1 00:00:00,390 --> 00:00:02,880 Hello, everyone, my name is Theron Proxy, I'm the 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:04,770 chief operating officer here at Kennedy Space 3 00:00:04,770 --> 00:00:07,830 Center Visitor Complex. I'm excited today to talk 4 00:00:07,830 --> 00:00:09,870 to you about the inspiring inspiration that we 5 00:00:09,870 --> 00:00:12,900 provide here at the visitor complex and educating 6 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:15,450 our guests and the children of the future 7 00:00:15,450 --> 00:00:19,950 explorers here on a daily basis. Where am I at? 8 00:00:20,250 --> 00:00:22,290 I'm at the astronaut training experience. We'll 9 00:00:22,290 --> 00:00:25,400 talk a little bit about that here in a second. But 10 00:00:25,410 --> 00:00:28,080 right now, I think a little bit to talk about 11 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,120 what's going on and how we inspire us and how we 12 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,030 talk about the past. And that's something we truly 13 00:00:33,030 --> 00:00:36,060 embrace here at the visitor complex, starting off 14 00:00:36,060 --> 00:00:38,070 with our heroes, the Legends exhibit, which talks 15 00:00:38,070 --> 00:00:40,620 about the early space program and all the amazing 16 00:00:40,620 --> 00:00:43,800 pioneers that launches basically to where we're at 17 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,670 today. And then you can get on a bus and learn all 18 00:00:47,670 --> 00:00:50,570 about this happening on NASA today and then end up. 19 00:00:51,610 --> 00:00:55,570 Ed Carter, Apollo Saturn five visitor complex, 20 00:00:55,570 --> 00:00:58,180 where you get to stand underneath an Apollo five 21 00:00:58,420 --> 00:01:02,830 rocket. It's an amazing, amazing experience that 22 00:01:02,830 --> 00:01:05,890 Saturn five rocket is part of the Apollo program. 23 00:01:05,890 --> 00:01:07,840 And you get to learn all about that program, 24 00:01:08,020 --> 00:01:12,130 including, unfortunately, the perils that happen 25 00:01:12,130 --> 00:01:15,370 in this dangerous industry with the Apollo one 26 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:18,700 tragedy. But then you get to learn everything that 27 00:01:18,700 --> 00:01:21,700 happened and everything we learn from those 28 00:01:21,700 --> 00:01:24,820 tragedies. So basically, as you learn about that 29 00:01:24,820 --> 00:01:28,120 experience, you understand exactly what it takes 30 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,890 for NASA. And all the pioneers to get us where 31 00:01:31,890 --> 00:01:34,650 we're at today. So as you walk through that, you 32 00:01:34,650 --> 00:01:37,830 end up back at the bus and on his way back to the 33 00:01:37,830 --> 00:01:40,080 visitor complex where you learn about what's going 34 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,290 on in today's world. And there's so much to talk 35 00:01:43,290 --> 00:01:46,710 about here. The Kennedy Space Center, NASA are 36 00:01:46,710 --> 00:01:50,460 moving faster than ever. We're so happy to talk 37 00:01:50,460 --> 00:01:53,290 about inspire the next generation. The hope will 38 00:01:53,310 --> 00:01:56,070 be part of this space program. Let's talk about 39 00:01:56,070 --> 00:01:58,600 the space launch system that is going on today. 40 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:01,800 That rocket is being assembled here at Kennedy 41 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,930 Space Center, where it's been manufactured 42 00:02:03,930 --> 00:02:06,090 throughout the United States. And there's so many 43 00:02:06,090 --> 00:02:08,370 partners that are making our next biggest rocket 44 00:02:08,370 --> 00:02:12,120 ever happen about ready to launch here within this 45 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:12,570 decade. 46 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,250 We have so much other things to talk about as we 47 00:02:17,250 --> 00:02:20,370 look at the commercial cruise space X, you all a 48 00:02:20,370 --> 00:02:23,700 Boeing, Lockheed Martin, soon to be Blue Origin, 49 00:02:24,330 --> 00:02:27,120 are all looking to get into the space program. And 50 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,540 SpaceX is launching astronauts right here again 51 00:02:30,810 --> 00:02:33,000 from American soil up to the International Space 52 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,250 Station. With so many experience, experiments are 53 00:02:35,250 --> 00:02:38,010 happening that have helped this world and will 54 00:02:38,010 --> 00:02:41,880 help those pioneers go beyond this world and to 55 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,610 Mars and to the moon. And that's where I'm really 56 00:02:44,610 --> 00:02:47,670 excited to talk about Artemis. That's a new NASA 57 00:02:47,670 --> 00:02:50,440 program is going to put boots on the moon again 58 00:02:50,460 --> 00:02:53,400 here in this decade. And it's going to be a woman 59 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,480 for the first time. How exciting is that? So that 60 00:02:57,570 --> 00:03:00,570 Artemis, the sister of Apollo, is our next moon 61 00:03:00,570 --> 00:03:02,700 program. And ultimately that's going to get us to 62 00:03:02,700 --> 00:03:05,070 Mars, where we're going to live on these planets, 63 00:03:05,070 --> 00:03:09,280 not just visit them. So taking people around and 64 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:12,550 explain what's happening is so exciting and as 65 00:03:12,550 --> 00:03:15,190 they come in here and get done with the heroes, 66 00:03:15,190 --> 00:03:17,950 the legends experience, they get to walk the 67 00:03:17,950 --> 00:03:22,120 rocket garden and look underneath and up top in 68 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,850 the sky rocket, the real rockets that are sky 69 00:03:24,910 --> 00:03:27,490 above them. And then we're actually adding a new 70 00:03:27,490 --> 00:03:30,730 rocket here in the next month, the Delta two, 71 00:03:30,850 --> 00:03:34,630 which has an amazing history with you all. So 72 00:03:34,810 --> 00:03:36,940 everything is happening on a continual basis and 73 00:03:36,940 --> 00:03:39,800 we're continuing to add new things all the time. 74 00:03:40,660 --> 00:03:43,030 One of the greatest attractions that we have here, 75 00:03:43,030 --> 00:03:47,170 we are so honored to host and house the space 76 00:03:47,170 --> 00:03:50,140 shuttle Atlantis was tossed. That whole exhibit is 77 00:03:50,140 --> 00:03:52,840 all about the shuttle program. And as you get to 78 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,780 see the actual shuttle in a flying configuration, 79 00:03:55,780 --> 00:03:59,140 there's over 60 to interactiveness that are within 80 00:03:59,140 --> 00:04:01,390 that building that you get to learn all about the 81 00:04:01,390 --> 00:04:05,440 shuttle program. And all about the International 82 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:07,930 Space Station, and there are so many things that 83 00:04:07,930 --> 00:04:11,200 you can do. Have fun yet learn at the same time, 84 00:04:11,620 --> 00:04:14,860 which is a big part of our mission here at the 85 00:04:14,860 --> 00:04:17,830 visitor complex. We just launched the new Planet 86 00:04:17,830 --> 00:04:22,570 Play Attraction, which takes children walking the 87 00:04:22,570 --> 00:04:26,290 rings of Saturn, walking and learning about 88 00:04:26,290 --> 00:04:29,230 planets as they crawl through tubes and learn 89 00:04:29,230 --> 00:04:32,050 about interactivity and learn about rovers that 90 00:04:32,050 --> 00:04:34,780 are actually on Mars through great physical 91 00:04:34,780 --> 00:04:37,570 experiences. They learn about constellations and 92 00:04:37,570 --> 00:04:40,900 they slide down a projection slide that turns them 93 00:04:40,900 --> 00:04:44,530 into a rocket. So really trying to have fun, but 94 00:04:44,530 --> 00:04:47,260 at the same time inspire and want those children 95 00:04:47,260 --> 00:04:50,800 to learn more. So let's go to that astronaut 96 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,950 training experience where I'm here today. Now, how 97 00:04:53,950 --> 00:04:56,860 exciting does this look behind me? You can you can 98 00:04:56,860 --> 00:05:00,280 be in a microgravity experiment here to my left. 99 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:02,710 Yeah. Walk on Mars and virtual reality right 100 00:05:02,710 --> 00:05:05,500 behind me. You see the simulators off to my right. 101 00:05:05,950 --> 00:05:10,360 You get to live in space and you get to learn what 102 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:12,490 it's like to train like an astronaut. And 103 00:05:12,490 --> 00:05:14,980 astronauts have actually been in here and did some 104 00:05:14,980 --> 00:05:17,320 of the training. We would keep their scores. So if 105 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:19,150 you want to try to beat their sports, come on down 106 00:05:19,150 --> 00:05:21,640 and make that happen. But then once they train 107 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:23,410 like an astronaut, it doesn't stop there. They 108 00:05:23,410 --> 00:05:26,680 actually get it in a simulated shuttle and they go 109 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,590 to Mars, where we have a simulated Mars habitat, 110 00:05:29,590 --> 00:05:32,770 where they learn how to work and live on Mars and 111 00:05:32,770 --> 00:05:36,100 all that is trapped. And they get a full microsite 112 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,860 of their experience and how well they did. So 113 00:05:39,860 --> 00:05:43,280 there's so many things to do here and then some of 114 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:44,900 the other great things we offer is you can 115 00:05:44,900 --> 00:05:46,880 actually spend the night underneath the Saturn 116 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,240 five rocket or the space shuttle Atlantis, do all 117 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,000 sorts of STEM activities and learn about those 118 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,970 programs while you get to sleep underneath a real 119 00:05:55,970 --> 00:05:59,800 spacecraft. Those type of things, what I feel 120 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,430 truly inspire that next generation, you know, 121 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:05,830 there's nothing better than walking with a child 122 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:07,900 and talking to them, talking to them about the 123 00:06:07,900 --> 00:06:10,490 space program and watching their eyes light up and 124 00:06:10,510 --> 00:06:12,730 so enthused and, you know, in their hearts, 125 00:06:12,730 --> 00:06:16,210 they're going to be your next space pioneer. I had 126 00:06:16,210 --> 00:06:19,330 that experience walking with Christina Kotch, a 127 00:06:19,330 --> 00:06:20,980 real astronaut, when she was an astronaut 128 00:06:20,980 --> 00:06:23,770 candidate. She said she became an astronaut 129 00:06:23,770 --> 00:06:26,590 because she came here and saw everything and 130 00:06:26,590 --> 00:06:29,410 inspired her to be into the space program. And she 131 00:06:29,410 --> 00:06:31,030 just came down from the International Space 132 00:06:31,030 --> 00:06:35,260 Station. So that's that's the setup. That's what 133 00:06:35,260 --> 00:06:38,740 we want to create. Is that blood flowing, being 134 00:06:38,740 --> 00:06:41,590 part of American history and being part of the 135 00:06:41,590 --> 00:06:46,450 NASA program? The future is bright. We have over 136 00:06:46,450 --> 00:06:49,030 30 launches last year and so many coming here in 137 00:06:49,030 --> 00:06:52,180 the very near future, they're going to expand and 138 00:06:52,180 --> 00:06:54,690 we're going to have multiple launches in one day. 139 00:06:56,410 --> 00:06:59,290 As we look at the Artemis program, we look at the 140 00:07:00,310 --> 00:07:03,520 the expansions of Space X and the other space 141 00:07:04,300 --> 00:07:07,810 industry leaders, we're really changing the 142 00:07:07,810 --> 00:07:10,900 overall Kennedy Space Center, as are so many 143 00:07:10,900 --> 00:07:14,890 upgrades that are happening on a daily basis. And 144 00:07:14,890 --> 00:07:17,020 as we want to tell that story, we're about ready 145 00:07:17,020 --> 00:07:20,740 to open up our next big attraction Gateway, that's 146 00:07:20,740 --> 00:07:23,980 the new one next to NASA and that is something we 147 00:07:23,980 --> 00:07:27,250 are very excited about. It is forty six thousand 148 00:07:27,250 --> 00:07:30,400 square feet of all about what's happening today 149 00:07:30,670 --> 00:07:33,130 and the future. You're going to stand on our real 150 00:07:33,130 --> 00:07:35,530 SpaceX booster. There is going to be a Sierra 151 00:07:35,530 --> 00:07:39,880 Nevada dream chaser. There's Orion, F.T. One, a 152 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:44,720 SpaceX Dragon. So many things to look at and so 153 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:46,970 many models and experience and interactions that 154 00:07:46,970 --> 00:07:49,550 will tell all about the new and next you'll learn 155 00:07:49,550 --> 00:07:51,680 about the robotic explorers that are cruising 156 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:55,130 around the spaceship as we speak. And then some of 157 00:07:55,130 --> 00:07:57,080 the other amazing things that you can do is we're 158 00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:59,660 creating what a spaceport is going to look like or 159 00:07:59,660 --> 00:08:02,750 we think it's going to look like in the 20 50s or 160 00:08:02,750 --> 00:08:05,030 whatever. We're able to have a private tourism, 161 00:08:05,180 --> 00:08:09,730 which is probably near nearer than that look like. 162 00:08:09,980 --> 00:08:12,560 So we're creating kind of an airport that we think 163 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:14,480 will look like the future, where you'll have four 164 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:18,350 different journeys to go on in a very unique and 165 00:08:18,350 --> 00:08:20,930 immersive experience that's going to take you 166 00:08:20,930 --> 00:08:22,460 through space. And you're going to learn about 167 00:08:22,670 --> 00:08:26,270 everything that NASA is learning about today. 168 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:29,600 You're going to learn about what life is going to 169 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,150 be like on Mars, what robot explorers that are out 170 00:08:32,150 --> 00:08:33,860 there and what they're learning and some of the 171 00:08:33,860 --> 00:08:37,020 solar systems that are out there that we have now 172 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:41,660 encountered. And observe that could possibly hold 173 00:08:41,660 --> 00:08:45,320 life and may be one of our future homes here 174 00:08:45,830 --> 00:08:49,610 someday. And that is all about the folks that we 175 00:08:49,610 --> 00:08:52,310 were trying to bring here and inspire and educate 176 00:08:52,310 --> 00:08:54,410 them to be a part of that, because without those 177 00:08:54,680 --> 00:08:59,570 pioneers and young explorers of today, we cannot 178 00:08:59,570 --> 00:09:03,190 be stuck on this planet and we need an. So that is 179 00:09:03,490 --> 00:09:06,790 our most important mission. Tell the NASA story 180 00:09:07,030 --> 00:09:09,130 and inspire minds through a memorable space 181 00:09:09,130 --> 00:09:12,040 experience, make them feel it, make them want to 182 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:14,650 be a part of it. And that doesn't mean that 183 00:09:14,650 --> 00:09:17,320 doesn't necessarily need to be going out into 184 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,870 space. There is important work right here on Earth 185 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:23,260 to make that space exploration happy just to be 186 00:09:23,260 --> 00:09:28,380 part of that space and. So I'm excited here today 187 00:09:28,380 --> 00:09:31,260 to talk about this, not only about the amazing 188 00:09:31,260 --> 00:09:36,440 history. But the the very bright future of NASA 189 00:09:36,620 --> 00:09:37,790 and the space program. 190 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,790 We need those basics for our resources are limited, 191 00:09:43,580 --> 00:09:46,730 so inspiring and educating them to be part of that 192 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:49,630 is something that is near and dear to this very 193 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,830 complex. And something that is so more pronounced. 194 00:09:55,410 --> 00:09:57,510 Thank you for your time today. It's an honor 195 00:09:57,510 --> 00:09:58,130 talking to you.