JUDY WOODRUFF: It has been nearly a decade
since an American space crew last lifted off
from U.S. soil in a spacecraft built here.
That is expected to change tomorrow afternoon,
with the relaunch of manned spaceflight. But
it will be very different, with the private
sector leading the way as a partner with NASA.
Miles O'Brien has our report.
It's the latest in our series of reports on
Breakthroughs on the Leading Edge of science.
MILES O'BRIEN: At the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida, the stage is reset for NASA's
next act in space. What's been envisioned
for years is now becoming real, nearly nine
years after the last shuttle flew.
BOB BEHNKEN, NASA Astronaut: It's probably
a dream of every test pilot school student
to have the opportunity to fly on a brand-new
spaceship. And I'm lucky enough to get that
opportunity with my good friend here, Doug
Hurley.
MILES O'BRIEN: Veteran astronauts Bob Behnken
and Doug Hurley will be sporting some stylish
new space suits when they are strapped into
a Dragon capsule sitting atop a Falcon 9 rocket,
all dressed up for a new way to go.
It is the first crewed mission to the International
Space Station on a vehicle designed and built
by California-based SpaceX, founded 18 years
ago by Elon Musk.
In the history of space exploration, how big
a deal is this launch, do you think?
WAYNE HALE, Former Space Shuttle Program Manager:
Well, I think it could be revolutionary.
MILES O'BRIEN: That's former space shuttle
program manager Wayne Hale.
WAYNE HALE: If it works out the way that we
all hope it does, and it starts a virtuous
cycle of industry providing competitive transportation
to low-Earth orbit, I think it will be great.
But we don't know how it's going to turn out.
It's an experiment.
MAN: Liftoff, the final liftoff of Atlantis!
MILES O'BRIEN: The space shuttle, and every
piloted NASA spacecraft that preceded it,
was designed by civil servants and built by
big aerospace companies, under close supervision,
with lucrative cost-plus contracts.
WOMAN: Ignition. Liftoff.
MILES O'BRIEN: SpaceX signed a different sort
of deal. It is providing a service to NASA,
transportation to low-Earth orbit for a fixed
price. And the company retains ownership of
its intellectual property.
This type of procurement works best when the
company is going to have a market beyond what
they're actually bidding for.
LORI GARVER, Former Deputy NASA Administrator:
So, they are going to put in their own skin
in the game, because they recognize they're
going to not only be able to service government
requirements, but beyond that.
MILES O'BRIEN: Lori Garver was deputy NASA
administrator during the Obama administration,
which canceled NASA's Constellation program.
MAN: Ignition. Liftoff of Ares I-X.
MILES O'BRIEN: It had already begun testing
a suite of spacecraft built in the traditional
manner. The cancellation spun up a buzz saw
of opposition from the contractors and allied
politicians.
LORI GARVER: There were all kinds of behind-the-scenes
difficulties, companies just really trying
to block this innovative way of doing things.
Unfortunately, a lot of people have come to
NASA because they just want to build a rocket,
and they don't want someone else building
it.
MAN: The panel will be seated, please.
MILES O'BRIEN: Current and former astronauts
weren't happy either. In 2010, Apollo legends
Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, the first
and last man to walk on the moon, testified
in Congress against this new way of doing
business.
NEIL ARMSTRONG, Former NASA Astronaut: I support
the encouragement of newcomers towards the
goal of lower-cost access to space, but having
cut my teeth in rockets more than 50 years
ago, I am not confident.
MILES O'BRIEN: Former NASA astronaut Garrett
Reisman is an adviser to SpaceX.
GARRETT REISMAN, Former NASA Astronaut: And
the biggest fear, especially in the Astronaut
Office, was that it would be somewhat risky,
that there would be reckless decisions made
in the name of innovation.
And they just didn't trust this culture that
was very different from the culture that they
had grown up with at NASA.
MILES O'BRIEN: Many at NASA were leery in
the wake of early efforts to commercialize
space by the cash-strapped Russians. They
flew an inflatable Pepsi can, made Pizza Hut
pies, and plugged a golf club with a shot
off the space station.
MAN: Play ball!
MILES O'BRIEN: In 2001, California entrepreneur
Dennis Tito paid the Russians $20 million
for a trip to the space station on a Soyuz
rocket. He was the first of seven well-heeled
tourists to do the same.
Mike Lopez-Alegria is a former astronaut who
later led the association that represents
commercial space companies.
Why were astronauts skeptical?
MIKE LOPEZ-ALEGRIA, Former NASA Astronaut:
It's a natural response. I mean, most of us
had dreamed about doing what we were doing
for a long time, and worked very hard to achieve
it, gone through a lot of training.
And to have somebody lay down some money and
be able to join you and do the same thing
and have the same experience is a little disheartening
at first.
MILES O'BRIEN: But SpaceX already had its
nose in the NASA tent. In 2012, it began flying
cargo to the space station using the Falcon
9 Dragon design. It's done that 21 times,
with one failure.
And, meanwhile, SpaceX rockets now dominate
the commercial launch business, validating
this public-private partnership. In all, Falcon
9 rockets have successfully flown to space
more than 80 times.
(APPLAUSE)
WOMAN: Successful stage set.
KEITH COWING, Editor, NASAWatch.com: If NASA
has done the exact same thing, it would have
cost many times more.
MILES O'BRIEN: Keith Cowing is editor of NASAWatch.com.
KEITH COWING: They have done this many times
with the exact same rocket, and after one
accident, they fixed a few things. And NASA's
saying, yes, it seems to be perfectly safe.
And so now you have the ability to launch
things in Falcon 9's that NASA may well now
use in its trips back to the moon.
MILES O'BRIEN: NASA is building the rocket
at the center of the Artemis moon missions
under a cost-plus contract with Boeing.
But it is years late and billions over budget.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is developing a Buck Rogers-like
rocket called Starship that NASA is considering
as a vehicle to take astronauts to and from
the lunar surface.
The lessons learned and the savings accrued
in low-Earth orbit are changing the way NASA
thinks as it looks farther into space.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Miles O'Brien
in Vero Beach, Florida.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And you can watch the launch
live tomorrow at 4:33 p.m. Eastern on our
Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour.
