i had left nasa in 2001. and now in 2008 i had been asked before even being deputy to lead the transition team for the incoming obama administration and the human spaceflight program was in disarray. i should say not only we we were retiring the shuttle which i felt was the right decision. there wasn't really a lot of political. um difference of opinion on that the former george w. bush president had deemed that necessary if we weren't able to recertify the shuttle which would have been very expensive as you said the program constellation to replace it we found was off track it had in its first four years spent. over 8 billion dollars, but had been delayed five years if you were going to keep it going it was currently going to launch only after within their budget profile. the space station would have had to have been de-orbited. their plan was only able to be paid for if they de-orbited the space station. we knew they weren't going to really do that. they were trying to really just trick the next administrat

um, so let me let me talk about nasa first. because eisenhower's foresight to create nasa. automatically instantly all of our resources technology engineering brilliant minds. we're now underneath one umbrella. and so that means all the funding necessary all the resources necessary. we're working towards one objective. and while von brown was a brilliant engineer and his team responsible for developing the saturn 5 the booster that got us to the moon. there were many other brilliant engineers that were working for nasa and it was the it was the collective resources of all these individuals working together that allowed us to achieve our objective. in fact at the height of apollo there were over 20,000 contractors over 400,000 employees all working towards one goal. the same was not said in in the former soviet union the at that time in the 50s and 60s the soviet union didn't have one entity responsible for space exploration. in fact military more than than the public almost driving a lot of that. sergey coraloff the chief designer who was responsible for for those initial s

nasa. and before that come the state department and what was known as the lavender scare. >> there is no doubt james webb was a talented administrator who advocated for the inclusion of science programs, but would webb have wanted this to be named after him was summoning people were objecting? amy: we will speak with astronomer lucianne walkowicz which just released the documentary "behind the name: james webb space telescope." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president biden has met with palestinian leader mahmoud abbas and it is really occupied west bank. earlier today come he traveled from israel to the palestinian authority's presidential compound in bethlehem. his motorcade passed billboards and banners protesting your support for u.s. occupation as well as the killing of palestinian-america journalist shireen who shot dead by the military last may next to the jenin refugee camp. biden claimed u.s. con

and nasa is stuck.and what i had done is i have called in the ceo of bechtel, who by the way is the grandson of the founder, his name is bechtel, and they have readily acknowledged it, but there is no way under the contract, since it's a cost plus contract, that we can do anything but eat it. and that's inot right. and times hopefully they are a changing, so what i have done what i've done other than jawboning, and giving a lecture to all of our managers about tightening up on all of this, and particularly going forward, i have specifically named the deputy administrator, colonel pam elroy, an astronaut commander, to serve as the agency's chief acquisition officer, to elevate the importance of acquisition. we are working closely with g. a. o. and our inspector general at nasa on the recommendations. i think we are beginning to make some progress in closing out the gao recommendations related to strengthening this acquisition process. we are committed to improving our management of our cost and our sched

now when it comes to safety nasa is all over it. we are not simply going to put a crew in spacecraft that are not safe even though we contracted with a commercial company in the proof is in the pudding, look what has happened with commercial crews going to and from the international space station. >> thank you center moran. senator van hollen. >> thank you madam chairman and ranking member. it's great to have both of you here administrator nelson thank you for your enthusiasm for all the initiatives that you are overseeing and for presenting a budget that includes important announcements -- advancements in space exploration and discovery as well as robust funding for science which is use other very important to all of us. and it encompasses many of the maryland-based missions including in goddard and i appreciate the funding and again continuing support for the telescope. we are all thrilled with the fact that that deployed successfully and we know 8 million things had to go right in order for that to be successful and it has been a

from nasa's standpoint, nasa has said it would like to operate the space station until 2030.ut it's also at the same time preparing some commercial partners to launch mini-space stations. axiom has one, blue origin has an orbital reef that they want to launch. so this notion of having multiple stations is probably something that is going to be happening around the same time that russia wants to do their own. so, i definitely think that there is room for negotiation. bernard: we will touch on the commercial operators in space a little later. francisco, what would it mean to the iss, to the practical operation of it, if russia did withdraw? francisco: i think it will be very difficult. you cannot divide the national space station that easy. the russian module is, as we saw in your introduction, is responsible for the movement of the space station, for keeping it in orbit, and it has the power to do that, and that is controlled from moscow, i understand. so how these things will be sorted out will be very difficult to imagine. and i hope that these negotiations are going to take

today, nasa unveiled detailed images from the james web telescope, which can peer through time itself. taking the human eye back to the dawn of the universe. also coming up tonight in the south of ukraine in russian occupy territory, missile strikes by ukrainian forces, ukraine's military says it hid a russian ammunitions differ, killing dozens of soldiers. ah, i break off is good to have you with this scientist or calling it the dawn of a new error in astronomy today, nasa and build the 1st images from the most powerful space telescope ever launched . the james web telescope is capable of gazing deeper into space and further back in time than any telescope in history astronomer say that the web telescope will shed a new light on the origins of our universe and could even help answer mankind's eternal question. are we really alone? the european space agency and nasa say that james web telescope has already changed our understanding of the universe. this chart shows the nebula created by a dying star expelling its mass damage. nasa, scientists say be intense detail never seen before. a

so from nasa standpoint, nasa has said that they would like to operate the space station until 2030. but it is also at the same time preparing some commercial partners to launch sort of mini space stations. i think axiom has one. i'm blue origin has an orbital reef that they're partnering with several other agencies that they want to launch. so this notion of having multiple stations is probably something that's going to be happening around the same time that russia wants to do their own. so i definitely think that there is room for negotiation. all right, we'll, we'll touch on the commercial operators in space, a little bit lighter for francisco, though, what would it mean? so the ins asked to be operation the practical operation of it. if russia did withdrawal. i, it's going to be, i think, very difficult. the you cannot divide the national space station, not easy, the erosion module the so as we saw in your introduction, he's responsible for the movement of the space station for keeping you pretending or bit on he has the power to do that. and that is control for moscow, i underst

there was some discussion in the early days of nasa nasa was created. that's a story in itself that we could talk about was the creation of nasa which is something that eisenhower's essentially against his his will in 1958. there was just enough political pressure that he ultimately had to had to go ahead and do something and created a civilian space agency and drew man in space as it was referred to at the time drew man in space programs away from the military and invested it in this civilian organization nasa and then there was the question of who could qualify to be an astronaut. i mean, what is the skill set of an astronaut at that point? they weren't even necessarily talking about astronauts flying these capsules one of the interesting things that i found was a lot of tension between within the program and much debate among scientists and engineers as to whether human beings were even capable of functioning in a weightless environment capable of functioning in space or whether all sorts of horrible. things and they listed them in these memos and it

this was all with nasa's blessing, because the aston and nasa engineers were there as well. jr.'s were there as well. but, of view, is this handle in the if you have a switch, what would you have to use to counteract an emergency? is it reachable? is it visible? or do you have to go behind your back somewhere to find the darn thing? primarily, from a pilots point of view, was our interface. >> then, finally, you end up being the first man to fly in a mercury spacecraft. did you know that was coming, or was it a surprise? can you describe your steps that led up to it? >> we had been in training for, probably, 20 months or so. toward the end of 1960, or early 61, when we all, intuitively, felt that, pretty soon, bob had to make a decision as to who is going to make the first flight. and when we received word the bob wanted to see us in the afternoon one day, in our office, it felt that, perhaps, he had decided. there were seven of us then, in the one office. we have seven desks around in the hangar in langley field, and bob walked in, and close the door, and was very matter of fact

nasa was created, that's a story in itself that we could talk about, the creation of nasa, and it's what eisenhower did against his will in 1958. it was just enough political pressure that he, ultimately, had to go ahead and do something and create a civilian space agency. he drew man in space as it was referred to at the time, drew man in space programs away from the military and invested it in the civilian organization. and then there was the question of who could qualify to be an astronaut. what is the skill set of an astronaut? at that point they were not necessarily talking about astronauts flying these capsules. one of the interesting things that i found was that a lot of tension within the program, and much debate among scientists and engineers, as to whether human beings were even capable of functioning in a weightless environment, capable of functioning in space, and whether all sorts of horrible things, that they listed in these memos, could be comical, in retrospect. it was not comical at the time. all of the horrible things that might happen to a human beings body, and brain,

[applause] nasa administrator nelson, i will turn this over to you. will you tell us about what you are seeing? >> mr. president, you held a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arms length, that is the part of the universe you are seeing, one little speck of the universe. what you are seeing there are galaxies, you are seeing galaxies that are shining around other galaxies, whose light has been bent, and you are seeing a small, little portion of the universe. you know, one hundred years ago, mr. president, madame vice president, we thought there was only one galaxy. now, the number is unlimited. host: by the way, you can see that image on all kinds of websites. nytimes.com here, and we will see more coming out from nasa later on today. it's open forum here on washington journal. any news item you are following, public policy or political issue you want to talk about. leo and woodstock, illinois, republican line. caller: hi, i am commenting on your previous guest, ellis cose? i have written a book called unbroken -- read a book called "unbroken,

he's also in aster biologist and former nasa employee . so keith, tell us, how were these image is actually collected? i mean, we're not actually looking at simple photographs. here. are we well, we are, we are in, it depends, it's, it's data you're signed. as you say, all this is data and you get throw it into a computer and it, it is determined you, this is what a human could see. but you know, an image is an image ample. we are seeing though, with a different form of light than we normally would see in our earlier telescope images. that's the bread which can't really see that much of a cost because of yours atmosphere, right. but when you get above the ears atmosphere, which what space telescope does vision and you could see in the parade, you can see through the dust you and you could see far more detail than we've ever been able to see and further out than we've ever been able to see in lights here from us. now, could the james web space telescope actually help us identify planets, they have conditions that could harbor life? oh, abso

also coming up in the program of nasa release has done new images of the early universe, 13000000000 years in the making. as the latest from the james web space telescope. the most powerful telescope ever launched, which is helping uncover the secrets of the early universe, also coming up ukrainian forces, lunch, or counter offensive in southern regions occupied by russia grange. moultrie says it hit a russian ammunition depot, killing dozens of soldiers. ah, i'm here in tilton walk them to the program. the reports sri lanka president got to buy a rush of buckshot and his wife had fled the country and military jet bound for the nearby mill deeds. his departure come, several days after crowd stormed and occupied, his residence calls russia buckshot to step down. continue amid sri lanka, worst economic crisis, and decades days after an angry mob stormed the presidential compound, protesters continued a stroll. the halls of the colonial era mansion and its stately gardens taking advantage of the amenities and taking photos. they say they'll stay put until go to buy a raja pack, shaw is

it's like a geek fast nasa geek fest the gas nasa leadership had the opportunity to see more pictures than we have seen now. just a few days ago and a nasa director said he was moved by what he saw so that from a scientist they don't deal with emotions normally that who effects that anyway. so that is the, the, the big story here at the moment when it comes to the web and telescope. and that is that you can have a window into the history of the universe for the 1st time. and that's what everybody's very, very excited about. all right, so what exactly can the james web telescope do that other previous space helicopter telescopes rather can't well, as you mentioned before, it is 1.6 killer 1000000 kilometers or 1000000 miles away from earth. you know, the little brother off the web telescope was the hubble telescope. you remember everybody knows hubble telescope because it launched in the ninety's and it was shot or brought into the lower orbit of the earth. now lower orbit of the earth, you're and you won 1000000 miles away from earth. of course you get more and better in new data, new

our nasa administrator, bill nelson, and the nasa director, lender nelson. thank you to our colleagues across the white house and everyone else joining us from home. as chair of the national space council, i know today represents an exciting new chapter in the exploration of our universe. from the beginning of history, humans have looked up to the night sky with wonder. and thanks to the people who have been working for decades and engineering unscientific marbles -- marbles, we -- scientific marvels. we have been able to look at the atmosphere and look at the university in ways we never could have imagined even a few decades earlier. now, we enter a new phase of scientific discovery. building on the legacy of hub bel, the james webb telescope allows us to see deeper into space than ever before and in stunning clarity. it will enhance what we know about the origins of our universe, our solar system, and possibly life itself. this was made possible by partnership among nations, and it is an example of how the scientific endeavor can build upon the internation

the 1st pictures taking the human eye all the way back to the birth of the universe. nasa unveils detailed images from the james web telescope, which can peer through time itself. back to the dawn of the universe, also coming up to night in the south of ukraine in russia, occupied territory missile strikes by ukrainian forces. ukraine's military says it hit a russian ammunitions depot, killing dozens of soldiers and drones are playing an increasingly important role in this war. tonight, we'll meet some of the ukrainian refugees building drones in latvia for the war f. ah, i bring gov to our viewers watching a p b s in the united states into all of you around the world. welcome scientists are calling it the dawn of a new era. in astronomy today, nasa unveiled the 1st images from the most powerful space telescope ever launched. the james web telescope is capable of gazing deeper into space and further back in time than any telescope in history. astronomers say james webb will shed new light on the origins of our universe and could even help answer mankind's eternal question. are we alone? th

here is nasa astrophysicist, amber strong. for me, the most exciting aspect of this new telescope is really the breadth of science will be able to do, will be able to study objects from within our own solar system. all the way out to the most distant galaxies, ever the very 1st galaxies that were born after the big bang and everything in space and time in between. and these 1st images that we've just, or least really just give us a glimpse, just a hit of what's going to be possible with this incredible new telescope. i'm so excited for that year of science that we already have planned. and i have no doubt that this telescope is really going to change the way that we understand the universe and ways that we haven't even dreamed of yet. johnny asked to explain the significance of the j. w. s t is our panel of scientists in california. jesse christenson, a project scientist with the nasa zill planet archive renee doyen principal investigator for the web telescopes, fine guidance sensor and info red imager, known as nearest and in

the european space agency and nasa say that james web telescope has already changed our understanding of the universe. they saw it shows the nebula created by a dying star expelling its mass. nasa, scientists say the intense detail never seen before, along with infrared shots when allow them to understand exactly what happens. a stars di miller, we thought in the birth of stones, is equally stunning. this is a nearby style forming region within our milky way. and then the image reveals hundreds of new stars that were previously hidden along with structures that scientists have yet to identify. web has homed in on galaxies so far away. that the light from them has taken billions of years to get to the telescope. and of this image shows galaxies that formed over 13000000000 years ago, nasa is encouraging people to download the images on their website and take a closer look. really zoom in and play around. there are galaxies here in which we're seeing individual clusters of stars forming, popping up, just like popcorn. another image shows how galaxies merged together. one of the fundamen

and so this is to, you know, nasa fundings to develop technology. and now today's, this everywhere, not just the tv, this is medical imaging. so, you know, you should thank astronomers if we can see each other and they get selfie. this is, you know, the, the, we are a curious species and this is the curiosity is the deepest root innovation. so fundamental science is fundamental to all we have around us. i wrote that down. curiosity is the deepest root of innovation. i feel like so much to put that on a t shirt. let me, i know you want to jump in, go ahead and just to add to that, the budget that being invested in jane said that's over a period of, you know, 25 years. and, but that's only a fraction of the cost that the nation has built as telescope spend on military budget every year. i, i've seen a lot of debate about whether we should be spending more money, whether we should be investing this money in education. we'll be, are doing base because we haven't learned around being right universe and that is all coming back to that and that's, and that

they run a system which is nasa's deep space tracking system.d home. the control is here looking after hubble since 1968. has played a very, very important role for the web space telescope. they have provided the launch on board the awesome launch from the atmosphere mission control center was electric for it i can tell you i was there. they've also provided people. we had 15 scientists working at space telescope in baltimore. and also they have provided infrared spectrograph the near infrared spectrograph. also half of that mary instruments which is the infrared instruments. let's take a look at those now. >> webb's scientific instruments include near >> the near infrared spectrograph led by esa. splits near infrared light for astronomical objects into its components like a barcode this will help scientists understand the physics of the objects they are observing from their temperature to atomic makeup. can observe a part of an object or using an image slicer as an array of microscopic shutters. webb's integrated science instrument model locate

the cisco set successful appall emissions prior to his time at nasa. he was in leadership at the state department when the state department was going through this period of purging a l g b t. people from the state department. this is in the early fifties and it's not clear that james webb had any specific role in that. but he was in leadership in the state department at the time. and so then it comes into this, you know, what responsibility did he have to stop it? you know, was he a product of his time? was he following orders? what it, it's very unclear the extent to which he was involved in this. so there's just some murkiness at it's made people. it's always the shattered things a bit. it's made people uncomfortable because you don't want to think that this incredible new instrument that was built for everyone was named off to someone who wasn't for everyone. understand that. so that's a great way of putting a la you were going to say something. oh, i want to add them in i we will the james web space telescope. it's now being launched in error, whic

russia to cranes military says that it hit a russian ammunition depot, killing dozens of soldiers and nasa releases done the new images of the early universe, 13000000000 years in the making. the latest from the james web telescope, the most powerful telescope ever launched, which is helping uncover the secrets of the early universe. ah tilton welcome to the program. for long as president go to buy a retro boxes and his wife have fled the country on a military jet bound for the nearby mold deeds. his departure comes several days after crowd stormed and occupied, his residence, calls to roger boxes to step down. continue mid 3 long cuz worst economic crisis and decades days after an angry mob at storm the presidential compound. protesters continued a stroll, the halls of the colonial era mansion and its stately gardens. taking advantage of the amenities and taking photos. they say they'll stay put until go to buy a roger pack. shaw is really and truly gone. no. and he will not leave the president's house or office or even the prime minister harm until the lead is officially resign that they

there was also a big watch party on the nasa - big watch party on the nasa campus.gothardi _ from our government. hello, watch party in gothard! wonderful. - from our government. hello, watch party in gothard! wonderful. at - party in gothard! wonderful. at nasa. _ party in gothard! wonderful. at nasa. we — party in gothard! wonderful. at nasa. we are _ party in gothard! wonderful. at nasa, we are so— party in gothard! wonderful. at nasa, we are so fortunate to i party in gothard! wonderful. at i nasa, we are so fortunate to have all of these — nasa, we are so fortunate to have all of these friends and _ all of these friends and colleagues around the globe. a major- all of these friends and colleagues around the globe. a major partnerj all of these friends and colleagues i around the globe. a major partner in the james _ around the globe. a major partner in the james webb _ around the globe. a major partner in the james webb mission, _ around the globe. a major partner in the james webb mission, they- the james webb mission, they contribute _ the james webb mission,

incredible information flowing back and forth springing from the nasa organization. it's remarkable what the organization has done and is still doing. it's just a great process. >> let the record show that that was unsolicited. [laughter] and just bringing that up for the record. you don't have to apologize. making sure somebody watching this knows very well not instigating the thought or two. [inaudible] >> it's the truth. >> thank you very much. >> it's a