WELCOME TO SPACE TO GROUND, I’M DAN HUOT.
2020 WAS…A YEAR.
WHILE WE ALL FACED UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES HERE ON EARTH,
THIS YEAR WE REACHED NEW HEIGHTS AND CELEBRATED
A HISTORIC MILESTONE IN THE LIFE
OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE
THE END OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM IN 2011,
WE LAUNCHED AMERICAN ASTROANUTS,
ON AMERICAN ROCKETS, FROM AMERICAN SOIL.
NASA’S SPACEX DEMO-2 MISSION WAS A RESOUNDING SUCCESS,
WITH A SPACEX DRAGON DELIVERING
NASA’S DOUG HURLEY AND BOB BEHNKEN FROM THE FLORIDA COAST
TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
AND RETURNING THEM SAFELY TO WATERS BACK HOME.
IT MARKED A NUMBER OF HISTORIC FIRSTS
FOR NASA AND COMMERCIAL SPACE,
AND SINCE IT WENT SO WELL, WE RAN IT BACK JUST A FEW MONTHS LATER.
THE CREW-1 MISSION,
OUR FIRST FULL-DURATION MISSION ON A COMMERCIAL SPACECRAFT,
LAUNCHED THIS NOVEMBER
AND DELIVERED 4 ASTRONAUTS TO STATION,
INCLUDING THE FIRST OF OUR INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
TO CATCH A RIDE.
MIKE, VICTOR, SHANNON AND SOICHI HIT THE GROUND RUNNING
AS WE CAN NOW PERMANENTLY INCREASE OUR
LONG-DURATION CREW SIZE IN SPACE,
EFFECTIVELY DOUBLING THE AMOUNT OF RESEARCH
DONE ON THE ORBITING LAB.
AND NOVEMBER HELD SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE
AS WE MARKED 20 CONTINUOUS YEARS
OF HUMANS LIVING AND WORKING ABOARD
THE SPACE STATION.
TO ANYBODY WATCHING THIS RIGHT NOW, BORN AFTER NOVEMBER 2, 2000,
YOU HAVE NEVER KNOWN A WORLD WHERE
EVERY HUMAN BEING WAS ON EARTH’S SURFACE AT THE SAME TIME.
COUNTLESS MEN AND WOMEN ACROSS THE GLOBE
HAVE WORKED TO MAKE THE FIRST 20 YEARS OF WORK ON STATION
AN ERA OF DISCOVERY,
WHICH WE BELIEVE HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN.
AND THAT WAS JUST A TASTE OF ALL
THE TRIUMPHS WE PACKED INTO 2020
FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR,
WE SAW 4 CREWED LAUNCHES FLY TO THE STATION,
SPLIT BETWEEN THE SPACEX DRAGON AND THE RUSSIAN SOYUZ.
10 NASA ASTRONAUTS, 6 RUSSIAN COSMONUATS,
A EUROPEAN AND A JAPANESE ASTRONAUT
CALLED THE STATION HOME THIS YEAR
WHERE THEY PERFORMED 8 SPACEWALKS
AND WELCOMED 7 CARGO VEHICLES FROM RUSSIA,
JAPAN, NORTHROP GRUMMAN AND SPACEX,
INCLUDING THE NEWEST VERSION OF CARGO DRAGON.
AND EARLIER THIS SPRING, NASA’S CHRISTINA KOCH
RETURNED HOME AFTER SETTING A RECORD
FOR THE LONGEST SINGLE SPACEFLIGHT BY A WOMAN.
COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY MISSIONS
ENABLED MORE THAN 100 NEW U.S. SCIENCE INVESTIGATIONS
AND TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATIONS,
CONTUINING TO IMPROVE ON OUR CAPABILITIES
FOR THE ARTEMIS MISSIONS TO OUR MOON
AND DIRECTLY BENEFITING LIFE BACK ON EARTH.
WE EVEN MANANGED TO MAKE THE STATION
A LITTLE BIT BIGGER,
WITH THE NEW NANORACKS AIRLOCK ARRIVING
AT THE END OF THE YEAR FOR INSTALLATION
BEFORE 2020 COMES TO A CLOSE.
WITH 2020 NOW IN THE REARVIEW,
WE’RE ALREADY POISED FOR A 2021 EVERY BIT AS PACKED.
WE’LL HIT THE GROUND RUNNING IN JANUARY
WITH SPACEWALKS TO UPGRADE A NUMBER OF STATION SYSTEMS,
ENABLING NEW SCIENCE PLATFORMS
AND MAKING SURE THE STATION WILL BE
FULLY CAPABLE FOR YEARS TO COME.
OUR COMMERCIAL CREW PROVIDERS BOEING
WILL MAKE A RUN TO STATION AGAIN
IN THE REFLIGHT OF THEIR ORBITIAL FLIGHT TEST MISSION,
SETTING US UP FOR ANOTHER HISTORIC FIRST LATER IN THE YEAR
WHEN 3 NASA ASTRONAUTS PUT STARLINER THROUGH THE PACES
IN ITS FIRST CREWED LAUNCH.
WE’LL HAVE PLENTY OF CARGO FLIGHTS,
INCLUDING THE FIRST PLANNED FLIGHT OF
SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION’S DREAM CHASER,
THE NEWEST ENTRANT IN OUR CARGO FLEET.
AND AS WE CONTINUE TO EXPAND
THE CAPABILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR
COMMERCIAL COMPANIES ON STATION AND IN LOW-EARTH ORBIT,
WE’LL BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR NEW MILESTONES IN ADDING
A COMMERCIAL MODULE AND ADDITIONAL FACILITIES,
AND POTENTIALLY THE FIRST
COMMERCIAL ASTRONAUT MISSION TO THE SPACE STATION.
WELL, THAT WILL DO IT FOR US IN 2020.
WE HOPE YOU GET A CHANCE TO CATCH YOUR BREATH
OVER THE HOLIDAYS AND WERE ABLE TO SHARE
IN SOME OF THE EXCITEMENT HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT
BROUGHT IN THIS PRETTY UNPRECEDENTED YEAR.
AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU FOR WATCHING
AND KEEP SENDING IN YOUR QUESTIONS
USING THE HASHTAG ASKNASA,
AND WE’LL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR.