>> our bit checks will be coming up next. all right. there we go with the aft fins. the aft fins down here at the base of the rocket help direct the vehicle on ascent and descent, so commanding a profile there and making sure that it's tracking. >> folks, you are watching now as we are under a minute from the third crewed blue origin launch, but aboard this one happens to be one michael strahan. and we will continue to listen to the tower here as they take off on this 11-minute round trip journey to space. >> especially right there before landing. ladies and gentlemen, we are 30

seconds. it is time to launch this rocket. >> you can see stray in the window there. >> thank you for joining us. >> 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, main engine start, 2, 1. >> mission control has confirmed new shepard has cleared the tower and is on its way to space. we can hear it here from the desk. if you're following along with us, you can see on the lower left side of your screen that we're gaining speed as new shepard lifts off toward space with a full capsule of six

humans for the very first time. noticing that altitude bar also on the bottom of screen. we are climbing fast. >> look at that. >> we punched through max q. that is the point where the aerodynamic stress on the new shepard booster is at its maximum. our original six are getting the ride of their lives right now. look at that beautiful be-3 engine in action.

coming up next here in under a minute is going to be main engine cutoff where we cut off that be-3 and you'll be able to visually see that on the screen here shortly. and there we see it. main engine cutoff of the be-3.

>> cady, explain what we just heard, that main engine cutoff and where we are. >> that's the engine that has been powering them up to space and gotten them to mach 3. they are still continuing up, up, up but the engine is not powering them. they're going to separate that booster and the capsule will be by itself on that three-minute arc. the highest altitude probably 350,000 miles and then coming back down for a landing, so they are weightless now. >> they are in zero g. they have practiced for this and now it's really happening. >> woo-hoo! >> we're doing this, guys. >> check this out. oh, my god! >> you all there are going to get three minutes of this. we'll let you listen, but we are

hearing them now float around. >> oh, my gosh. >> t.j., you can hear michael too. i could hear him say woo-hoo. >> can't miss it. >> i've never seen anything like this. >> all right. >> oh, my gosh. [ laughing ] >> make sure you know where your seat is.

>> original six. original six. >> one minute warning. one minute warning. >> huge congratulations to all six crew. they have crossed that carmen line and they became official astronauts. outstanding. as you can see, we have two distinct vehicles in the screen now. both the crew capsule and the booster are descending. it was so amazing to hear from such an excited crew. >> i just love hearing their real reactions realtime. it is just awesome. >> that energy walking up the tower definitely translated into space.

>> oh, there it is. oh, my goodness. >> that's the booster. >> watching it come down right now. amazing! >> the forward fins on the new shepard booster have deployed. that booster is on its way back to earth first. >> it's coming down so fast. what? >> robach, gio, we can hear you. you all said you were closer than you had been on previous launches. can you tell us what you're seeing there just from your naked eye? >> yeah. so the booster is about to land right behind us here on the landing pad and it's going to land upright on its own and we're going to hear that sonic boom in a moment here. >> and feel the sonic boom you say too. all right, it's about to make landfall right now. it was coming down pretty quickly. i'm glad to know that was just the booster. >> yes. >> if that was them, they're coming in hot. >> robach --

>> whoa! >> all right. so the booster has landed and now we're going to wait for the capsule to come down. you're watching a little bit of a delay there, but you're going to see it on your screen in just a moment as it lands upright on that landing pad. >> and you can hear everyone cheering. one of my favorite parts, it was cutting in and out a little bit, you can imagine they're in space. but the laughter, wow, you hear that? whoa. just roaring through this desert right now. >> that's what's amazing, you can feel that power. okay, so here it is, the video showing as it lands. look how incredible this is. >> that beautiful booster hover. >> yes, this is the booster. this is not strahan yet and crew. this is the booster. >> welcome back, new shepard. >> are we seeing it now? >> so we're looking -- t.j.,

we're looking in the sky here trying to see where the capsule is. are we seeing it already? >> we don't have the imaging. >> it's right there. >> wait, let me see, let me see. >> i don't see it yet. oh, there it is. there it is. >> the parachute. >> here we see the crew capsule on final descent. >> we're watching as they land here. >> there it is. there's the parachute. some cheers from people watching down below. wow. the cars are racing out now to meet the crew. you can see them. >> all in a day's work for the work horse of this operation. >> and there go the parachutes. that's a beautiful sight slowing down the capsule. and there we go. the droves lifting out the main parachutes. it looks like we have three

beautiful parachutes there in their configuration, and the release, there we go. three beautiful main parachutes. on your screen you're seeing that velocity and altitude dropping. >> and you could see that number there, 15 miles per hour, eventually going to slow down to 5 miles per hour. >> it's pretty remarkable. >> these parachutes are essential in providing a gentle touchdown for the crew capsule. new shepard has an innovative retrothrust system on the bottom of the capsule and that will be touchdown even smoother for the astronauts flying today. >> and that system there, that's why you're going to see that dust as it lands, because it just pushes that dirt there and it lands at like 1 mile per hour. >> it's incredible.

>> wow. >> it is just beautiful to watch. you can hear people already cheering here. this is so exciting. >> you can hear from the very excited crew on their way back to earth. what a beautiful day in west texas. >> great views through those windows there. >> stand by, touchdown. stand by, touchdown. >> so keep in mind here, there we go. retrothrust and touchdown. >> it was great. to see all the friends and family down below, t.j., watching the crew come down was such a special experience

because, you know, you could hear the cheering. when we heard the astronauts laughing with weightlessness, you could hear everyone around here laughing with them, sharing the joy. so excited that they got to have that perfect 11 minutes. it seems as though it was perfect. everything went just according to plan. >> and i heard your sigh of relief when that landing happened. i heard it. >> whoo. >> but it really looks like a clean operation at this point and we're going to wait as they actually exit that capsule and meet some of their family members and their friends and of course we believe jeff bezos is probably there as well. >> yes, we believe that is the truth, t.j. what was it like watching for you? >> you know what, i don't know if they have an iso camera on me during my reactions, but it's anxiety inducing, very exciting, but i feel a lot better to see that thing on the ground where it's supposed to be. look, the parachutes were out. this is why it had to be delayed. we talk about some of those winds. but it was very particular area

where it needs to land. there was concern about some of those winds throwing it off course when it's coming back down and those parachutes picking up that wind and being tossed around. so this was very -- it had to be very precise, as we know. again, we talk about an 11-minute flight. this took about 10:15. forgive me phrase but they have this down to a science certainly at this point. vehicles are racing out to meet them. we do expect bezos will go around to each window, get a thumbs up, make sure everybody is okay. we can see some thumbs up being given already from some of the folks in there. and there is stray. it's hard to miss him. but there he is -- there he is right there. he looks pretty good, guys. he looks pretty calm and cool. but we have the sound. again, we'll keep our eye on this but we want folks to listen to that moment that you all were talking about, when they were weightless and sounded like kids who just went on a ride at a birthday party. take a listen to this.

>> yay! >> woo-hoo! >> we're doing this, guys! >> oh, check this out. oh, my god. >> you just let go and you go up. >> oh, my god. >> woo-hoo! >> what do you say, gio, robach? what do you say there. can you imagine they have been training for this, they got to that moment of weightlessness. gio, this was the first time i heard this in one of these flights that we covered but there was a voice that came on and a warning that essentially said one minute, to buckle back in. i hadn't heard that before but that was letting them know, hey, it's time to go. >> yeah, and it's an incredibly difficult thing.

the first time that stray actually did this. he trained for it here on the ground, but obviously we have gravity on the ground. it's a very different thing doing it in zero gravity, and that's why they kept training for so many days. when you hear that voice saying one minute, it's time to get back in that seat and prepare to go down because you still feel the g force. i was wurondering, i was talkin to some of the astronauts up there what do you feel coming down? is it like the tower of terror? and it's not. you feel the g force hitting you as you're going down. it's the whole science thing, t.j., the whole science thing, and that's what happened. and so it's just -- it's incredible that we can even do this. >> it's remarkable to see civilians in space and what it means for space travel in the future. we do have officially, i guess, a space tourism industry right now. having someone like michael strahan be out there and facing a lot of fears most people wouldn't be willing to do but his courage i think will have a huge impact on this industry.

>> no doubt about it. and this crew, including michael, they will be the last americans to officially receive those commercial space astronaut wings from the faa. after that, because we're going to start seeing so many launches, the faa decided to stop that program. so this is it. they are the last americans to receive those astronaut wings from the faa. it's just incredible. at least on the commercial space side. >> it certainly is, as we watch those vehicles race to the capsule to open that hatch door. eventually at some point we think bezos will be doing it and strahan we're told might be the first one out so we're looking forward to those images coming to us. in the meantime hakeem we want to bring you in. people see this and say why. talk a little bit about what something like this and watching this incredible historic event take place, watching someone like michael strahan go up to space for the first time, what does this mean for space travel, for space tourism? why is this important? >> well, you know what, it's

beyond space travel and space tourism. what we're talking about here is actually the health of our science and engineering as a country and as a nation. and i tell you, one word jumped out to me throughout this and that word is "family." one of the things that happens when people go to space, people like cady and people like michael strahan, they realize that we're all one big human family. they realize the fragility of our planet, of our atmosphere. but you know what, our scientific and engineering knowledge is also fragile. stuff like this gets a whole new generation excited, gets a whole new generation engaged, and we can keep it coming. keep it coming. humans are dope, but they're especially dope when they're well educated and well trained. >> hey, it strikes me because people always ask why is this important, why should we be doing this. a lot of research institutions and universities are able to use this technology and conduct research in zero gravity. that is a huge step, right?

>> oh, it absolutely is. i myself do space research. so having another pathway to have access, it doesn't mean that you're going to have billionaires and you're going to have celebrities, but you're actually going to have students around the country that are building things and now are able to deploy them in space and get that sense of accomplishment and actually see what they're able to do. and that's the thing about being a scientist and an engineer. i've got to give a shoutout to the engineers. they're the ones who make this happen. we keep saying science but the engineers are super important if not the most important for something like this. but it is vitally important that we stay at these frontiers because that's where innovation lies, that's where our inspiration lies, and we are keeping it moving. >> they are out there waiting to greet the newest astronauts and you see the blue stairs are up, just waiting to open that hatch.

>> as we're waiting for that hatch door to open, we do believe that astronaut stray will be the first one to walk out, but we'll have to wait and see. i know when i was talking to stray about this last week, he said you know what i can't wait for? to give everyone a big hug when i'm back on terra firma. so i can't wait to see when he walks out with that big smile and i think he'll be ready for big hugs coming up soon. i'm told i'll get to greet him in a short while. we cannot wait to see what he has to say, what it was like, what it felt like, if he'd go back up. i have so many questions, t.j. >> there he is. to our audience if you're watching this, we're just a few minutes past the landing. stray and crew are back on the ground. you can see there with the baseball cap, it's kind of hard to miss him there, but that's jeff bezos who made his way out. family and friends will be gathered and collected there to greet their loved ones but they had to go through and do some checks. they don't just go out and pull the door open.

they go to every single one of those large windows getting a thumbs up from everybody. they need to stabilize this capsule and get it solid. you see they have the steps there as well so they can't just hop up and get out. so that is the part we are waiting on. we can't wait. i think all of us, we saw him go in to that capsule, we saw him climb that tower, ring that bell and we're all just waiting. you can see from the image and where this camera is shooting, yes, of course that's strahan. it's hard to miss him. he's still strapped in. he's told not to get up yet. he's following instructions. he does that well. you can see him through that window. we cannot wait for that door to open and for us to finally see cus lightyear back on earth. we are told he is going to get out first. gio, i want you to give a little better explanation than i just did why it's taking a moment. why they can't just throw open the door and let everybody out.

>> yeah. they want to make sure everything is safe in that spaceship, no doubt about it. at the end of the day, yes, we're seeing this. it was clean and smooth but they want to keep everybody safe and that really is the goal here. there was so much testing. this is now the 19th time that a new shepard has flown. it's only the third time it's flown with people onboard but the 19th time. so that tells you how much they have been preparing for this. how much research they were doing. how many test flights they were doing to make sure this was safe. that's what we're seeing right now and all the engineers are surrounding that to make sure everything is safe before they open those doors. >> the engineers surrounding the capsule. you see all those cars. i don't know if you can see all the people lined up too, but those are all the friends and family members who were watching with much more bated breath than we were waiting for their loved ones to come out. >> here it is. >> and here we go. >> welcome back, guys. >> whoa!

[ cheers and applause ] >> whoo! >> oh, my gosh! >> michael strahan is out of the capsule. big hug for our founder, jeff be bezos, followed by laura shepard churchley, dylan taylor, lane bess. >> i've got to give high fives. >> cameron bess. and last, but certainly not least, evan dick. welcome back, the original six. >> oh, that is so beautiful to watch. oh, my goodness. >> i was telling her, i always get emotional when we see these launches. but this moment there, because it's about people and family and that's just a really moving

moment right there to see that. >> it certainly was. i know strahan's mama was there. so much of his family and friends there too. and those big hugs. those are those big hugs that i was waiting for. you could just see the relief, the excitement, just the cheer when they walked out. it just gives you goosebumps. >> to y'all's point here, and we watched this one a lot differently. i was very excited to see william shatner to go to space. i was very excited to see jeff bezos go to space. i love them and i know them from afar, those are my guys. but this is my guy. let's listen to some of this interaction with the family and new astronauts. as soon as i wanted to listen, they stopped talking. here we go. >> it was dark. >> okay, kyrie irving. when you're going up and going up, it's getting dark and you

realize you're going to be in the dark, you're not going to be in the light. you're going to be looking at the light from the darkness. it's unreal. >> i get it, though. you said -- like when you said you wouldn't go and i was like i'm not going. i want to go now. >> i'm telling you. i told them you guys experienced it this way. you've got to come back and experience a launch and watch the rocket land. you have to get that perspective from it because that's what -- >> is it what you expected? >> i visualized -- i've been watching videos and visualized. you know what the problem is? i want to go back. >> same thing. i had the same feeling. >> that's what every astronaut says. i want to go back. >> space station next.

>> these guys are like it's great, y'all. more people will be drawn to it. it's going to be hard for you guys to get another ticket. >> you're going to pay for the next one. >> yeah, i'm in. >> love seeing this crew embracing family and friends. we're getting some awesome snippets of their experience. >> stray, i don't know who he is anymore because we just heard him say he wants to go back. >> he wants to go back. he wants -- he said i'm in again. that got him in trouble the first time. and you hear him recruiting future astronauts there too? >> he talked about the light and the darkness. >> welcome home. >> thank you. >> welcome home. >> thank you. and you were always there for me. >> ahh.

>> laura yelled, let's light this candle. >> i practiced it every time we went in. >> now you've got something to talk about on the golf course now, don't you? how good is that? >> oh, my goodness. >> i'm so happy. i'm so happy for both of you. >> well, they were my boys. you know, when i had to take that test, so i'd look at one and go 1, 2 or 3. i don't know, i don't think 1 and i don't think 3. oh, okay. >> let us take a moment and not let this moment get lost on us. you just saw laura shepard churchley hug michael strahan. the daughter of the first american to ever go into space just went to space with an nfl

hall of famer and broadcaster. this is how far we have come in our journey in space exploration, travel, innovation, that she and strahan can end up on the same ship, same capsule going to space now coming from these two different backgrounds, two different journeys, that now it's making it possible for someone like strahan and others to go through a week of training and still be able to explore, still be able to go to space. laura shepard churchley with that background and that history. she is the daughter, yes, of alan shepard, but she has been very engaged in the space community and space education for decades in her life. it is really, really incredible. gio especially, i know you follow this closely and robach as well, this is a friend of ours. but that moment, to see how far we've come, to see that that moment is possible now that

these two could end up in space together. >> and t.j., i'll give you another level to this. she actually flew almost the exact same flight profile as her father did. her father's flight was almost in the exact same pattern. it was just about 15 minutes long, this one was about 11 minutes long, but it was exactly the same. so when she sees her father's picture, she always says daddy, daddy, she always reacts that way, t.j. i know she did that in your interview on "gma" earlier this week and that's what she feels feeling i'm sure as she was flying in that capsule in that same flight profile. >> robach, what's the plan now? when are you going to ask him all those questions you want to ask him? >> not go t space, go to michael strahan. i'll go that far. we're hoping within the next hour or so i'm going t take a shuttle out and talk to michael and all the other crew members

as well to get to hear what it was like. i love listening to him talking about how it was unreal and he mentioned the light versus the dark. and there he is getting his official wings. and i don't know, t.j., i'm wondering if we have to refer to him now, once you're a senator, you're always a senator. do we have to call him is it not stray now? can we call him strahan, can we call him michael? these will be some of the questions i ask him how to refer to him in the future to make sure he gets his due. but we're going to have a lot of fun getting the details of what those 11 minutes were like. i'm sure it was something that is going to be hard to describe. that's all i can imagine because you want to say the cliche it was out of this world but truly it was out of this world in every sense. so we are looking forward to that and we'll make sure we bring it to everybody in just a bit. >> i'll ask you the question. >> yes. >> would you go? >> that's a maybe for me. i'm not going to do what strahan did. no, i'm not going to say yes for sure. you know what, it was

awe-inspiring and i am a bit of a risk taker and a daredevil. and it is enticing when you see the reaction from the crew there. every one of them not only was excited and thrilled, but i bet you all of them will tell me just what we heard michael say, that they'd go back. >> t.j., it inspires people when they see that view and every astronaut will tell you this, when they see that view of earth, they see this planet and how fragile it is, that thin atmosphere and how fragile it is, and they are more inspired to protect the planet in any way they can. >> i still have cady and hakeem with me here. cady, i want to ask both of y'all something here. we continue. these have been exciting to watch and fun to watch and they get a lot of news coverage. but to continue the direction we want to go, not just with exploration but in terms of space tourism, where do we go from here? do we always need to have big events with big names, historical names even on them? i guess what's next in our

evolution and our expansion of space tourism? >> you know, i think you saw how important it was to you to see michael launch and t.j., i was watching you during the launch. there's something so human about it. it's hard, right? and yet every one of these people in this capsule is a different jigsaw puzzle piece of the big picture. dylan taylor is a space entrepreneur that has really got a visionary company and also started the organization, the commercial space flight federation that brought all these people together. laura is the daughter of alan shepard. look at those guys. there's something about this trip you can never undo, which is really fascinating to me. they are the first six. the first six-person crew. just the fact that they did this very hard thing together. they'll always have something special between them. >> doctor, i'll bring you back in on that same question. where do we go now? do we need more big names, more

big events? where do we go with space tourism now? >> space tourism, science, engineering, they all advance incrementally. i think what blue origin is doing is really quite genius from a marketing perspective. by putting these big names up, by having these launches so frequently, it's keeping it in the public's mind and actually making an event out of it. and so because people can participate like we have, it's humanized space access, unlike it's been humanized before. spacex has been doing wonderful things. if you're an investor, you've loved them, right? but you didn't get that same human element. now we have that. and that's what really makes it tangible. that's what makes people aspire to do it. and, you know, as it happens more and more and more, it will become more and more accessible. >> gio, let me bring you in for a final thought as we watch the crew still out there gathered. i say the crew, the astronauts still gathered with many of those friends and family. they're going to hop in those

vehicles in a short time. gio, your final thoughts on watching this one maybe compared to the first two you watched and maybe some of the thoughts you heard from the doctor and cady about where we go from here? >> i've now seen -- been lucky to see so many launches, spacex, virgin galactic and now blue origin. but it's so special. this was a friend. this is the first time that a friend was going up there, and that was just wild. and i told michael, i said, listen, i'm going to be asking you a million questions after this, a million questions, and your phone is not going to stop with the text messages because it's just so special that now we are going to be able to hear from him directly what it is that he experienced and what inspired him when he was up there. but i'm just so inspired. we're seeing on the screen at the bottom of our screen it says blue origin's new shepard. it's called new shepard to honor alan shepard. how far we have come since then. and it's not just about going to the edge of the atmosphere.

this is about eventually going farther and farther into space and exploring and seeing what science can come from this, what kind of research can come from this. >> i know, gio, you would be the first to take the next launch up. >> i would definitely be in. >> i'm not surprised by that. i just want to say too because this was the first launch i ever witnessed to see the power and just the brilliance and like the engineers we were hearing so much about, to make this all possible and safe and magical and exciting. and where we go from here, you know, it's so exciting to see it all take place right over there. and i mean i just was in awe of the majesty of what i was looking at. i can't imagine what it was like up in that capsule just seeing the power and the force from here, feeling the force, hearing the sonic boom. i have a lot of questions. you can give me -- i'm happy to ask them for you too because i know michael will have a lot to say and a lot to share. >> i hate to tell you this, you sound like michael the first time.

>> no, no, no, no. no, no, no. >> someone's got the space bug. i think we'll watch a few launches together after this. >> i'm happy to watch launches at any point. >> you talked about questions, but what's your first one to strahan when you see him? >> how do you feel? it's the obvious one, right? it's just one of those things, does he feel different, is he changed? i want to know what it did. what did those 11 minutes mean to him and do to him and what's he going to do with those 11 minutes going forward. how is that going to affect the rest of his life because i think this is a life-changing experience. it has to be. >> without a doubt. it's going to be so interesting to see the images from inside that capsule because we will be getting the video back as the capsule goes up, as it's in space and as he's in that weightless environment. >> you're seeing still that live picture. they are still out there taking it all in. they got back just a short time ago. the six-member crew of that new shepard rocket back on earth. among that crew, one michael

strahan. our colleague, our friend, our brother, our loved one was aboard and completed that mission. we've been talking about, gio, you were there with him saying he got the bug. i cannot repeat some of the words he had for me when i covered this story on "good morning america" and said to them in the commercial break, would you all go. and he was adamant that he never would do something like this, absolutely not. i argued with him over it, and he absolutely said this, i'm looking for the footage because i want the evidence of just how against, folks, just how much he was against doing something like this. and he is -- he's not like you. he is not one to just take risks or unnecessary risks or just -- >> he's smart, i know. >> he's a sharp cookie, he is. just to do it for the adventure of it. that's not in his nature. so for him to come around says a whole lot about what something like this can do to somebody,

including maybe one amy j.robach who might end up onboard at one point. >> t.j., no one has asked you. would you go up? would you go up in space? >> what's usually my response to a question like that? i'll go if robach goes. >> oh! >> a big team launch. >> let's not start something here, t.j. >> but we are, we're expecting to hear from the entire crew, everyone here, in just a little while. and it's just been an incredible day. another history-making day, momentous day as we've seen this third now. they have had 19 of this but this is only the third crewed mission of this new shepard rocket. again, those first two they had a number of test flights. they had one in which a mannequin by the name of skywalker actually went up in but they have only done three of the crewed missions and this is one of them. this is a part of our space history here, you all. we continue on and gio, like you said, they want to at some point

one day, they want to make it to the moon. they want to get there. but this is how these steps go. it's slow, it's incremental. gio, if you can see them pull this off, i don't know how long it might be, but i can imagine them heading to the moon. >> and that's the plan. that really is the plan. all of the different space agencies and the space companies, they're looking at that to see how far they can go. of course elon musk has said that he wants to eventually get to mars, so that's an entirely different and obviously much farther distance. >> it's not 11 minutes, gio. it's not 11 minutes. >> more like six months just to get there. >> well, for you two it's been an absolute pleasure to watch it with you all. thank you all so much. to our viewers here for gio benitez, amy robach, t.j. holmes, all of us here at abc news, we're going to head back to regular programming. don't forget "world news tonight" will have the in-flight

video, the zero g floating around from inside the capsule and we'll hear more from stray and crew. also later tonight, a primetime special, "michael strahan's liftoff to space" will stream at 8:00 p.m. eastern on abc news live and then available on hulu. for all of us here, thank you for spending what has really been an incredible morning here with us. stray is back on the ground. astronaut strahan. we'll see you. >> 2, 1 -- >> mission control has confirmed new shepard has cleared the tower. >> here we go, the droves lifting out the main parachutes. keep in mind here -- there we go. retrothrust and touchdown. all right. cheers all around from the crew.

>> yeah! >> michael strahan is out of the capsule. big hug for our founder, jeff bezos. everything heal your skin from within? dupixent helps keep you one step ahead of eczema with clearer skin and less itch. hide my skin? not me. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. ask your doctor about dupixent. >> announcer: michael strahan soaring in a ocasio-cortez to space. what you have not yet seen, michael's personal cell phone video. personal story. his liftoff to space. the new streaming event specia premiering at 8:00 p.m. eastern on abc newslive.

welcome back to "gma" as we get insight. joining us is dr. boshuizen. >> good morning, linsey. >> we've heard descriptions of the force as you're rocketing up there. take us through that moment and what that felt like for you. >> for me it was actually not like the movies. all that shaking you see in the movies, i didn't experience that until the way down. on the way up because it is a hydrogen fueled rocket it was very smooth. it was like being in an electric car and very smooth and very calm. it's amazing you can get to 2,000 miles an hour just with a smooth continuous acceleration so it was quite surprisingly calm. >> what would you say the coolest or best part of the experience? >> for me i had this really awesome view from my window where i could see the silhouette of the rocket actually from the

sun angle down on the smoke, so i had the white smoke and a black silhouette of the rocket. i was the only one on my flight who could actually see ourselves take off. >> some astronauts describe it kind of as a spiritual or an emotional time while they're there. i know that it's a much shorter trip for you, but was there any of that? >> absolutely. some people talk about an explorer gene and i felt like when i went up there and saw the earth and the blackness of space, i just felt like that gene in me awoke and had the desire to go up and do it again and go further into space. >> oh, you want to go again? >> absolutely. >> if jeff bezos is listening, right? and you got a chance to fly with "star trek's" william shatner as well. what was that like? >> well, you know, william shatner is such an amazing just speaker. i'm an engineer, so i had a lot of emotions bottled up inside, so when we landed he was able to get them out and say what we were feeling. it was amazing having such an eloquent speaker on our flight and a spokesperson and

ambassador for everything we believe in. >> there's so much regularity and frequency to these blastoffs at this point, it really seems to be the beginning of space tourism. what do you think this new industry, this new time period will be like? >> i think it's going to look a lot like the history of aviation. i think in 1929 when the wright brothers flew their first flight, i don't think anyone really would have imagined -- sorry, 1912. sorry, that anyone would have imagined what we would have the jet age and fly all around the world 50 years later the jumbo jet came out so i think we're heading into that similar history where we can't imagine what the new space age will look like but i think it's going to connect the world and help us make the earth safer and better place. >> we are so excited about the launch today. chris boshuizen, we thank you for your time. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> one thing he said, he had a great point. he talked about william shatner being able to put it into words and i think that's key about this next level of space

exploration, right, you put public figures, people who communicate with the american people on a regular basis being able to put it into words in a new way that we haven't heard before and that's one reason i'm so excited about michael going to be able to come back and just as a regular guy be like, man, here's what it's like in space, you know what i mean? so we're definitely looking forward to it. should be fun. would you go? >> absolutely. of course. >> i was just going to ask you. >> i'm in the no department. i'm very much a coward these days like, you know, safety first kind of dad, but both of you would go? >> i don't think i would go. >> oh, come on now. >> before kids i would have gone. >> jeff bezos, marcus moore next in line. all right. coming up here on "good morning america," the excitement for today's major league soccer championship. espn's taylor twellman joins us live. i've lost count of how many asthma attacks i've had. but my nunormal with nucala? fewer asthma attacks. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur.

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we are back on "gma" with we are back on "gma" with major league soccer's championship game just hours away, and espn's taylor twellman joins us now live from portland, oregon, with a preview of the mls cup final. taylor, good morning to you. it's great to have you. >> yeah, great to have me too. >> so, all right, so this is portland's first time hosting the championship game. what makes this place so special? what's the atmosphere like? we've heard about people camping out for days now to try to get tickets and get into the game. >> yeah, since monday afternoon, whit. and i think when you look at all the iconic venues in the american sports, whether it's game sevens at fenway and yankee stadium and wrigley field or lambeau field in fnc championships or even the horseshoe, the big house with michigan and ohio state, this is

the iconic venue for the sport of soccer in this country. this building behind me has been around since 1898. pele played his final competitive game in 1977 here and yet major league soccer in the 26 years hasn't had that iconic mls cup. they're going to get that today, and i think you're going to see something that this league hasn't shown in its first 25 years. >> well, definitely looking forward to that. so this is nycfc's first mls cup game but the timbers have been there for three of the last seven seasons. would you characterize this as a david versus goliath-type matchup? >> no, i wouldn't, whit. what's interesting about this match-up, it's really the first time in mls history neither team played each other in the regular season so it's a little intriguing in the sense neither team has a sense of what the other is going to do, but more so when you look at the players that are ultimately going to return for both teams, castellanos' golden boot winner, with 19 goals, 80 assists, he's the figurehead, the reference point for this new york city attack. and the timbers army is going to

be loud and proud because sebastian blanco is returning miraculously from a hamstring injury, so two of the best players in this league are returning for their respective teams. and i think that throws a wrinkle into the matchup and something both coaches will have to take note of and try to adjust how they defend that. >> speaking of the atmosphere and the fans in the stands there, you've been in these big games before. not only in the mls but for u.s. soccer. what is it like playing in that game when the stakes are so high, everything is on the line? >> whit, i appreciate you making me wake up at 3:00 a.m. to do this hit, and then you remind me that i'm one of a handful of players in this league to lose four mls cups. so i appreciate you rubbing salt into the wound, thank you for that. this is the pinnacle of our league, this is the pinnacle of the sport in this country. this is a special moment for a lot of players and for some of

them like diego valeri that is an icon here in portland, this may be his final game so you just want to leave it all on the field knowing that tomorrow is not guaranteed, and i think we may get one of those special mls cups in the history. >> looking forward to that. all right, look -- >> i'm going to remember that, whit. >> we apologize for the salt in the wound and the 3:00 a.m. call but it is so great to have you, taylor. we're definitely excited about this game and will talk soon. of course, you can watch taylor call the game right here on abc starting at 3:00 p.m. eastern and we will be right back here after this. hide your skin if dut has your moderate to severe eczema or atopic dermatitis under control? hide my skin? not me. by hitting eczema where it counts, dupixent helps heal your skin from within keeping you one step ahead of eczema. hide my skin? not me. and that means long-lasting clearer skin... and fast itch relief for adults. with dupixent, you can show more skin with less eczema. hide my skin? not me. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent.

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and it's "deals & steals" coming up next. >> announcer: supersonic, 2,200 miles per hour, michael strahan soaring in a rocket to space. now what you have not yet seen, michael's personal cell phone video, personal story, michael srahan's liftoff to space, the new streaming event special premiering tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on abc newslive. "gma" next week "the matrix" is taking over. keanu, carrie-ann and priyanka. morning. good morning everybody. i'm liz kreutz developing news fire crews are investigating the cause of a three alarm fire in san. cisco a warehouse burned on the corner of newcomb and barn-veld avenues near bernal heights park, not far from 101 officials tweeted this video a couple of hours ago firefighters were able to control the flames officials say firefighters saved an

antique tow truck. thankfully. nobody was hurt. today's staff at glide foundation will be accepting toy donations for their upcoming toy wonderland giveaway event the foundation works with community partners to serve low-income children. they say they are short hundreds of always this year they can drop toys off through thursday at glide at 3:30 ellis street in san francisco. if you can't make it to the site the organization is taking donations on its website glide dot org and lisa a busy morning, which tracking wayne rain on the way this weekend. yes today. it's a start liz our free morning, about to expire you can see how clear it is. look at all the 30s 37 in oakland, san jose half moon bay 34 44 downtown and look at the bridge here. where numbers are at freezing in santa rosa on a 29 by the delta 33 in livermore. so temperatures anywhere from 3 to 13 degrees colder numbers are going to turn around. we'll enjoy some sunshine for a while before we have increasing clouds today. so today the day will remain

dry, but the temperatures will be cool in the mid in upper. by late in the day the winds turn around to the south and we'll be looking at some breezy conditions waking up to rain on sunday list. all right, lisa. thank you up next at least four tornadoes ripping through kentucky leaving dozens of people dead the latest on the recovery efforts this morning abc 7 news at 8am am is next stick with us.

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moving forward finding solutions. this is abc. the news michael strahan and five other people successfully lift off to space and return back to earth. good morning. it's saturday december 11th. you're watching abc 7 news at 8 am life. on abc 7 hulu live and wherever you stream i'm liz kreutz, and we do have a lot to get to this morning breaking news of tornadoes in the midwest. we know l u he beehiin just real devastatn there this morning. yeah after the trip of a lifetime. countdown to christmas is on have