[V.O] A half-century since it launched the first American
to orbit, NASA has begun a new era of space exploration.
With the International Space Station established
as a permanent human outpost in low Earth orbit,
NASA has embarked on two parallel paths
of future spaceflight....both are complementary -- -
and both are revolutionary.
On one path, NASA is fostering American private industry
to develop commercially available flights to orbit
for cargo and, eventually, people.
On the other path, NASA is focusing its expertise
to build new spacecraft and rockets to take America
to deep space, farther than we have ever been before.
Two pathways to two frontiers.
One maintains and expands our foothold in familiar territory.
The other extends our reach into the unknown.
From Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida,
a commercial rocket roars into the sky...it's the first
of a new generation of commercial launch systems.
It's flight is made possible largely because, for decades,
NASA has opened the borders of space.
NASA's experience is America's experience.
Whether its building
and launching spacecraft...taking humans
to the moon...or making Earth Orbit a place
for everyday work....The technologies
from those achievements helped build our nation's
aerospace industry.
With those missions, NASA poured the foundation
of United States human spaceflight.
Now NASA is partnering with private American companies
so they may join the voyage.
The International Space Station.
The largest, most complex space vehicle ever built,
and it has become our permanent home in space.
Crews live and work onboard conducting research
and experiments to improve life on earth.
Their work is also preparing us
for those longer journeys that are ahead.
But the station also serves as a catalyst for the evolution
of commercial spaceflight.
Station crews need regular shipments of food, water,
clothing, spare parts and experiments.
That demand creates an opportunity
for commercial space companies to augment cargo shipments
by NASA's international partners.
[Astronaut Don Pettit] Well, I view these vehicles
like wagon trains supplying some government-run fort out west,
and it doesn't matter whose wagon train it is,
what's important is that the wagon train eventually makes it
to the fort.
[V.O.] Two companies - Orbital Sciences and SpaceX --
are in the final stages of building
and testing new unmanned cargo craft to fly to the station.
[Elon Musk] So we've got customers at the end of the day
where we can provide a useful service
and can also prove the rocket technology...with every flight
we learn more.
Just being able to work in collaboration
with NASA is awesome and it teaches us a lot.
I'm super excited about it and feel honored to be a part of it.
[V.O.] Other companies including Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada,
United Launch Alliance, ATK, Excalibur Almaz, Boeing,
as well as Space X...are working
to eventually fly crews to the station.
It is a new approach to space flight:
NASA lends its experience but the companies design,
launch and own the spacecraft.
[Lindenmoyer ]
we didn't talk about how to do it.
We didn't say how large the vehicle needed
to be...how much propulsion.
The only time we got specific
about requirements were the interfaces to the space station
and the safety requirements.
Everything else was goal driven
so the companies can use their innovation
and optimize their systems
to deliver these supplies to the station.
[V.O.] While commercial partners focus on reaching orbit,
NASA is at work on a spacecraft and launch vehicle
to explore the solar system.
NASA's Space Launch System will be the most versatile
and powerful rocket ever built.
It will launch crews farther into space than ever before --
to an asteroid, back to the moon, or even on to Mars.
Sitting atop the Space Launch System is Orion, NASA's new ship
to take astronauts on those journeys.
[Geyer] Orion is really an exploration spacecraft.
It's the vehicle that will house the crew
when we do those exploration missions.
It provides the life support, the power, storage for food.
It also provides the propulsion and other systems that allows us
to go to those far reaching distant places.
[V.O.] Work is well under way on Orion.
Hardware is being built from coast to coast.
Testing, checks and reviews all march toward a first unmanned
test flight in 2014.
Orion will fly 10 times farther from the Earth
than the space station.
. It will return to Earth at speeds not experienced
since the Apollo missions to the moon.
Orion also benefits commercial partners.
As NASA creates and tests Orion hardware,
the lessons from parachute tests, heat shield development
and aerodynamic studies are shared.
The collaboration prevents duplication
and speeds development.
The programs mature together and ultimately rely
on each other for success.
[Lindenmoyer] We want
to stimulate commercial industry in space.
That is in NASA's charter.
I would say over the years this has become more
and more exciting, because we have seen great progress
with the companies.
There's a tremendous amount of talent and knowledge
and experience out there...
it ended up being a great partnership.
[Geyer] When the commercial works
and it actually can reduce the cost
of supplying the space station then
that will allow more budget headroom
to do the exploration missions that NASA has planned
in the future 'cause we gotta support space station
and this commercial resupply of cargo and crew;
the cheaper it is, the more exploration we can do,
and that's really the link between the two.