SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane native and NASA astronaut Anne McClain joined Up with KREM this morning to shed some light on just how historic the SpaceX rocket launch will be - and she also shed some light on her own plans to return to space.
Astronauts Bob Benkhen and Doug Hurley were set to lift off in the SpaceX Crew Dragon at 1:33 p.m. PST on Wednesday, but the launch was scrubbed due to weather. The next launch window is on Saturday afternoon.
McClain said partnerships between private companies and NASA may open up a world of possibilities for the future.
Previously, the United States has been paying Russia to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, but with the arrival of commercial space crafts, like the SpaceX Dragon and the Boeing Starliner, that could change.
"It really is a new era in space flight," McClain said. "Private companies can't do it by themselves, and NASA can't do it by themselves.. it's a new type of partnership going forward."
When asked how the astronauts are probably feeling ahead of this afternoon's launch, McClain said they're likely the least nervous out of everyone involved.
"The astronauts themselves, they are so head down, and concentrating on what they need to do," McClain said. "It surprised me to realize that maybe it didn't have as much emotion as I would have expected it to."
Although McClain would prefer to be in Cape Canaveral, cheering on her fellow astronauts as they prepare to launch, she'll be watching the launch on television like the rest of the nation.
"With COVID-19 there have been a lot of different changes, so normally we would be crowded up all the astronauts supporting our crew mates and our friends launching today," McClain said. "But unfortunately just like many around the country I'm going to be watching it from home."
While SpaceX and NASA are prepared for Wednesday's launch, there is one very important thing even rocket scientists can't predict with 100% certainty - the weather.
"Unfortunately the weather is one of the most complicated aspects to figure out on launch day," McClain said. "We have a team all across the world trying to figure out the weather, so we're just waiting and hoping. They keep giving us disclaimers, "we don't produce the weather, we just have the power to report it.'"
McClain explained not only does the weather at the launch site have to be clear, it has to be clear at all the abort and contingency landing sites, should the astronauts have to bail out of the rocket if something goes wrong.
If the weather doesn't cooperate Wednesday, the next opportunity to launch would be on Saturday.
But what about Anne McClain's next opportunity to get back in space? She says nothing is set in stone, but she does plan on returning there one day.
"None of us know our space destiny, there are so many requirements," McClain said. "But as soon as we get back from a space flight, we get right back in the back of the line to go up again."
And with the new partnership between private industry and NASA moving forward, McClains options for returning to the cosmos are more varied than ever.
"It's amazing when you think about the fact that this is the first time the US astronauts in our office have the opportunity to fly on four or five different vehicles," McClain said. "You're going to see me fly again, absolutely, that's my plan... it could be a lunar mission, it could be one of these commercial crew flights with Launch America, Boeing, or SpaceX, it could be on a Russian flight, so the future is bright."