and enjoy those views of our beautiful planet.

- [Loren] On May 30th,

two NASA astronauts climbed inside a space capsule

and launched on top of a rocket,

en route to the International Space Station.

- [Woman] Liftoff, as the Falcon 9-

- That sounds routine,

but it's actually monumental for two different reasons.

- On our climb. - For starters,

these are the first two American astronauts

to launch to orbit from American soil

in nearly a decade.

And the vehicle they're riding in,

it was commercially made by the company SpaceX, not NASA.

It's a culmination of NASA's Commercial Crew Program,

and the first time a private company

has ever launched humans to orbit.

If the rest of this mission goes well,

it could kickstart a very different era

of human space flight.

(mellow galactic music)

Inside and out,

the mission has a very different look

from human launches of the past.

This is the Crew Dragon, SpaceX's new crew capsule.

It's designed specifically to launch

on top of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket

and ferry people to and from low-Earth orbit.

It's actually a modification

of the company's Dragon Cargo Capsule.

That's been taking supplies to the ISS for the last decade.

But this one's outfitted with new bells and whistles,

life support systems, sleek chairs,

shiny touchscreen displays.

SpaceX has also designed custom pressure suits.

They're meant to keep astronauts protected

from the harsh environment of space if there's an emergency,

and they're tailor-made for the needs of the capsule.

Those are actually touchscreen gloves

for the Dragon's modern displays.

Finally, the Crew Dragon sports

a sophisticated docking system that's entirely automatic.

Using a series of sensors and cameras,

the vehicle can approach the ISS all on its own

and latch onto a docking port.

(rockets blaring) - All three engines

up and burning.

- [Loren] The last time that Americans launched from the US

was on July 8th, 2011,

when Space Shuttle Atlantis took off from Florida

with a crew of four.

- [Man] Roger roll, Atlantis.

- Since that day, NASA has relied on Russia

to get astronauts to and from

the International Space Station.

It hasn't been the best situation.

Russia charges the US around $80 million a seat

for a ride on their Soyuz capsule.

And if the Soyuz were to go out of commission,

there really isn't a fallback.

The Commercial Crew Program frees NASA

from their reliance on Russia,

but it's also a new model for spacecraft development.

The idea is this:

Rather than have the government

oversee the production of a new craft,

why not get the private sector to make the vehicles instead?

Up until now, NASA has had exhaustive input

in vehicle design,

and it's been in charge of production.

Now the commercial companies are in charge of both.

The government purchases rides on those vehicles

a bit like buying a seat on a plane.

It may sound a bit like the deal with Russia,

but this time NASA is supporting American business

and bringing human space flight back to US soil,

which our government loves.

- Of launching American astronauts

on American rockets from American soil.

(crowd cheers)

- All in all, the program was intended

to light a fire under the commercial space flight industry.

NASA is a partial investor in the Crew Dragon.

And now that it's complete,

SpaceX can use the capsule

to create a new space tourism business.

The other goal, in true capitalist fashion,

was to spark competition and lower costs for NASA.

That's why the agency picked two companies,

SpaceX and Boeing,

to develop these vehicles.

It created an intense rivalry between the two,

but SpaceX got to the finish line first.

- [Behnken] We're go for launch, let's light this candle.

- [Loren] In preparation for the mission,

NASA assigned SpaceX its first human passengers,

astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

They've been training in simulators

at SpaceX Headquarters.

Last year the company did a dry run with the Crew Dragon,

launching it to the space station

and docking without a crew on board.

They also tested the capsule's abort system,

designed to carry the spacecraft to safety

if something went wrong during a launch.

But there have been bumps in the road.

(air whooshing) - An explosion rips apart

SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule.

- In 2019, a Crew Dragon capsule exploded

during a test on the ground,

and couple of SpaceX's Falcon 9s

have blown up within the last few years, too.

All in all, the mission came together

a couple years later than NASA wanted it to,

actually, a couple years and a couple of days.

NASA missed their first launch window on May 27th

on account of weather.

- [Man] I don't think we're gonna get there

with any of the rules today.

- But after all that, the launch did come together.

So what now?

Well first, the astronauts need to finish their mission.

Bob and Doug will dock with the ISS

and spend a number of weeks on board.

After that, they'll climb back into the Crew Dragon,

detach from the station,

and make the perilous journey back to Earth.

A suite of parachutes will lower them gently

into the ocean,

where they'll be retrieved by a SpaceX boat.

In the long term,

it's possible that this could become the norm for NASA.

This space agency has standing contracts

with both SpaceX and Boeing

for regular flights to the space station,

and they're considering the same contracting method

for a new crude lunar lander.

Once again, the companies would build the lander,

and NASA would pay to hitch a ride.

And finally, this launch could bring the dawn

of space tourism that much closer.

SpaceX has already promised to send tourists to orbit

on its Crew Dragon next year.

There's even a rumor

that SpaceX will be sending Tom Cruise

to the space station for a movie.

But will there be a steady stream

of private customers on Crew Dragon?

That question will be answered in the years ahead.

- [Hurley] Yeah, it is absolutely our honor

to be part of this.

- Hey everyone, we've been writing

a ton about this launch from home

because of the pandemic,

but if you wanna read more about it,

head over to TheVerge.com.

We've got plenty to keep you occupied.