WEBVTT - Could We Be Entering an Era of Commercialized Space Exploration?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogue bomb here for the first time since NASA

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<v Speaker 1>astronauts will once again return to space from US soil.

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<v Speaker 1>Veteran astronauts Robert Bankin and Douglas Hurley will rendezvous with

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<v Speaker 1>the International Space Station after they lift off on May

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<v Speaker 1>from the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. To

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<v Speaker 1>get there, they'll ride a crew Dragon spacecraft propelled into

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<v Speaker 1>orbit by a Falcon nine rocket, both designed and manufactured

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<v Speaker 1>by SpaceX, the organization founded into thou two by entrepreneur

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<v Speaker 1>Elon Musk. If all goes well, this mission will make

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<v Speaker 1>SpaceX the first private company to put astronauts into space.

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<v Speaker 1>News of the flight was broken in April by NASA

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<v Speaker 1>Administrator Jim Bridenstein. During a series of virtual press conferences

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<v Speaker 1>held on Friday May one, Bridenstein and other key figures

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<v Speaker 1>representing both NASA and SpaceX spoke about the Crew Dragons

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<v Speaker 1>unprecedented task. Brinstein told the media, this is a high

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<v Speaker 1>priority mission for the United States of America. We as

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<v Speaker 1>a nation have not had our own access to the

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<v Speaker 1>International Space Station for nine years. At the same time,

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<v Speaker 1>we've had American astronauts on the International Space Station for

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<v Speaker 1>twenty years in a row. The International Space Station, stretching

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<v Speaker 1>three hundred and fifty seven feet long about a hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and nine meters, is the largest man made object in

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<v Speaker 1>Earth's orbit. Cruise stationed at the vessel perform a wide

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<v Speaker 1>range of experiments in low gravity. The I S S

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<v Speaker 1>owes a great deal to NASA's defunct Space Shuttle program.

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<v Speaker 1>Green lit by then President Richard M. Nixon in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy two, this initiative gave the world its first reusable spacecraft.

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<v Speaker 1>From one to two thousand eleven, NASA sent astronauts into

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<v Speaker 1>orbit on American made shuttles. These were often used to

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<v Speaker 1>transport portions of the I S S during its construction.

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<v Speaker 1>On July, the Space Shuttle era came to an end

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<v Speaker 1>as the Atlantis orbiter returned from its final mission, but

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<v Speaker 1>the program dis continued. I S bound astronauts grew dependent

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<v Speaker 1>on Russian Soyuz rockets. Then the law of supply and

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<v Speaker 1>demand took over. For nearly a decade, no other rockets

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<v Speaker 1>were capable of sending people to the I S S.

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<v Speaker 1>All astronauts bound for that station had to be launched

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<v Speaker 1>out of Kazakhstan's bike Nor Cosmodrome, which is a spaceport

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<v Speaker 1>at least to the Russian government, and by April the

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<v Speaker 1>Russians were charging eighty six million dollars to include foreign

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<v Speaker 1>astronauts in their Soyuz missions. Another Soyuz rocket launch is

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<v Speaker 1>scheduled for October, and Brandenstein says NASA is currently in

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<v Speaker 1>negotiations to book a seat, and nevertheless, it's hoped that

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<v Speaker 1>the SpaceX Crew Dragon will end this space flight monopoly.

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<v Speaker 1>Brandenstein explained, we want the Russian American relationship in space

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<v Speaker 1>exploration to remain strong. We see a day when Russian

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<v Speaker 1>cosmonauts can launch on American rockets, an American astronauts can

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<v Speaker 1>launch on Russian rockets. By now, space X at the

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<v Speaker 1>International Space Station have a fair bit of history using

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<v Speaker 1>unmanned crafts. The company has delivered supplies to the orbiting

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<v Speaker 1>laboratory since the Crew Dragon aced address rehearsal in March

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<v Speaker 1>of twenty nineteen, when it left Merritt Island on the

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<v Speaker 1>nose of a SpaceX Falcon nine rocket and autonomously docked

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<v Speaker 1>with the International Space Station. Five days after its departure.

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<v Speaker 1>The Crew Dragon returned to Earth, splashing down in the

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<v Speaker 1>Atlantic Ocean some one hundred and forty three miles or

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<v Speaker 1>two kilometers off Florida's eastern coastline. But that trip's only

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<v Speaker 1>passengers were an earth shaped plush toy and a dummy

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<v Speaker 1>named Ripley, named after Sigourney Weaver's character Ellen Ripley from

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<v Speaker 1>the Alien movie franchise. The flight later this month will

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<v Speaker 1>be the first time that live astronauts will be on

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<v Speaker 1>board SpaceX crew. Mission director Benjamin Reid said at the

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<v Speaker 1>May first conference, Dragon will be fully autonomous. The x

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<v Speaker 1>afectation is that it can carry the crew safely to

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<v Speaker 1>the station and bring them home without direct intervention. Even so,

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<v Speaker 1>Hurley and Bancon are set to take control for a

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<v Speaker 1>short period before the crew Dragon docks. They'll be able

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<v Speaker 1>to guide the vessel using touch screens or physical switches.

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<v Speaker 1>Both options are available for certain portions of the journey.

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<v Speaker 1>While aboard, the crews expected to test out such components

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<v Speaker 1>as the maneuvering thrusters and environmental control system. And then

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<v Speaker 1>there's the space suits, one piece outfits designed by SpaceX

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<v Speaker 1>to supply the astronauts with oxygen, provide the appropriate temperature,

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<v Speaker 1>and maintain pressure. The space suits plug into the crew

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<v Speaker 1>dragon's chairs when their wearers sit down. Reid said. The

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<v Speaker 1>suits also have an integrated communication system so that the

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<v Speaker 1>crew can communicate through their helmets. Neither bank It nor

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<v Speaker 1>Hurley are strangers to low Earth orbit. Bankons logged more

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<v Speaker 1>than seven hundred and eight hours in space, and Hurley

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<v Speaker 1>was a member of NASA's last Shuttle air crew back

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<v Speaker 1>in But every mission presents its own unique challenges. Like

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of the world, NASA, space X and these

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<v Speaker 1>two astronauts have had to make adjustments during the coronavirus outbreak,

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<v Speaker 1>taking extra precautions. So what does that mean? Both SpaceX

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<v Speaker 1>and NASA have implemented social distancing protocols like keeping work

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<v Speaker 1>desks six ft or two meters apart at their respective

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<v Speaker 1>control rooms. Meanwhile, the crews getting a wide berth contact

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<v Speaker 1>with them by any other team members has been minimized

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<v Speaker 1>and many training sessions have been done virtually and for

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<v Speaker 1>the safety of the ISS crew, the astronauts will observe

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<v Speaker 1>a pre flight quarantine from May sixteenth until the launch

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<v Speaker 1>on Right now, there are three space farers, two Americans

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<v Speaker 1>and a Russian living and working aboard the International Space station.

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<v Speaker 1>The length of Bankin's and Harley's stay at the facility

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<v Speaker 1>will be determined at a later date. It could last

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<v Speaker 1>anywhere from five to thirty days. When the time to

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<v Speaker 1>head home arrives, the crew Dragon should undock autonomous Lee

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<v Speaker 1>and deliver its human charges to Florida by way of

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<v Speaker 1>the Atlantic. There's a long, proud tradition of civilians gathering

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<v Speaker 1>near the Kennedy Space Center to witness rocket launches. Unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 1>NASA is discouraging people from following suit this time lest

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<v Speaker 1>they spread or contract COVID nineteen. But you can tune

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<v Speaker 1>in and watch the launch online. For just the fifth

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<v Speaker 1>time in history, NASA astronauts will be test flying a

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<v Speaker 1>new type of spacecraft. Should bank in and hurly complete

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<v Speaker 1>their mission objectives, we may yet see a golden age

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<v Speaker 1>of space tourism and innovation, with private industry taking on

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<v Speaker 1>development roles long adopted by governments. Brandenstein said, this really

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<v Speaker 1>is the next major step in commercializing low Earth orbit

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<v Speaker 1>and having a really vital low Earth orbit economy in

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<v Speaker 1>which NASA is one of many customers. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by bark Mancini and produced by Tyler Clang. For

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<v Speaker 1>more on the and lots of other topics. Visit how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I

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