crew contract, they do 145 00:09:24,601 --> 00:09:28,410 continue on performing operations under their own SAAs. 146 00:09:28,410 --> 00:09:35,459 They are actually doing their own internal development to continue the ability for human 147 00:09:35,459 --> 00:09:37,440 space flight down their own paths. 148 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,501 Although they're not getting funded by the government at this point in time, they're 149 00:09:41,501 --> 00:09:44,000 continuing to do those study works. 150 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:49,410 They're also interacting with the government so that we have exchange, data exchange, and 151 00:09:49,410 --> 00:09:54,720 engineering types of level of discussions between us and Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada. 152 00:09:54,720 --> 00:10:00,680 So, is there a difference in the assistance that we're providing Boeing and SpaceX, as 153 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:03,070 opposed to Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin? 154 00:10:03,070 --> 00:10:07,920 Well, with Sierra Nevada and Blue, we don't have requirements that we have levied on them. 155 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:14,360 So they are no longer designing to the Commercial Crew Program requirements that we have levied. 156 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:18,769 We do provide engineering-level communication with them. 157 00:10:18,769 --> 00:10:24,959 So if they have questions regarding design solutions, we can give them what our experience 158 00:10:24,959 --> 00:10:25,959 is. 159 00:10:25,959 --> 00:10:28,959 We can talk to them about what our experiences is in these similar areas. 160 00:10:28,959 --> 00:10:32,541 We can't, again, levy requirements on them, so we can't tell them whether or not they're 161 00:10:32,541 --> 00:10:36,160 meeting our requirements, 'cause we haven't levied any on them. 162 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,870 But we do maintain the ongoing engineering discussions with them. 163 00:10:39,870 --> 00:10:45,920 They use the data that they gather from those discussions to develop their own designs. 164 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:52,250 With Boeing, with SpaceX, we maintain those interactions, but our communications with 165 00:10:52,250 --> 00:10:54,579 them is not intended to drive their designs. 166 00:10:54,579 --> 00:10:58,860 So, again, we can look at what their design is, identify whether or not their designs 167 00:10:58,860 --> 00:11:02,759 are meeting our requirements or not, but we don't give them what their design solution 168 00:11:02,759 --> 00:11:03,800 needs to be. 169 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:10,139 So, thinking about Commercial Crew from this point forward, obviously, 2019 is an enormous 170 00:11:10,139 --> 00:11:11,399 year for Commercial Crew. 171 00:11:11,399 --> 00:11:12,970 What's 2019 look like? 172 00:11:12,970 --> 00:11:16,660 2019 is gonna be real busy for us. 173 00:11:16,660 --> 00:11:21,220 Every few months, essentially, we've got a launch flying for Commercial Crew from Kennedy 174 00:11:21,220 --> 00:11:23,269 Space Center to the Space Station. 175 00:11:23,269 --> 00:11:27,730 And I understand that you're kind of helping call the shots here for this first one. 176 00:11:27,730 --> 00:11:28,860 Is that true? 177 00:11:28,860 --> 00:11:29,860 Yeah. 178 00:11:29,860 --> 00:11:33,519 I'm the mission manager for the SpaceX Demo-1 mission. 179 00:11:33,519 --> 00:11:39,550 Demo-1 is gonna be the first flight of the SpaceX's Crewed Dragon vehicle. 180 00:11:39,550 --> 00:11:42,880 Although, in this particular flight, it's a test flight and will not have a crew on 181 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:44,040 board. 182 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:48,470 It will still be flying to the Space Station and still dock to the Space Station, where 183 00:11:48,470 --> 00:11:53,140 we plan on transferring cargo off the spacecraft and then, at the end of the mission, transferring 184 00:11:53,140 --> 00:11:56,389 cargo back to the spacecraft and bringing it back to the ground. 185 00:11:56,389 --> 00:11:59,579 And, so, what exactly is your role as the mission manager? 186 00:11:59,579 --> 00:12:01,860 It's an awesome title. 187 00:12:01,860 --> 00:12:03,270 What's your function? 188 00:12:03,270 --> 00:12:10,279 So, I'm responsible for coordinating the ground support and ground activities for the launch. 189 00:12:10,279 --> 00:12:15,850 Then I am also responsible for being a primary interface to the Space Station program during 190 00:12:15,850 --> 00:12:17,769 on-orbit operations. 191 00:12:17,769 --> 00:12:24,339 So, we're engaged as interfacing between the Station program and the provider, SpaceX, 192 00:12:24,339 --> 00:12:28,200 to ensure that all the objectives are achieved on the mission. 193 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:32,290 If there are any issues identified during the execution of the mission, we help and 194 00:12:32,290 --> 00:12:37,920 resolve any of those problems and make sure we've got the right folks engaged to resolve 195 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:40,630 any issues that may come up. 196 00:12:40,630 --> 00:12:45,880 Thinking about objectives for the mission, what are -- It may be too many to kind of 197 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:50,889 list them all, but what are the main things that we're really keeping a close eye on before 198 00:12:50,889 --> 00:12:52,310 we get to flying crews? 199 00:12:52,310 --> 00:12:57,750 So, we're trying to use somewhat of a building-block approach before we fly a crew on the next 200 00:12:57,750 --> 00:12:58,949 mission, which is the Demo-2 mission. 201 00:12:58,949 --> 00:13:03,709 We want to make sure that the spacecraft operates the way that it's supposed to and operates 202 00:13:03,709 --> 00:13:09,170 safely, such that the crew on board in Demo-2 will survive, of course. 203 00:13:09,170 --> 00:13:14,089 So, we do things such as some demonstrations as we're approaching the Space Station to 204 00:13:14,089 --> 00:13:20,449 make sure that the spacecraft is controllable, can be operated in such a way that it can 205 00:13:20,449 --> 00:13:24,750 approach the Space Station safely, it can back away, if necessary, under control, 206 00:13:24,750 --> 00:13:30,579 On the board the station, two astronauts Canadian David Saint-Jacques and NASA astronaut Anne 207 00:13:30,579 --> 00:13:32,740 McClain, inside monitoring the vehicle. 208 00:13:32,740 --> 00:13:39,889 You’ll hear them refer to the RPOP, which is the Rendezvous Proximity Operations Program. 209 00:13:39,889 --> 00:13:44,100 That’s just the name of the program that they’re using on a laptop inside of the 210 00:13:44,100 --> 00:13:46,170 station, to actually monitor Dragon. 211 00:13:46,170 --> 00:13:51,230 And as they just demonstrated a little while ago, the crew has the ability to send commands 212 00:13:51,230 --> 00:13:55,880 to make Dragon hold or retreat or even abort if they see anything that looks a little out 213 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:57,800 of sorts with its approach. 214 00:13:57,800 --> 00:13:59,630 But everything going real smoothly so far. 215 00:13:59,630 --> 00:14:02,100 We should be just about two minutes away. 216 00:14:02,100 --> 00:14:08,860 That it can actually perform a successful docking and mating with the Space Station. 217 00:14:08,860 --> 00:14:14,640 Capture confirmed. 218 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,529 [cheers] 219 00:14:17,529 --> 00:14:21,129 You can hear the cheers behind us at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA. 220 00:14:21,129 --> 00:14:25,639 We have confirmation of a soft capture of the Dragon spacecraft to the International 221 00:14:25,639 --> 00:14:26,920 Space Station. 222 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:31,339 Also, while we're docked to the Space Station, the crew on board the Space Station will be 223 00:14:31,339 --> 00:14:35,829 stowing equipment, transferring equipment back and forth to the Space Station, as well 224 00:14:35,829 --> 00:14:39,940 as demonstrating some of their operational procedures on orbit. 225 00:14:39,940 --> 00:14:46,660 And at the end of the mission, again, we un-birth, or undock, from the Space Station and perform 226 00:14:46,660 --> 00:14:50,569 a safe departure and a return. 227 00:14:50,569 --> 00:14:56,110 And, so, we know that there's no people on board this mission, so is somebody on the 228 00:14:56,110 --> 00:14:58,790 ground with a joystick, flying this thing, or how does that work? 229 00:14:58,790 --> 00:15:05,629 So, during the performance of this mission, the great deal of the operations of the spacecraft 230 00:15:05,629 --> 00:15:07,139 are automated. 231 00:15:07,139 --> 00:15:14,779 So as the spacecraft approaches the Space Station, the docking is an automated function, 232 00:15:14,779 --> 00:15:19,380 to a certain degree, although there is override capability from the people that are on the 233 00:15:19,380 --> 00:15:20,380 ground. 234 00:15:20,380 --> 00:15:24,060 There is also communication with the Space Station so that the folks on board Space Station 235 00:15:24,060 --> 00:15:27,959 are able to see and monitor the spacecraft as it approaches, as well as seeing the telemetry 236 00:15:27,959 --> 00:15:29,910 that comes from the spacecraft. 237 00:15:29,910 --> 00:15:33,720 A lot of people may be thinking, "Cargo Dragon, Crew Dragon -- no big deal. 238 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,100 You just put a seat in there -- right? -- and you fly somebody on board.” 239 00:15:37,100 --> 00:15:38,649 Is it harder than that? 240 00:15:38,649 --> 00:15:39,829 It is harder than that, yeah. 241 00:15:39,829 --> 00:15:43,520 There are life-support systems that have to fly on the Crew Dragon that aren't present 242 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,189 on the Cargo Dragon. 243 00:15:45,189 --> 00:15:50,310 You also have to factor in the sensitivity of the human body to G-forces. 244 00:15:50,310 --> 00:15:55,870 And, so, the forces that are exerted on the Crew Dragon is gonna be different than the 245 00:15:55,870 --> 00:16:01,740 forces that are exerted on the Cargo Dragon, due to the nature of the flight profile that 246 00:16:01,740 --> 00:16:09,030 is followed and also what is capable of the cargo on board, versus people on board. 247 00:16:09,030 --> 00:16:13,870 And past 2019 -- Obviously, for SpaceX, we mentioned a few missions in there. 248 00:16:13,870 --> 00:16:19,060 We know that Demo-1 and Demo-2 are big milestones for certification. 249 00:16:19,060 --> 00:16:20,910 But what happens past 2019? 250 00:16:20,910 --> 00:16:26,930 So, after certification, we start flying what generically is called the post-certification 251 00:16:26,930 --> 00:16:27,930 missions. 252 00:16:27,930 --> 00:16:33,029 So far, with SpaceX, we have three of them baseline -- Crew 1, Crew 2, and Crew 3. 253 00:16:33,029 --> 00:16:37,560 They are scheduled to fly on about one-year intervals. 254 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:44,199 Likewise, for Boeing, also, you have two pre-certification missions, the first one being an un-crewed 255 00:16:44,199 --> 00:16:46,050 mission, the second one being a crewed mission. 256 00:16:46,050 --> 00:16:48,470 Then, after that one, we go into certification. 257 00:16:48,470 --> 00:16:53,829 And, so, then you also have post-flight, or post-certification, missions on the Boeing 258 00:16:53,829 --> 00:16:54,829 side, as well. 259 00:16:54,829 --> 00:16:58,360 Mike, as you think about the day coming up where we're gonna be launching, what are the 260 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:00,920 things that -- Where does your mind go? 261 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:02,060 Is this an exciting time? 262 00:17:02,060 --> 00:17:03,910 Is this -- Are you nervous? 263 00:17:03,910 --> 00:17:09,051 Like, what's this like, from a human perspective, to know that we're about to start flying commercial 264 00:17:09,051 --> 00:17:10,051 crew? 265 00:17:10,051 --> 00:17:11,500 It's all of those things. 266 00:17:11,500 --> 00:17:12,610 It's a little bit of nerves. 267 00:17:12,610 --> 00:17:14,660 It's very exciting. 268 00:17:14,660 --> 00:17:21,140 As we watch, again, the first mission of this design, of this crewed capability, it's very 269 00:17:21,140 --> 00:17:26,000 exciting because we're on the front end of a big step forward for us as a nation. 270 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:31,230 It's nerve-racking a little bit because it is the first flight of something new. 271 00:17:31,230 --> 00:17:36,270 Fortunately, most of this has been demonstrated -- or a lot of this technology has been demonstrated 272 00:17:36,270 --> 00:17:38,640 previously by SpaceX. 273 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:44,150 So, there are new modifications that are flying in this design, but a lot of it is being demonstrated 274 00:17:44,150 --> 00:17:46,910 before it actually reaches the point of launching. 275 00:17:46,910 --> 00:17:50,000 So we have fairly high confidence of the success of this mission. 276 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,580 But it's still a little bit nerve-racking. 277 00:17:53,580 --> 00:17:57,920 And, so, Mike, I don't want to dig into your personal life too much, but, obviously, like, 278 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:02,450 a little bit of heartburn, probably, over missing out on an opportunity to be an astronaut, 279 00:18:02,450 --> 00:18:08,650 but you're here today helping to enable astronauts and space flight. 280 00:18:08,650 --> 00:18:14,450 Thinking about the people who may be listening who either have a dream or have missed out 281 00:18:14,450 --> 00:18:18,520 on a dream or lost a dream, what would you encourage them with, as far as their pursuit 282 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:23,050 of working for NASA or other things of that nature? 283 00:18:23,050 --> 00:18:29,280 I would totally encourage anyone who has a dream or a goal to pursue that goal as far 284 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,340 as you can. 285 00:18:31,340 --> 00:18:36,120 The only thing that will stop you from achieving that kind of a goal is closing doors on yourself, 286 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:37,120 really. 287 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:40,550 And if a door closes, then you look for another open door. 288 00:18:40,550 --> 00:18:45,880 Go down a path of advancing your education so that you can achieve greatness. 289 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:47,890 Mike, I want to just say "thank you.” 290 00:18:47,890 --> 00:18:49,390 Appreciate you being here today. 291 00:18:49,390 --> 00:18:50,920 And good luck this coming year. 292 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:52,230 It's a big year for you. 293 00:18:52,230 --> 00:18:53,770 I know you're gonna do great. 294 00:18:53,770 --> 00:18:54,910 Thank you so much. 295 00:18:54,910 --> 00:19:00,660 We wanted to make sure you knew, we had a lot of successful milestones during that mission, 296 00:19:00,660 --> 00:19:06,650 including docking, testing while attached to station, undocking, reentry and splashdown. 297 00:19:06,650 --> 00:19:10,780 We’re looking forward to seeing their future successes as they continue working alongside 298 00:19:10,780 --> 00:19:12,880 the Commercial Crew Program. 299 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:16,410 Next up is Carol Scott, who serves as the Deputy Manager at the Launch Vehicle Office 300 00:19:16,410 --> 00:19:18,400 for CCP. 301 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,540 As one of the original members of the program, she gives us a firsthand account of how Commercial 302 00:19:22,540 --> 00:19:25,510 Crew has grown and adapted since its inception. 303 00:19:25,510 --> 00:19:29,310 All right, I am joined now by Carol Scott. 304 00:19:29,310 --> 00:19:30,600 Carol thank you so much for joining me. 305 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:34,160 We are in the throes of getting ready for a rocket launch. 306 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,650 So tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do here. 307 00:19:36,650 --> 00:19:42,951 All right, so I am the deputy for the Launch Vehicle System Office here within the Commercial 308 00:19:42,951 --> 00:19:44,210 Crew program. 309 00:19:44,210 --> 00:19:51,270 And it's my job to be able to help this incredible team that I have, that's loaded with engineers 310 00:19:51,270 --> 00:19:59,332 and safety personnel, to be able to certify our two partners, SpaceX and Boeing, certify 311 00:19:59,332 --> 00:20:04,810 their Rockets so that they'll be ready to take crew members up to Space Station and 312 00:20:04,810 --> 00:20:09,280 be able to do future missions for so long as they're associated with Space Station. 313 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:11,860 Carol, so tell me about yourself and kind of how you got here. 314 00:20:11,860 --> 00:20:17,130 I know it's an interesting story that's related to aeronautics, which is that definitely near 315 00:20:17,130 --> 00:20:21,040 to NASA's heart but definitely a non-traditional path to get here. 316 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,390 I grew up in Warner Robins, Georgia. 317 00:20:23,390 --> 00:20:26,130 Were you, were you a NASA kid growing up? 318 00:20:26,130 --> 00:20:30,770 No, I was not a NASA kid but I was an aviation kid. 319 00:20:30,770 --> 00:20:36,760 My dad is a pilot, not a, he's a private pilot my dad built his own airplane. 320 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:37,760 He's built two. 321 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:42,950 We had her own plane while I was growing up, nothing fancy or anything, but you know to 322 00:20:42,950 --> 00:20:44,780 get you from point A to point B. 323 00:20:44,780 --> 00:20:51,440 We would go to Oshkosh and every year that was our family vacation and I've even like 324 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:53,050 slept under the wing, okay. 325 00:20:53,050 --> 00:20:55,620 I have pictures of that. 326 00:20:55,620 --> 00:21:00,420 So I grew up in this aviation world, all you know, all my life and all. 327 00:21:00,420 --> 00:21:06,030 So I will tell you, I am a third generation engineering graduate at Mississippi State 328 00:21:06,030 --> 00:21:13,850 University and my, so my grandfather went there he was a mechanical engineer, my great-uncle 329 00:21:13,850 --> 00:21:15,820 went there he's electrical engineer. 330 00:21:15,820 --> 00:21:21,160 My dad was an aeronautical, they didn't have aerospace at that time and then myself, a 331 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:22,420 chemical engineer. 332 00:21:22,420 --> 00:21:29,170 So one of my really good friends that I co-opted with, her sister worked here, and so it was 333 00:21:29,170 --> 00:21:32,330 right after Challenger so she was getting on with NASA. 334 00:21:32,330 --> 00:21:38,930 She was also a chemical engineer from USF and she was able to get me a job interview 335 00:21:38,930 --> 00:21:41,290 here, which was a phone interview right. 336 00:21:41,290 --> 00:21:47,150 And so you know, I'm talking to my potential supervisor and he's offered me a job right 337 00:21:47,150 --> 00:21:51,940 over the phone, and I was like well, can I come see the place, right? 338 00:21:51,940 --> 00:21:53,960 So I come out here for a tour. 339 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:58,410 I'm crawling around inside of Columbia at the time. 340 00:21:58,410 --> 00:22:01,510 We went inside Atlantis, inside the VAB. 341 00:22:01,510 --> 00:22:07,790 And I remember coming out of Atlantis and just going oh my god, where do I sign up? 342 00:22:07,790 --> 00:22:09,650 And you get paid to do this, too, right? 343 00:22:09,650 --> 00:22:11,630 It was pretty incredible. 344 00:22:11,630 --> 00:22:13,460 So he definitely gave you the sell on the tour there. 345 00:22:13,460 --> 00:22:17,290 I don't think there was any sell and I think the orbiter kind of sold itself. 346 00:22:17,290 --> 00:22:22,790 And then you know, we're sitting down at the dinner table and just talking about stuff. 347 00:22:22,790 --> 00:22:27,410 My parents, they had no idea you know that I'd been out here, or you know they knew I 348 00:22:27,410 --> 00:22:30,170 was looking for something else, but and I told my dad. 349 00:22:30,170 --> 00:22:36,450 I said, “hey, I was crawling around you know inside the Space Shuttle this past week 350 00:22:36,450 --> 00:22:38,440 and I'm gonna go work for NASA.” 351 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,520 And I'm telling you, that literally my dad, he had like his fork you know here in the 352 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:45,530 mouth - literally fell to the floor. 353 00:22:45,530 --> 00:22:49,640 So I've never ever surprised my family or my dad like that before. 354 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,980 But anyway, so yeah, and it's been awesome ever since. 355 00:22:52,980 --> 00:22:56,260 I have never, you know I've always loved working out here. 356 00:22:56,260 --> 00:23:02,710 This has been, working at KSC is super incredible between all the you know the rocket stuff 357 00:23:02,710 --> 00:23:07,320 that goes on here, all the wildlife - coolest part is the people, right. 358 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:08,320 Sure. 359 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:09,320 The people are awesome. 360 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:10,320 Sure. 361 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:11,890 And so for Commercial Crew, has your role evolved? 362 00:23:11,890 --> 00:23:12,890 Yes. 363 00:23:12,890 --> 00:23:13,890 Since you’ve been a part of the program? 364 00:23:13,890 --> 00:23:19,030 Yeah, so when I first came in, I was kind of more on I would say, like the program side. 365 00:23:19,030 --> 00:23:24,140 So like one of my jobs to start off with, focused on strategic communications. 366 00:23:24,140 --> 00:23:29,000 Coming up with a logo, coming up with you know how to interface with the partners, how 367 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,560 to go have the meetings that we needed to have you know with the partners. 368 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:37,160 How to tell our story to Congress so that they would understand that this is the next 369 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:42,960 logical step, you know, and a very vital step not only just for NASA, but this is what you 370 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,530 know, the United States should go do next. 371 00:23:45,530 --> 00:23:49,570 Kennedy Space Center has made an amazing transformation. 372 00:23:49,570 --> 00:23:55,770 Transitioning from a single government program funded installation to a true multi-user spaceport 373 00:23:55,770 --> 00:23:56,770 of the future. 374 00:23:56,770 --> 00:24:01,630 I did that for a year, and then it was time for me to go back and do some more technical 375 00:24:01,630 --> 00:24:02,630 work. 376 00:24:02,630 --> 00:24:08,660 So I went back to what was the Ground Systems, I said Ground and Launch Systems, and started 377 00:24:08,660 --> 00:24:14,090 working with the planning and that interface to the commercial partners. 378 00:24:14,090 --> 00:24:17,020 Basically to answer your question, I went from working the Ground and Launch Systems 379 00:24:17,020 --> 00:24:22,170 to coming over and becoming the deputy manager for the Launch Vehicle Office. 380 00:24:22,170 --> 00:24:27,210 So are you working with Boeing and SpaceX or one more heavily than the other? 381 00:24:27,210 --> 00:24:30,050 So no, I would say it's pretty even. 382 00:24:30,050 --> 00:24:36,250 We do try, so I know I am, my area of emphasis is with Boeing and ULA right, and then we 383 00:24:36,250 --> 00:24:39,450 have Steve Gaddis who works on the SpaceX side. 384 00:24:39,450 --> 00:24:41,940 But we find out, we got to help each other out right there. 385 00:24:41,940 --> 00:24:46,370 Let me tell you, when you get really close to being ready to launch there's a lot of 386 00:24:46,370 --> 00:24:47,700 work to be done. 387 00:24:47,700 --> 00:24:54,160 So our office had started off with trying to work both partners but not be assigned 388 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,090 specifically just to one. 389 00:24:56,090 --> 00:24:57,490 It takes all of us to do this. 390 00:24:57,490 --> 00:25:00,090 This one definitely takes a village to go make this work. 391 00:25:00,090 --> 00:25:02,130 Yeah so what does that work look like day to day? 392 00:25:02,130 --> 00:25:05,430 Are you reviewing documents, are you talking to the partners? 393 00:25:05,430 --> 00:25:06,810 What are you doing? 394 00:25:06,810 --> 00:25:12,751 So I would say more doing a lot of strategic planning, talking with the partners, interfacing 395 00:25:12,751 --> 00:25:14,510 with them a lot. 396 00:25:14,510 --> 00:25:18,670 Interfacing with our office to make sure that the work that we need to have done, you know, 397 00:25:18,670 --> 00:25:23,390 we have a plan or schedule. 398 00:25:23,390 --> 00:25:28,980 It's really hard to get it out beyond about 60 days at this point, because the work comes 399 00:25:28,980 --> 00:25:35,310 in, you know the works got to come in, and then you're gonna have issues or questions 400 00:25:35,310 --> 00:25:38,490 and all about you know the work that's coming in. 401 00:25:38,490 --> 00:25:41,100 So you have a lot of dialogue with the partners. 402 00:25:41,100 --> 00:25:43,240 So is it fair to say, you're kind of shepherding the process? 403 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:47,620 Helping make sure that like all the people play their role and all the people get everything 404 00:25:47,620 --> 00:25:48,820 done that needs to get done. 405 00:25:48,820 --> 00:25:49,820 I would say that, yeah. 406 00:25:49,820 --> 00:25:52,090 And I would say guiding too, right. 407 00:25:52,090 --> 00:25:57,560 Guiding and then I try to stay out ahead of them, so that I keep them working toward you 408 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:02,110 know the strategic plan that's out here right and trying to keep ahead of them with the 409 00:26:02,110 --> 00:26:06,120 goals so that you know we're actually getting to where we need to be. 410 00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:08,600 So yeah, a little bit of that. 411 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:10,200 Yeah, you mentioned kind of planning out ahead. 412 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,720 Obviously we're right here on top of Demo-1, our first Commercial Crew launch, which is 413 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:15,720 great. 414 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,080 So are you still kind of planning out, because obviously the mission isn't done... 415 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:20,080 …Oh my gosh... 416 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:21,080 When you fly Demo-1. 417 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:28,310 Okay, so yes, I've got a real intense team going on right now with Demo-1, trying to 418 00:26:28,310 --> 00:26:32,570 make sure you get through all the reviews to say yes we can go fly. 419 00:26:32,570 --> 00:26:40,530 So and then at the same time, I've got another team working on OFT and that's the Boeing 420 00:26:40,530 --> 00:26:41,980 ULA launch. 421 00:26:41,980 --> 00:26:48,010 So you know, I'm trying to get them to start their engineering assessments of how is this 422 00:26:48,010 --> 00:26:56,270 rocket getting ready to fly and so, and then at the same time we have another team that's 423 00:26:56,270 --> 00:27:00,160 working on Demo-2 that's doing all the planning for Demo-2. 424 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:05,770 And the work that we need to do for Demo-2 has got to be one of the things we're seeing 425 00:27:05,770 --> 00:27:10,070 is, let's put a little more logic into what we work first. 426 00:27:10,070 --> 00:27:14,630 And I know that sounds easy, but you know when you've got a lot of data coming in, you 427 00:27:14,630 --> 00:27:18,810 kind of gotta sort through and go hey I need to do this chunk first, chunk A before I go 428 00:27:18,810 --> 00:27:25,610 do chunk B. So we're doing a little bit more planning of that way to be able to go manage 429 00:27:25,610 --> 00:27:26,610 it. 430 00:27:26,610 --> 00:27:31,210 And then with all of that, you got to go de-conflict right. 431 00:27:31,210 --> 00:27:36,400 Make sure your resources aren't, you know you're not stretching them too thin and then 432 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:41,030 that they can actually go do this work, because there's a lot of, obviously the launch vehicle 433 00:27:41,030 --> 00:27:42,380 has a lot of propulsion. 434 00:27:42,380 --> 00:27:48,250 There's a lot of work on the prop side and so that's the group we got to make sure is 435 00:27:48,250 --> 00:27:52,790 able to get it done and not have them on top of each other. 436 00:27:52,790 --> 00:27:56,740 So I'm asking you now to kind of imagine the future a little bit, because obviously we 437 00:27:56,740 --> 00:28:02,710 don't know until we fly, but how much do you think that the data from Demo-1 will really 438 00:28:02,710 --> 00:28:04,100 impact that process? 439 00:28:04,100 --> 00:28:08,840 Because I could see that, things could go like swimmingly… 440 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:09,840 Every day… 441 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:13,090 …And it’s perfect and it's great, or it’s like kind of, there are issues and you gotta 442 00:28:13,090 --> 00:28:15,460 kind of take steps back to deal with those. 443 00:28:15,460 --> 00:28:18,720 Josh I'm gonna tell you, every week we learn something. 444 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:19,720 Right? 445 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:20,720 And that’s… 446 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:21,720 Only every week? 447 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:25,650 Well yeah, really, it's not until the end of the week that you realize, all right you 448 00:28:25,650 --> 00:28:29,740 start off with this plan on Monday and by Thursday you're doing some adjustment. 449 00:28:29,740 --> 00:28:34,900 But you know, that's when you have test flight, what's the cool thing about test flight? 450 00:28:34,900 --> 00:28:36,450 You find stuff, right? 451 00:28:36,450 --> 00:28:37,450 Exactly. 452 00:28:37,450 --> 00:28:41,520 So you all know, you don't know exactly what that issue is but you know there's gonna be 453 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:45,660 something, and it's gonna be fun to work on, it's gonna be something exciting, it's gonna 454 00:28:45,660 --> 00:28:49,570 drive you crazy, but you gotta go fix that, you know. 455 00:28:49,570 --> 00:28:53,510 And I'm so, you just kind of put a little block in your plan to, all right whatever 456 00:28:53,510 --> 00:28:56,540 this unknown is I gotta go do that. 457 00:28:56,540 --> 00:28:59,760 Do you build in a block for unknown things like that or do you just like subconsciously 458 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:01,570 do that knowing like it's gonna happen? 459 00:29:01,570 --> 00:29:03,780 I kind of do it more subconsciously. 460 00:29:03,780 --> 00:29:04,780 Okay. 461 00:29:04,780 --> 00:29:07,120 It's hard to put on paper, the block of unknown unknown. 462 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,930 When the program manager wants to go, “You can't do that. 463 00:29:09,930 --> 00:29:10,930 What is that? 464 00:29:10,930 --> 00:29:11,930 Why don't you know that?” 465 00:29:11,930 --> 00:29:17,290 You know, so, but I know from experience right, I know experience from shuttle from doing 466 00:29:17,290 --> 00:29:21,160 Ares I-X, you always have those unknown unknowns. 467 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,060 That's what part of test flight is. 468 00:29:23,060 --> 00:29:24,460 That's what's the fun part of it. 469 00:29:24,460 --> 00:29:27,210 Yeah there's constant learning all the time. 470 00:29:27,210 --> 00:29:30,070 The partner is doing what we did in shuttle. 471 00:29:30,070 --> 00:29:35,910 They're the ones that are, you know, loading it up and you know, make flipping switches 472 00:29:35,910 --> 00:29:40,320 or, you know, or making sure it's gonna be able to go launch. 473 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:46,370 Our role is more of an advisory, making sure that the requirements set that we set up for, 474 00:29:46,370 --> 00:29:52,600 that they are working within that, you know, box for lack of a better word, in that it 475 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:54,300 is safe to go fly that day. 476 00:29:54,300 --> 00:29:57,070 So that's what our job is. 477 00:29:57,070 --> 00:30:03,220 My role is more of the management side, you know leading up to like L Minus four hours. 478 00:30:03,220 --> 00:30:07,280 And if there's any kind of issues that's got to be resolved, you know, I've got to make 479 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:14,910 sure the team can go do that, but after -- when the Launch Support Team starts up, and that's 480 00:30:14,910 --> 00:30:20,750 that real small-scoped engineering team that's under the direction of Steve Stich of our 481 00:30:20,750 --> 00:30:23,030 program, and that's when that gets invoked. 482 00:30:23,030 --> 00:30:29,510 I'll tell you what I'm doing right now is because in case the unknown unknown happens, 483 00:30:29,510 --> 00:30:35,380 right, and that cool problem is going to sneak out, so I'm working on contingency planning, 484 00:30:35,380 --> 00:30:38,860 making sure I've got Group "B" ready to come in. 485 00:30:38,860 --> 00:30:43,270 So when the "A" Team is off, 'cause they've been working all night, I've got "B" Team 486 00:30:43,270 --> 00:30:46,353 set up to go work the issues, and so – 487 00:30:46,353 --> 00:30:47,800 And "B" Team not the lesser team, just the next team. 488 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:48,900 No, just the next team. 489 00:30:48,900 --> 00:30:49,900 Right. 490 00:30:49,900 --> 00:30:50,900 [ Laughs ] 491 00:30:50,900 --> 00:30:51,900 The next team. 492 00:30:51,900 --> 00:30:52,900 I know. 493 00:30:52,900 --> 00:30:54,260 I was trying to figure out what else to kind of call them there, but have them ready to 494 00:30:54,260 --> 00:31:00,000 go so they can make sure the issue's getting resolved while folks that worked the night 495 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:04,860 before are able to sleep, and we can get ready for the next attempt. 496 00:31:04,860 --> 00:31:09,830 So, like I said -- always that constant planning kind of going on. 497 00:31:09,830 --> 00:31:14,220 And we know we talked about this very different role that NASA's playing in these launches. 498 00:31:14,220 --> 00:31:15,220 Mm-hmm. 499 00:31:15,220 --> 00:31:16,820 How do you characterize, in summary, this mission? 500 00:31:16,820 --> 00:31:18,530 Is it a NASA mission? 501 00:31:18,530 --> 00:31:24,530 So, I would say it is all of it, okay? 502 00:31:24,530 --> 00:31:25,530 [ Laughs ] 503 00:31:25,530 --> 00:31:26,530 So it's a NASA mission. 504 00:31:26,530 --> 00:31:28,350 This one is a SpaceX mission. 505 00:31:28,350 --> 00:31:32,330 But, more importantly, this is a mission for United States of America. 506 00:31:32,330 --> 00:31:33,930 This is for all of us. 507 00:31:33,930 --> 00:31:35,180 I’ll tell you. 508 00:31:35,180 --> 00:31:39,731 Being able to launch to the International Space Station from U.S. soil - I can’t imagine 509 00:31:39,731 --> 00:31:40,731 a better honor. 510 00:31:40,731 --> 00:31:42,050 And we’re ready. 511 00:31:42,050 --> 00:31:49,370 So, it is an introduction test flight to be able to go get crews to I.S.S., right? 512 00:31:49,370 --> 00:31:53,870 So, initially, from the NASA standpoint, and that's what it is. 513 00:31:53,870 --> 00:32:00,420 For SpaceX, this is probably proving out that eventually they can go have their tourists 514 00:32:00,420 --> 00:32:08,140 to go whether it's to Mars or the Moon -- wherever SpaceX wants to go take people, this is providing 515 00:32:08,140 --> 00:32:09,770 that avenue for them. 516 00:32:09,770 --> 00:32:14,470 And then I'm going to tell you, from the bigger, all-of-us, picture standpoint, this is the 517 00:32:14,470 --> 00:32:20,720 only way we're going to get our grandkids or, you know, whatever have the ability to 518 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:27,090 be able to go into space, and so that's why I say this is -- It's more than just NASA, 519 00:32:27,090 --> 00:32:29,120 it's more than just SpaceX. 520 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:34,110 It's for all of us so that, eventually, we're getting space flight as common as air travel 521 00:32:34,110 --> 00:32:35,110 is today. 522 00:32:35,110 --> 00:32:36,110 Awesome. 523 00:32:36,110 --> 00:32:38,960 Well, Carol, I appreciate you being with me today. 524 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:40,250 Good luck to you and your entire team. 525 00:32:40,250 --> 00:32:41,250 Oh, thank you. 526 00:32:41,250 --> 00:32:42,290 Obviously, it's going to be an exciting couple weeks here. 527 00:32:42,290 --> 00:32:43,870 I'm sure busy, but lots of fun. 528 00:32:43,870 --> 00:32:44,870 Yeah. 529 00:32:44,870 --> 00:32:45,870 Yeah. 530 00:32:45,870 --> 00:32:46,870 Absolutely. 531 00:32:46,870 --> 00:32:47,870 Thank you. 532 00:32:47,870 --> 00:32:48,870 I appreciate it, too. 533 00:32:48,870 --> 00:32:50,720 On our last podcast we said we’d answer a question from a listener, so we wanted to 534 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:53,400 tackle this one from on Twitter from @teslaprince. 535 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:59,200 “On average, how long does an astronaut spend on the ISS on any given mission?” 536 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:01,570 Well the truth is, it varies pretty wildly. 537 00:33:01,570 --> 00:33:07,340 With the shuttle program we saw stays as short as 7 or 10 days, but most expeditions on station 538 00:33:07,340 --> 00:33:10,040 are spent up there for about six months at a time. 539 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,890 Astronaut Scott Kelly spent almost a full year up there for science research. 540 00:33:13,890 --> 00:33:15,970 Great question. 541 00:33:15,970 --> 00:33:20,200 Despite beginning her career toward the end of the Shuttle Program, Misty Snopkowski carried 542 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:25,810 over a youthful energy into her role as the Launch Site Integrator for Commercial Crew. 543 00:33:25,810 --> 00:33:30,170 Working directly with SpaceX, she spoke with me about the joys and challenges she faces 544 00:33:30,170 --> 00:33:31,500 leading up to launch. 545 00:33:31,500 --> 00:33:36,390 All right, so I am joined now by Misty Snopkowski. 546 00:33:36,390 --> 00:33:40,930 We are on the brink of launching the first ever, Commercial Crew launch. 547 00:33:40,930 --> 00:33:42,500 Misty thank you for making time for us today. 548 00:33:42,500 --> 00:33:43,970 Thanks for having me. 549 00:33:43,970 --> 00:33:48,690 So we're obviously talking about Commercial Crew and Demo-1, which is the first flight 550 00:33:48,690 --> 00:33:51,860 of SpaceX's Crew Dragon, which is super exciting. 551 00:33:51,860 --> 00:33:53,750 So what job do you hold right now? 552 00:33:53,750 --> 00:33:55,110 What are you, what are you doing for Commercial Crew? 553 00:33:55,110 --> 00:34:02,520 So now, now I am in the group that's called Ground and Mission Operations. 554 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:04,980 Our nickname is G-Mo. 555 00:34:04,980 --> 00:34:06,000 I was against that. 556 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,000 [laughs} 557 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:08,330 It kind of stuck. 558 00:34:08,330 --> 00:34:13,169 But we could spend days talking about like naming procedures and acronyms, but… 559 00:34:13,169 --> 00:34:20,700 Yes yes so G-Mo, yeah, is the short, the short name for the office but essentially, my role 560 00:34:20,700 --> 00:34:23,240 is the Technical Integrator for G-Mo. 561 00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:30,740 So what that means is, because the scope of the group is so big, it covers launch operations, 562 00:34:30,740 --> 00:34:33,149 mission operations and recovery operations. 563 00:34:33,149 --> 00:34:38,720 And so they really needed somebody as an integrator to kind of look across all operations and 564 00:34:38,720 --> 00:34:42,659 make sure that all the requirements and standards were being integrated properly and, and just 565 00:34:42,659 --> 00:34:47,579 kind of have that that big integrated picture for all the, for all the operations. 566 00:34:47,579 --> 00:34:51,839 Cool so you kind of get play, “make it all work together.” 567 00:34:51,839 --> 00:34:52,839 Is that kind of… 568 00:34:52,839 --> 00:34:53,839 Right. 569 00:34:53,839 --> 00:34:54,839 Right. 570 00:34:54,839 --> 00:34:55,839 …summarize that? 571 00:34:55,839 --> 00:34:59,130 Yeah, yeah, and it's, it's a pretty big job because we have, we have the folks here at 572 00:34:59,130 --> 00:35:04,110 Kennedy who obviously are involved more in the ground and lawn shops portion of it. 573 00:35:04,110 --> 00:35:11,630 And then we have our major stakeholders over in Houston who are obviously very heavily 574 00:35:11,630 --> 00:35:15,010 involved in the mission operations side when were when we're actually flying in space. 575 00:35:15,010 --> 00:35:20,310 And then there's the recovery portion, which is kind of a mix of Houston and then obviously 576 00:35:20,310 --> 00:35:25,539 SpaceX is involved in the recovery part as well and that's out here again in the Atlantic, 577 00:35:25,539 --> 00:35:27,549 so it's a big, it's a big job. 578 00:35:27,549 --> 00:35:33,480 I should probably also, I don't know if I mentioned that, but within the G-Mo org there's 579 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:36,049 my position on SpaceX and then there's another one for Boeing. 580 00:35:36,049 --> 00:35:40,660 So I, I'm exclusivity responsible for the SpaceX operations. 581 00:35:40,660 --> 00:35:44,470 Tell me about being a kid and growing up. 582 00:35:44,470 --> 00:35:47,210 You wanted to, you always want to work in the space industry? 583 00:35:47,210 --> 00:35:51,589 Um, I don't know if I always wanted to work in the space industry. 584 00:35:51,589 --> 00:35:54,109 Just because, I mean, when you're little you don't really know what that means. 585 00:35:54,109 --> 00:35:56,450 I wanted to be a motorcycle policeman, that was my thing. 586 00:35:56,450 --> 00:35:57,450 So did you have like a thing? 587 00:35:57,450 --> 00:35:58,730 I wanted to be a veterinarian. 588 00:35:58,730 --> 00:35:59,730 Yes, awesome. 589 00:35:59,730 --> 00:36:00,950 I loved animals. 590 00:36:00,950 --> 00:36:07,210 It probably wasn't until like high school timeframe where I started learning like what 591 00:36:07,210 --> 00:36:12,869 an engineer is through my physics teacher and so that kind of struck my interest. 592 00:36:12,869 --> 00:36:17,000 And then, I was always a huge fan of Star Trek The Next Generation. 593 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:20,700 Okay, very good, right who’s not. 594 00:36:20,700 --> 00:36:27,060 Right, so anyways, so that was always a fun thing for me in high school and then I just 595 00:36:27,060 --> 00:36:32,180 kind of found out what an aerospace engineer was and that seemed like a cool thing to do 596 00:36:32,180 --> 00:36:34,339 so I started pursuing that and learning more about 597 00:36:34,339 --> 00:36:35,740 what that would entail. 598 00:36:35,740 --> 00:36:36,840 And then that's what I ended up majoring in. 599 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:41,050 And so what does your job look like on a daily basis? 600 00:36:41,050 --> 00:36:42,580 Are you spending time in meetings? 601 00:36:42,580 --> 00:36:43,960 Are you doing design work? 602 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:45,210 Are you evaluating things? 603 00:36:45,210 --> 00:36:49,940 Like obviously we'll talk about approaching launch week, but yeah not approaching launch 604 00:36:49,940 --> 00:36:53,009 week, what's kind of a normal week or day look like? 605 00:36:53,009 --> 00:36:59,049 It's kind of a mix of all that, you know there is the program side of it where you're in 606 00:36:59,049 --> 00:37:05,210 meeting at the program control board, or engineering review board. 607 00:37:05,210 --> 00:37:10,259 Leading up to this timeframe we've had several milestones with SpaceX as far as the designs 608 00:37:10,259 --> 00:37:16,750 go, because also what's included in my roles and responsibilities is making sure that the 609 00:37:16,750 --> 00:37:23,080 launch pad, or LC-39a, as some folks might know it as, that all gets designed according 610 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:28,049 to our requirements that we need for crew as well. 611 00:37:28,049 --> 00:37:32,789 So we had several what we called launch site operational readiness reviews with SpaceX 612 00:37:32,789 --> 00:37:36,450 where we went over all their designs. 613 00:37:36,450 --> 00:37:40,119 There is some fun stuff in the day-to-day to where you'll get to go out to the pad and 614 00:37:40,119 --> 00:37:45,420 actually do walk down to the pad or see how they perform their vehicle processing. 615 00:37:45,420 --> 00:37:47,390 So those are always fun days. 616 00:37:47,390 --> 00:37:54,109 And then also along the way we've observed a lot of their static fire and launch operations, 617 00:37:54,109 --> 00:37:58,430 so that's always fun to get behind a console and see how they're doing that operation as 618 00:37:58,430 --> 00:37:59,430 well. 619 00:37:59,430 --> 00:38:04,509 So it's not always in the conference rooms but sometimes we get to do some fun things 620 00:38:04,509 --> 00:38:05,840 out in the field. 621 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:10,619 So just asking you very personally, is that a disappointment? 622 00:38:10,619 --> 00:38:12,960 Is the work for NASA all you had hoped that it would be? 623 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:19,380 Oh yeah, I mean the things I've gotten to do my whole career have been really awesome. 624 00:38:19,380 --> 00:38:21,960 Really, like more than I could have ever expected. 625 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:27,720 I mean just to even be, to say you know, to tell you my career history and to say that 626 00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:31,730 I got to fly the last shuttle launch and then I was part of a brand new program that got 627 00:38:31,730 --> 00:38:32,730 stood up. 628 00:38:32,730 --> 00:38:36,630 There's not a lot of people that get that kind of opportunity in their career, so I 629 00:38:36,630 --> 00:38:40,859 do feel very fortunate to experience that. 630 00:38:40,859 --> 00:38:45,830 And then and just seeing all the things that this company, SpaceX because that's who I'm 631 00:38:45,830 --> 00:38:49,160 closest with at this point but just to see all the things that they've accomplished in 632 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:52,210 the last few years under TCAP has been amazing. 633 00:38:52,210 --> 00:38:57,200 Yeah and so what's life been like leading up to launch, so kind of a little bit everything 634 00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:02,400 in the day-to-day but obviously when we get close to launch it's a whole different game. 635 00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:05,820 Yes it’s been insane. 636 00:39:05,820 --> 00:39:11,259 You know and a lot of it is because this is our first launch as a program to, so you know 637 00:39:11,259 --> 00:39:16,519 we're kind of figuring a lot of things and learning a lot of things as we go. 638 00:39:16,519 --> 00:39:23,289 But yeah, it's been, the last I would, say two months, have been pretty intense just 639 00:39:23,289 --> 00:39:25,880 trying to get to this point. 640 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:29,609 You know, once the hardware, and I kind of knew this already because shuttle was kind 641 00:39:29,609 --> 00:39:33,210 of the same way, but once the hardware gets to Kennedy Space Center, like that's when 642 00:39:33,210 --> 00:39:35,540 things turn on around here. 643 00:39:35,540 --> 00:39:36,540 Yeah. 644 00:39:36,540 --> 00:39:42,329 And kick into a different gear and so you kind of step away from the paperwork aspect 645 00:39:42,329 --> 00:39:46,720 of it and you're and you're more trying to follow what's happening with the hardware 646 00:39:46,720 --> 00:39:49,839 and getting that vehicle stacked. 647 00:39:49,839 --> 00:39:56,089 I think it was right before the end of last year, we were mating the vehicles, and then 648 00:39:56,089 --> 00:40:02,019 as soon as we got back from the new year, you know, we had folks here on the second 649 00:40:02,019 --> 00:40:07,569 working so that we could get ready to roll out the vehicle and do the first dry dress. 650 00:40:07,569 --> 00:40:14,230 So I think public saw that when the when the vehicle rolled out to the pad, but ever since 651 00:40:14,230 --> 00:40:20,140 then it's just been like super high-speed, you know we had a static fire… 652 00:40:20,140 --> 00:40:24,089 [sound of SpaceX static fire test] 653 00:40:24,089 --> 00:40:30,619 …a couple weeks ago, or more, it all kind of blurs together. 654 00:40:30,619 --> 00:40:31,619 [laughs] 655 00:40:31,619 --> 00:40:37,150 So yeah, I'm really excited about the launch happening, like it's been a long time to get 656 00:40:37,150 --> 00:40:41,009 to this point, a lot a lot of work. 657 00:40:41,009 --> 00:40:43,710 And sometimes it's kind of funny like sitting here like thinking about it, you know, you’ve 658 00:40:43,710 --> 00:40:46,339 just kind of been in the mix of it running as hard as we can. 659 00:40:46,339 --> 00:40:47,339 Yeah next Saturday. 660 00:40:47,339 --> 00:40:49,040 Yeah like that's weird to say, right? 661 00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:53,960 Yeah, yeah, and the team's been getting ready, you know we've fit in some sims since the 662 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:58,430 beginning of the year to get the launch team ready. 663 00:40:58,430 --> 00:41:01,089 So it's pretty exciting to be this close. 664 00:41:01,089 --> 00:41:06,490 So Misty, thinking about launch day, very early morning, where are you planning to be 665 00:41:06,490 --> 00:41:07,490 when we fly? 666 00:41:07,490 --> 00:41:08,490 That's a good question. 667 00:41:08,490 --> 00:41:10,259 I was actually just talking about it this morning. 668 00:41:10,259 --> 00:41:15,480 So you get things you have to figure out when launching a vehicle for the first time. 669 00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:20,310 Yeah well, so by the design, I'm not gonna be in the control room. 670 00:41:20,310 --> 00:41:26,779 You know SpaceX is the operator for this mission but there is a whole NASA team that's supporting 671 00:41:26,779 --> 00:41:33,060 our launch manager who's gonna be Steve Stich for this mission. 672 00:41:33,060 --> 00:41:37,089 And so there's a team behind him that's giving him inputs to anything that might be happening 673 00:41:37,089 --> 00:41:46,009 during the count but that's mostly an engineering team that had helped stand up and get them 674 00:41:46,009 --> 00:41:47,009 ready. 675 00:41:47,009 --> 00:41:49,440 I'll probably be over in Hangar AE. 676 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:56,049 It's a big facility that we use for NASA to house some of the folks who are around during 677 00:41:56,049 --> 00:41:57,260 day of launch. 678 00:41:57,260 --> 00:42:00,030 That's probably where I'll be. 679 00:42:00,030 --> 00:42:04,440 Good and so will you be playing a specific role or will you really just became kind of 680 00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:05,440 enjoying this? 681 00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:07,079 Are you watching data? 682 00:42:07,079 --> 00:42:08,280 What's your function at that point. 683 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:11,569 I don't have a specific day of launch function. 684 00:42:11,569 --> 00:42:12,569 Okay. 685 00:42:12,569 --> 00:42:17,480 Like I said, that's mostly covered by the engineering teams. 686 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:21,839 So I'm probably more there for moral support and then to be with the team, right? 687 00:42:21,839 --> 00:42:27,319 Like we're at this very end point and so you know I kind of want to be with everybody when 688 00:42:27,319 --> 00:42:28,319 it happens. 689 00:42:28,319 --> 00:42:29,319 Awesome. 690 00:42:29,319 --> 00:42:33,220 How much do you interface with SpaceX, or is it more focused on working with our NASA 691 00:42:33,220 --> 00:42:35,319 team make sure things are in order? 692 00:42:35,319 --> 00:42:39,369 I talk to them like every day, all throughout the day, to be able to pull something like 693 00:42:39,369 --> 00:42:44,089 this off you have to have a pretty good working relationship with your counterparts. 694 00:42:44,089 --> 00:42:48,650 We've got folks that are here local from SpaceX. 695 00:42:48,650 --> 00:42:53,079 I talked to people at SpaceX in Houston and then also in Hawthorne. 696 00:42:53,079 --> 00:42:58,580 So you know, over the years you kind of form a pretty good working relationship with them. 697 00:42:58,580 --> 00:43:00,049 But yeah, we talk all the time. 698 00:43:00,049 --> 00:43:07,220 And you mentioned that your work kind of focuses on the launch pad and a lots of things going 699 00:43:07,220 --> 00:43:08,400 on there. 700 00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:16,009 So speaking from a uneducated perspective, how complicated is a Launchpad? 701 00:43:16,009 --> 00:43:20,000 Because there's on one hand like, I'm like you just need a big mound to like fire a rocket 702 00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:21,000 into space off. 703 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:22,000 Yeah. 704 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:23,700 And on the other hand, I'm like, there's no way it's that simple. 705 00:43:23,700 --> 00:43:24,700 [laughs] 706 00:43:24,700 --> 00:43:25,700 No, it's pretty complicated. 707 00:43:25,700 --> 00:43:36,019 So well, SpaceX wasn't starting with a complete, you know, just mound of concrete, they inherited 708 00:43:36,019 --> 00:43:39,390 the old shuttle launch site. 709 00:43:39,390 --> 00:43:45,390 So they really kind of had a pretty good foundation there, but if you look at, if you were to 710 00:43:45,390 --> 00:43:51,260 walk out there today and look at that pad compared to when the shuttle was flying, it 711 00:43:51,260 --> 00:43:53,420 looks very different now. 712 00:43:53,420 --> 00:43:57,930 But as far as all the systems out there, you have to think about every system that's onboard 713 00:43:57,930 --> 00:44:01,799 the vehicle has a ground interface to it. 714 00:44:01,799 --> 00:44:06,610 And so when you when you put it in that context you start to think about, ok all the fluid 715 00:44:06,610 --> 00:44:12,269 connections that have to be made at the launch site going into the vehicle, all the electrical 716 00:44:12,269 --> 00:44:15,550 connections, all the command and control. 717 00:44:15,550 --> 00:44:18,770 There's also the sound suppression system out there. 718 00:44:18,770 --> 00:44:24,720 When it launches, to catch all the sound vibrations, you know. 719 00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:30,400 From a crew perspective, they had that to add the crew access arm, which is a pretty 720 00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:33,769 beefy, complicated, hydraulic system. 721 00:44:33,769 --> 00:44:38,680 The emergency egress system is also being installed out there for the crew. 722 00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:43,559 There's also all the supporting GSC just to get the vehicle out there. 723 00:44:43,559 --> 00:44:50,829 They call that the transporter erector, so that's a really big complex piece of GSC that 724 00:44:50,829 --> 00:44:51,960 had to get designed and built. 725 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:57,720 So there's, and the thing is, it's kind of funny that you give that perspective on the 726 00:44:57,720 --> 00:45:03,200 launch site because if that's the case, if people think that, then we did our job right. 727 00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:06,460 Because from our perspective the launch site should just be ready. 728 00:45:06,460 --> 00:45:07,460 Yeah. 729 00:45:07,460 --> 00:45:11,180 And you shouldn't think about it, and the vehicle should just arrive, so... 730 00:45:11,180 --> 00:45:12,480 …that's awesome. 731 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:16,400 So just kind of spitball, and I know that this would be that you're kind of just spitballing 732 00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:19,970 a number here, at least I think you would, how many systems are we talking about? 733 00:45:19,970 --> 00:45:24,319 You talk about each one needs an integration point on the ground, like how many systems 734 00:45:24,319 --> 00:45:25,319 are in a rocket? 735 00:45:25,319 --> 00:45:33,670 Oh man, if I had to like put a SWAG on it, you know, just kind of thinking about all 736 00:45:33,670 --> 00:45:38,620 the lead engineers that I have on the ground, there's probably like between, you know, if 737 00:45:38,620 --> 00:45:43,910 we were to hash it, up maybe 35 to 40 different subsystems. 738 00:45:43,910 --> 00:45:44,910 Okay. 739 00:45:44,910 --> 00:45:47,710 But we group them into probably four or five major systems. 740 00:45:47,710 --> 00:45:53,029 So we got the fluids and that's a huge system just because there's so many different types 741 00:45:53,029 --> 00:45:54,029 of fluids. 742 00:45:54,029 --> 00:46:01,019 There's the electrical, a command and control, and mechanical, which is also a pretty big 743 00:46:01,019 --> 00:46:06,499 beefy area, but under those four titles there's a whole bunch of other things happening under 744 00:46:06,499 --> 00:46:07,499 there. 745 00:46:07,499 --> 00:46:14,160 And then you have to think also what we call facilities, which is kind of like where the 746 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:16,270 water comes from. 747 00:46:16,270 --> 00:46:20,569 Kennedy Space Center will supply the water or where we call you know big power comes 748 00:46:20,569 --> 00:46:22,839 from, AC power. 749 00:46:22,839 --> 00:46:28,140 So those things fall into what we call facilities out here and so that's a whole other area 750 00:46:28,140 --> 00:46:29,900 of things that gets applied to the launch site. 751 00:46:29,900 --> 00:46:33,769 So there's a lot going on out there that most people realize. 752 00:46:33,769 --> 00:46:36,910 And is there any area that you in particular have focused on in your time? 753 00:46:36,910 --> 00:46:42,509 Um no, I've always, I mean within the program I've always played more the integration rule 754 00:46:42,509 --> 00:46:43,509 for all that. 755 00:46:43,509 --> 00:46:49,069 So I mean if an issue comes up in a particular system then you know we go off and work it, 756 00:46:49,069 --> 00:46:53,730 but from a program perspective I'm more the integrator for everything. 757 00:46:53,730 --> 00:46:56,269 So what does the Commercial Crew program mean for you? 758 00:46:56,269 --> 00:46:59,529 And I’m thinking about its goals and vision and mission. 759 00:46:59,529 --> 00:47:01,099 What does that mean to Misty? 760 00:47:01,099 --> 00:47:08,740 You know, because I was hired on at the very beginning of the program, it did kind of take 761 00:47:08,740 --> 00:47:17,150 a little bit of like shifting your mindset on what your purpose was compared to shuttle. 762 00:47:17,150 --> 00:47:24,720 Because the goals of Commercial Crew are more to spawn a new industry for space, and to 763 00:47:24,720 --> 00:47:31,480 kind of teach these commercial providers on how to do human spaceflight. 764 00:47:31,480 --> 00:47:37,799 And it's kind of one of those things where you know you're the mama bird and you want 765 00:47:37,799 --> 00:47:40,990 the baby birds to go off and do this on their own eventually, right. 766 00:47:40,990 --> 00:47:46,119 And so you know that took a little while to, I think for everyone in the program to kind 767 00:47:46,119 --> 00:47:52,349 of adjust to kind of go into the program with that mindset. 768 00:47:52,349 --> 00:47:57,039 I was actually just thinking about this a couple days ago, but looking back from when 769 00:47:57,039 --> 00:47:59,980 we first started to where we are now, and just kind of reading the headlines and all 770 00:47:59,980 --> 00:48:06,549 the news about all these different space companies that are out there doing it and wanting to 771 00:48:06,549 --> 00:48:14,589 start to provide services for just regular folks - it's pretty cool to be able to kind 772 00:48:14,589 --> 00:48:16,920 of like see that progression happen. 773 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:22,220 And I think that was like the one big goal that Commercial Crew and then obviously the 774 00:48:22,220 --> 00:48:29,040 other goal is to get these vehicles done so that we will launch our own astronauts. 775 00:48:29,040 --> 00:48:34,999 So that's how I how I see the program and its purpose. 776 00:48:34,999 --> 00:48:37,790 That's what I think about when I'm doing my job every day, you know, how can I help these 777 00:48:37,790 --> 00:48:41,520 providers to get where they need to be so that they can get certified and do this on 778 00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:42,520 their own. 779 00:48:42,520 --> 00:48:47,490 So a really important question, if you could be any character on Star Trek Next Generation, 780 00:48:47,490 --> 00:48:49,950 who would it be? 781 00:48:49,950 --> 00:48:54,859 Oh my goodness, Geordi was always my favorite. 782 00:48:54,859 --> 00:48:56,230 Who doesn't love Geordi. 783 00:48:56,230 --> 00:48:58,970 Yeah, yeah, he had those cool glasses. 784 00:48:58,970 --> 00:49:01,270 Which you don't really know what they did. 785 00:49:01,270 --> 00:49:03,640 That's right, doesn't matter, they're really cool. 786 00:49:03,640 --> 00:49:04,640 Yeah, yeah. 787 00:49:04,640 --> 00:49:06,829 All right Misty, thank you so much for joining us today. 788 00:49:06,829 --> 00:49:08,019 Oh thanks for having me. 789 00:49:08,019 --> 00:49:12,490 I like to think of launch days as payoff days for years of hard work. 790 00:49:12,490 --> 00:49:15,309 Nothing provides a jolt of energy like seeing your work fly into space. 791 00:49:15,309 --> 00:49:16,309 Right. 792 00:49:16,309 --> 00:49:20,529 So good luck to you and your team, and the entire program and thank you. 793 00:49:20,529 --> 00:49:24,550 Thank you, appreciate it. 794 00:49:24,550 --> 00:49:28,170 I’m Joshua Santora, and that’s our show. 795 00:49:28,170 --> 00:49:32,039 But before you go, remember that we’d like to hear from you, our listeners. 796 00:49:32,039 --> 00:49:34,069 Do you have a question about space exploration? 797 00:49:34,069 --> 00:49:39,289 Tweet us your question using the hashtag #rocketranch and we’ll plan to answer a listener’s 798 00:49:39,289 --> 00:49:41,519 question at the end of the next episode. 799 00:49:41,519 --> 00:49:46,359 Also, please be sure to subscribe to the Rocket Ranch so you never miss an episode, and tell 800 00:49:46,359 --> 00:49:48,039 your friends. 801 00:49:48,039 --> 00:49:49,720 Thanks for stoppin’ by the Rocket Ranch. 802 00:49:49,720 --> 00:49:55,769 And special thanks to our guests Mike Lee, Carol Scott and Misty Snopkowski. 803 00:49:55,769 --> 00:50:00,859 As always a big thanks to our producer, John Sackman, soundman Lorne Mathre and Glenn Benson, 804 00:50:00,859 --> 00:50:05,539 editor Michelle Stone, and our production manager, McManus Woodend. 805 00:50:05,539 --> 00:50:10,450 And remember: on the rocket ranch… even the sky isn’t the limit.