PROGRAM ENDED IN 2011.
HOW SPACEX GOT TO THE BRINK
OF SPACE HISTORY.
Reporter: THEY RODE IN TESLA
TO THE FINAL REHEARSAL.
FOR THE ASTRONAUTS, BOB BANKEN
AND BRAD HURLEY, THIS IS THE
RIDE THAT MATTERS, THE CREW
DRAGON CAPSULE POISED TO BLAZE
A NEW AMERICAN PATH TO SPACE.
SIX YEARS AGO, ELON MUSK'S
COMPANY ONLY HAD A MODEL, NASA
AWARDED SPACEX $2.6 BILLION
CONTRACT TO FLY ITS AFTERMATH
TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE
STATION.
LAUNCH OFF OF THE ROCKET --
Reporter: BY THEN, SPACEX
HAD MADE HISTORY.
THE FIRST COMPANY TO FLY CARGO
THERE.
CAPTURE COMPLETE.
Reporter: AND THE FIRST TO
DEVELOP REUSABLE ROCKETS,
SLASHING COST AND REVOLUTION
THE BUSINESS MODEL OF SPACE.
BY 2018, DEVELOPMENT OF CREW
DRAGON WAS WELL UNDERWAY.
SPACEX HEADQUARTERS IN
HAWTHORNE, CALIFORNIA, WE MET
THE ASTRONAUTS TRAINING TO BE
THE FIRST CREW.
COMING OUT HERE IS A REAL
MOTIVATOR, THE WORKFORCE IS SO
YOUNG.
THEY ARE EXCITED ABOUT WHAT
THEY DO, PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT
THEY DO AND IT REINVIGORATE YOU
ABOUT WHY YOU GOT INTO THE
BUSINESS SO MANY YEARS AGO.
FROM APOLLO 11, THE AVERAGE
AGE OF A FLIGHT CONTROLLER WAS
26.
THERE WAS PRECEDENT FOR THIS.
WE WERE NOT THERE, I WOULD
SAY THE NASA OF THE 60s WAS NOT
DRASTICALLY LIKE SPACEX OF NOW.
LEARNING AS THEY GO, LEARNING
ABOUT FLYING IN SPACE, LEARNING
THE HARD LESSONS AND BEING
SUCCESSFUL.
Reporter: HARD LESSONS LIKE
THIS ONE IN 2015.
A FALCON NINE ROCKET LISTING
CARGO TO THE SPACE STATION
DISINTEGRATED MINUTES AFTER
TAKEOFF.
IT HAD LAUNCH VEHICLE
FAILURE.
WHILE IT IS DISAPPOINTING,
IT CAN BE A REAL GIFT TO THE
FINAL DESIGN.
Reporter: LIFT OFF.
SPACEX IS ON A STREAK OF 62
SUCCESSFUL LAUNCHES.
CREW DRAGON IS ARMED WITH
ESCAPE SYSTEM.
IF THE ROCKET FALTERS, ITS
ENGINES CAN PULLS AWAY THE
CAPSULE, LANDING THE CREW
SAFELY IN THE OCEAN.
EUGENE ONLY BELIEVE IF
SOMETHING GOES WRONG, YOU HAVE
OPTIONS.
ABSOLUTELY.
YEAH.
WE TRY TO FOCUS TO REMIND
FOLKS, THERE ARE PEOPLE ON THE
END OF THE ROCKETSHIP, THAT'S
IMPORTANT TO US.
THERE IS ANOTHER ASPECT OF IT,
WE ARE AN EXTENSION OF WHAT
THEY'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH.
Reporter: MARK STRASSMANN
WITH CBS NEWS AT THE KENNEDY
SPACE CENTER.
