orbit. the orbit is lower altitude but it it maintains the same exact lower altered as the international space station. you'll be on an elliptical orbit, not a perfect circle, but a steady 10 kilometers lower than the space station itself. this will be the third of those five burns. [inaudible]

announcer: as you can see on your screen, we are awaiting a news conference from nasa tv with the nasa administrator, jim bridenstine. comments from president trump earlier. he was returning to washington on his way back from air force one. a reminder, all our coverage from the liftoff will air later tonight in our primetime schedule here on c-span.

>> again, we are awaiting the start of the news conference with n.a.s.a. officials including n.a.s.a. administrator jim bridenstine. president trump and vice president pence at cape canaveral, reacting to the launch in comments later, and also talking about the unrest across the country in the wake of the death of george floyd in minnesota. here is what he had to say. , i wantump: by the way to say again, secret service did a job last night that was incredible. city.polis, i love that as you know, i have had very great success there. almost won the state for the

first time in many decades. it's a great state, minnesota. they've got to get tougher. they've got to get tougher. they've got to be strong. honor the memory of george floyd. honor his memory. they have to get tougher. by being tougher, they will be honoring his family. but they cannot let that happen. run by aw policemen mayor who i believe is a good person, but is a radical left mayor, when i saw the police men running out of a police station, for that police station to be abandoned and taken over, i have never seen anything so horrible and stupid in my life. [reporters asking questions] pres. trump: then i see them trying to justify it. look, they've got to be tough. they've got to be smart. we have our military ready,

willing and able and we can have troops on the ground very quickly if they want our military. they are using their national guard right now -- as you know, they have their national guard out. we can have our military there very quickly. they've got to be strong, got to be respected. these people, these antifa, there is a lot of radical left bad people they got be taught that you can't do this. president trump's comment to this morning before departing for the kennedy space center. observed the space lunch along with the vice president and others permit you hear from n.a.s.a. administrator, jim bridenstine shortly. a news conference with tine andrator bridens also n.a.s.a. officials, we will have that live here on c-span.

>> all right. we had a successful close burn. three down, >> more to go. we want get to those tomorrow until it is time for the crew to wake up that will do it for me for now. i will handed off to my colleagues who will be hanging out with everybody else following along as you get ready for the crew to go to sleep. i just heard that they plan to tell us what the zero g indicator, some of you may have seen a sparkly dragon floated around in the capsule, we were finally figure out what that is. i am signing off but i will stick around to watch about, because i still don't know and i still need to know. [laughter] but it has been an amazing day, an amazing lunch. i will be back when it is time turn dock.

you are in the hands of kate for the next couple of hours. see you soon. >> see you in the morning. like you said, we will be stepping into the first media event, the first opportunity we have heard to hear from bob and doug in non-procedural communications, basically meaning that everything have heard from them has been pretty of, hey, thisrms is what we are doing and this is how we are feeling. this event coming up will be that dragon crew capsule from their perspective, and get a little more info about how they felt on their way up.

>> the return of u.s. human facelift from american soil to the u.s. international space station. the crew dragon spacecraft and the falcon nine rocket lifted today from launch complex that in and a in kennedy space center -- launch complex 39 a.

both are on their way to the international space station. talk about the mission, we have a great panel of guests, including n.a.s.a. administrator jim bridenstine, elon musk, caffe leaders, manager of the nasa crew program, kirk, manager of the space station, and the nasa chief astronaut. we will start with opening comment with our presenters then take your questions. with our n.a.s.a. administrator, jim bridenstine. >> thank you. what a great day for n.a.s.a.. what a great day for space ask and what a great day for the united states of america. it's been nine years since we launched american rockets from american soil and now we have done it again. i want to be clear, the mission is not yet over. this is a test flight, so we are at the beginning. but so far, everything has

performed very, very well and we are excited about the fact that bob and doug, our american heroes are safely in our bit and on the way to the -- safely in orbit and on the way to the international space station. congratulations to the team, congratulations to kathy who has been leading the crew program all along. you and your team have done an absolutely fabulous job, and of course, elon musk and your team at spacex. this lunch represent -- this launch represents the best america has to offer. it also represents continuity of purpose. now there is a lot of political support, but it is because we have had success after success after success. this is an important milestone for the nation and i am so honored and grateful to have

really this brief moment in my life to be at the head of this agency. what an amazing group of people that made all of this happen. thank you. >> thank you, administrator. next, elon musk. adjustk: i would like to -- yeah, acknowledged the incredible work of the people at spacex and n.a.s.a. and everyone, in creating this in what hasnd commented in this incredible launch of getting astronauts back to orbit after almost a decade. i think this is something that right really get people on the heart of everyone who has had any spirit of exploration. think this is something that is particularly important in the united states that appeals to everyone who has traveled the world to have within them the

spirit of exploration. emotionte overcome with this day, so it is kind of hard to talk, frankly. it has been 18 years working toward this goal. it is hard to believe that it has happened. need to bring them back safely and we need to repeat this mission and have this be a regular occurrence. so there is a lot of work to do. but it is just incredible. this is something that everyone -- this is a craft made by humans, for humans. something that i think humanity should be excited about and proud of occurring on this day. >> thank you. next, kathy leaders. >kathy: i was not expecting this today. we woke up this morning, i think

jim actually called me this morning and said, what do you think? are we going to fly today? what do you think? [laughter] a 6:05 wake up phone call. >> i didn't know you ever slept. [laughter] i think jim said it, i am really proud of the team, the team out there this morning. we looked at the weather and it didn't look great, but we looked at the different options and we realized how important it was for us to step to this carefully the readiness of the hardware and not have launch fever, but very carefully assess the situation and be able to clear the milestones along the way. the n.a.s.a. and spacex team made a fabulous job of that. very grateful for the weather clearing one hour before we were

getting ready to launch. constraints were cleared on a day that we weren't sure how it would work out. for our boat track and lunch area where we have very tough constraints. like both jim and elon have said, this is a test flight. bob and doug are accomplishing many of the goals of our test mission. they got to do their demos, got to feel what it is like to use a touchscreen in zero gravity. they've got to be able to check out the different parts of the system and liberate their zero g indicators which i think you probably all have on order right now. they have a lot more things. they will get to try to sleep. not sure how they will do that. we willorrow morning, be approaching the space station and it will be some of the most

important demonstrations that they will be able to work in on how we safely got to the international space station. so i am so grateful and proud of our n.a.s.a. and spacex team. they are still vigilant. still on console. i will stay until bob and doug get docked to the international space station because we will stay vigilant until we bring them safely home and just very, very proud of this team. cannot tell you how happy i am and amazed that we are here today. thank you. >> what a great day. very, very great day for human spaceflight. congratulations to elon musk and the spacex team and a big congratulations to jim bridenstine and his leadership edersher with kathy lu and the commercial team. fantastic day, really proud to

be part of it. a lot of the team could not be here today but i can tell you they are watching it. they actually had a virtual launch watching party and they were very excited to see the launch as well. finally, our international partners. i had a chance to get congratulations from many of my counterparts across the international space station partnership. a good part of the commercial crew and the spacex efforts along the way. today they were watching. i can tell you they are all very excited about having their crew members fly in the near future on the dragon and come up to the international space station. today on board the iss, the crew tobers are getting ready have their additional crewmates on board. i know they are very excited. i would be surprised if they don't have something special

hooks up for them when they arrive. look forward to that. there is a lot of work to be done on the iss and i know that bob and doug together with the folks in orbit are ready to get busy. hopefully what you saw today was really smooth and calm. kind of like a duck may be on the water. looks smooth but there is a lot of rattling going on underneath the surface. what you will see tomorrow -- a lot of paddling going on .nderneath the surface and just want you to know, it is very difficult, a tremendous effort on the part of the designers, the test engineers, the ops planners, operators and even the crew to make it happen. smooth and nominal is actually very hard. with that, it is been a great day. very happy to have bob and doug on the way to the international space station, and looking forward to the rest of this test flight. >> pat. >> i tell you, i am very happy

to be sitting here today in a post-launch press conference. that is not something you will hear me say very often. probably not as happy as bob and doug are right now but i am very happy. no doubt i have a group of astronauts jumping up and down back in houston that are pretty we promisedbecause them some flight assignments and those are sure to come once we got bob and doug up. so i just wanted to just say thanks to the team for being able to do that, to give these opportunities to our other crewmembers. i want you to know that i have been living with bob and doug on our astronaut quarters here for the last week plus and i have never seen a crew so calm and focused leading up to the launch as these two were. no doubt it has to do with their experience and their training, but i really think it is a demonstration of the trust that

they have both in the n.a.s.a. team and the spacex team to get them safely to orbit. astronauts sometimes are referred to as heroes. no doubt bob and doug demonstrated that today. havehis is a first time i ever been in the flight control room as a chief astronaut while we were trying to launch a crew. acceptingell you, risk on behalf of others is a big responsibility. i was amazed at what was going on. as kirk said, there was a lot of paddling an underneath. i want everyone to know we were surrounded by he was on the ground that got us where we are today. with that -- we were surrounded by heroes on the ground that got us where we are today. with that, i look forward to seeing them dock at the international space station tomorrow. >> thank you.

today, we have media joining us remotely. they will be on the phone and watching on television like everybody else. to ensure as many people as possible can ask their questions, we are asking all reporters to ask one question to make sure their colleagues have an opportunity to participate in this press conference. please state your name, affiliation and whom you are directing your question to. miriamr: thank you, kramer. this question is for elon or the both.strator, or so this launch has often been referred to as a moment of hope for the nation, but it is also happening at the backdrop of protest and demo stations around the country today. i wonder what you have to say to those people out there protesting. is this lunch for them too? thanks -- is this launch for them too? >> this launch is for all of america. we have had moments in american

history where we have had challenges of the nation. 1960's, thinkthe about the vietnam war and the protests. in the 1960's, the civil rights abuses and the civil rights protests. think about the height of the war. yet we had this moment in time, july 20, 1969, when all of america stopped. just stopped because we had american astronauts walking on the surface of the moon. then we repeated that five more times. the apollo program eventually ended. but i think what is great about n.a.s.a. is that we bring people together. everybody loves exploration. and it's not just political divides, it is also international divides, and it is unifying. i would hope -- i think it

happened today, as a matter of fact, all of america stopp i have seen some of the numbers. ethe amount of viewership on what we accomplished today was off the charts, so i am hoping that people can see this as something bright and hopeful. and that people know that tomorrow is a new day and a better day, and we will always strive to do better. >> thank you. >> next question is from cnn. reporter: thanks so much for doing this. i was curious this question for elon, if you had heard from president trump yet and what he might have told you and what you might have said to him about this. mr. musk: i have not spoken one-on-one with him. i essentially heard the press conference along with everybody else. we have not exchanged any direct

comments. >> we had a few moments in the firing room after the launch. i'll tell you, the president is excited. he congratulated elon and the spacex team. moment.t it was a good mr. musk: yes, it was with a group of people but. , yes. he congratulated the spacex team. . just to echo the nasa administrator's comment, this is a day that i think everyone can be proud of. this event is something all of humanity can get excited about. i think we need more positive good things in this world. >> our next question is from reuters.

reporter: thank you for doing this. two-part question. first to jim bridenstine. have you heard from your russian counterparts? i know that kirk mentioned the national partners reached out to n.a.s.a. for the success. the elon, with the success today, have you heard from your boeing counterparts and what would you say to them? cosmos in russia, i have not talked to him, but i have seen his public comments. he was overwhelmingly congratulatory towards n.a.s.a. and spacex. about howme comments it is like flying an iphone or something. [laughter] i know that i made similar comments as well. he expressed that this is an exciting day not just for us but also for them. they believe in the partnership,

so i think it will remain strong. mr. musk: the -- is working. [laughter] inside joke. yeah. [laughter] >> at the comes from marcia dunn. reporter: your company president said before liftoff that she was super nervous, stomach in throat. could you talk about how you were -- how your emotions and feelings leading up to liftoff and especially making sure they made it to orbit safely? >> was that for me or elon? >> for elon, please. >> marcia, could you repeat your question? reporter: yes.

elon, glenn said before liftoff that she had her stomach in her throat, she was super nervous. i would like to know how you were feeling in the minutes leading up to liftoff today, your emotions and feelings of having to stand and watch all of this unfold. thank you. mr. musk: well, speaking straight from the heart, on wednesday during the first countdown, after that, my adrenaline was at 100%. when the launch was called off, it went to 0%. slept,ally collapsed and the longest time i had slept in probably a year. then today, i don't know, it felt just like the fates were aligned. didn't feel nervous. fast like it was going to work. i felt like the right thing was going to happen. for whatever reason, i did not feel nervous.

administrator bridenstine: i just got a note a moment ago, curly amount that the crew dragon is named and ever. we will look forward to hearing -- is named and eveendeavour. we will hear from them in a few short moments. mr. musk: it is cool. they took it off automatic and are manually flying the craft around. it will be really fun zipping around in the spacecraft. [laughter] >>, we go to every kelly of florida today. reporter: thanks for doing this. i appreciate it. withjust wondering wha this being the first time humans have had a chance to experience flying on a falcon nine and in a crew dragon after all of these years of them flying, have you got any input from bob and doug? is it a smooth ride? what was it

like? you. >> i have not heard specifically as to how it flies. i know that we are going to hear from them soon. i don't know at what point that is going to take place. don't know if you have that specific information? no. you can see on the webcast, it looks quite smooth. a friend of mine who is a filmmaker said, you need to put some shake into the camera to make it look more realistic. [laughter] >> next question will be from upi. of reporter: i would like to ask elon. i realize the mission is not over but it is a significant point.ment at this what is the impact of success on his program on spacex as a whole including development of starship? musk: this is obviously a

tremendous accompanist meant for spacex in partnership with n.a.s.a. and a number of critical -- i think of the thatr of people involved made the mission successful, probably 100,000. i would like to express our word of appreciation and congratulations again to everyone involved in making this successful. just a special word to the administrator and kathy, everyone involved, it is just a -- wow. anyway, u it was a little hard process. i am trying to come up with sentences to make sense. it is quite difficult. this is hope fully the first

towardsa journey civilization on mars and multi-planetary, based on the moon, expanding upon earth and becoming -- and laugh becoming to planetary for the first time in the 4.5 billion euro history of her leave this is the first step on the journey. it will require a tremendous amount of innovation and technology to make going to orbit and ultimately beyond orbit a routine matter, where thousands of perhaps the people -- of millions of people can travel to other planets. that is what we are trying to achieve. that is seeming increasingly real with what happened today, getting people to orbit, finally

after 18 years. if we are able to increase the rate of innovation, then life can become multi-planetary. this is the goal we should try for. admin. bridenstine: i think, nasa perspective, i think what this did for starship and a lot of others is kind of establish that this is a successful is this model, and if we look at how we did commercial resupply how we did commercial resupply of the international space station and the crew and the payload with the travel to the moon and for the first time since 1972, we have funded a human ending is them. we are proud spacex will be a partner in that space development program, also. not only do we have it funded but we have contractors under contract of developing that newman landing system. as far as