In-Depth: Texas and the New Race for Space – KXXV News Channel 25

MCGREGOR, TX IN THE BEGINNING:

Texas has always been big in the space program, but its getting bigger.

almost every company that takes off into that wild blue yonder has a presence here and many,

including SpaceX in Central Texas, will expand their footprint.

Space, the final frontierits what brought Hefzi-Ba Ramirez to hear a NASA scientist speak at TSTC.

"I am actually planning to use my avionics degree, my associates degree to go into the Air Force," she said.

After World War Twos win, America and its allies took a victory lap while behind the Iron Curtain the biggest axis power of them all, the Soviet Union, saw its future in the stars.

The Soviets surprised the world with the first man-made satellite. There wasnt much to it, just a radio beeper inside a ball with antennas, but everyone on earth, it seemed, heard those beeps, and to some, they sounded like a warning. The Soviets then followed with a dog in space and finally Yuri Gagarin makes one small pass around the earth becoming the first man in space.

"American Democracy competing with the Soviet Union with communism in there if you look at the first years in space it looks like the soviets are in the forefront of technology and success," said NASA Historian Brian Odom.

So President Kennedy doubles down on the space program, and he places his bet in a Texas town that would later become synonymous with space travel.

"in a city noted for progress, in a State noted for strength, and we stand in need of all three," said John F. Kennedy.

At Houstons Rice University, Kennedy challenges the U.S. to put a man on the moon by end of the decade.

For years, the military had charge of whatever space program America had. The challenge to the moon would put that work into a civilian agency.. one created during the years of Dwight Eisenhower, a wartime general who envisioned the exploration of space as a peaceful venture.

"President Kennedy has a huge question. He's hot that interested in space but he understands the propaganda value and knows how those discoveries will change our lives," said Odom.

President Kennedy outlined the nations space program, saying the concept of a free nation must extend out into space and anywhere else a free people might

benefit. "For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond," he said.

The enthusiasm Jack Kennedy created for space still endures today, especially in the heart of youngTexans like Ramirez . "I wanna be an astronaut," she said.

TEXAS MAKES ITS MOVE

In the beginning of the space program, Texas was a bystander.. yet our leaders at the time saw opportunity, not only to get Texas moving into the future, but also putting Texas on the world stage.

When NASA Comes to TSTC. Students turn out by the hundreds. students, many of whom say, theyve dreamed of the stars all their lives.

As president Kennedy arrived in Texas for a Rice University speech on September 12th 1962, hat he says changes America and Texas, forever. In fact, it would establish Texas as an important part, perhaps THE most important part of the emerging national space program.

"We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people," said President Kennedy.

Because the US had failen behind as the then Soviet Union, launched the first Satellite, the first man, the woman and even the first dog into space.

At the same time the US had very public failures, and Kennedy pointed out, the Soviets surely did too.

"We have had our failures, but so have others, even if they do not admit them. And they may be less public. To be sure, we are behind, and will be behind for some time in manned flight. But we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move ahead." he said.

And we did as NASA moves it operation center to Texas. Originally designed for Marylands Goddard Space Flight Center, it would come to Houstons swampy Clear Lake area where Rice had donated land and politicians had urged the move.

"They definitely wanted something that had mild weather. They wanted an Air Force base nearby. So we had Ellington Air Force base that was close by we had a mild climate which they wanted. They also wanted an area where there was a lot of cultural activities for their employees. So that was a big draw for NASA. They wanted local universities nearby because of course, they were going to have these engineers and scientists that needed potentially more training and they wanted to draw also from that workforce that we had here in Houston as well," said Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, Historian at NASA's, Johnson Space Center.

Houston had everything plus some very important politicians, steering the exploration of the stars, to the lone star state. Brazos Valley, (then Houston) Congressman Albert Thomas became the driving force behind NASAs arrival in Houston.

"I think really, Albert Thomas deserves most of the credit for bringing NASA down here. When they were building that center up in Maryland, the Goddard Space Flight Center, he actually had wanted NASA to build a center here. And he told the administrator at the time that he wasn't going to give them a red cent if they didn't move the facility," said Ross-Nazzal.

Houston would later become synonymous with space travel as it changed the way people looked at Texas forever.

"...and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out--then we must be bold.," said President Kennedy at his now-famous speech at Rice University.

And he couldnt have picked a better place than Texas, a place known for not just its boldness, but its intelligence and its hard-working people.

Instructors at Waco's TSTC believe they have more than a few future rocket scientists here, Including everyday Texans like Hefzi-Ba Ramirez who plans to take to the skies but a little closer to home, telling us she plans to use her avionics degree in the Air Force, and as she, NASA and others, fly off into that wild blue Yonder, theyll have the backing of an army of Texans who made it possible for their trip.

HOUSTON... WE HAVE NO PROBLEM....

Whether you live in McGregor.... or Manor you may have noticed increased activity when it comes to the nations space program.

And most of that action happened right here in Texas. Houston became synonymous with space travel in the Apollo Program.... could we strengthen our brand in the privatization of space?

As President John F. Kennedy prepared to roll out the nation's space program, he hitched his star, to the Lone Star State, as a symbol of progress.

"This city of Houston, this State of Texas, this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by those who moved forward--and so will space," said John F. Kennedy, the 35th U.S. President.

President Kennedy sealed the deal, making Houston the center of manned space flight for NASA, as Texas had already begun to emerge as a high-tech hub.

In the years that followed, we would hear the word "Houston" sprinkled thorough any conversation between astronauts and mission control.

And with each mission, NASA learned more about, not only space, it learned about earth itself....as Mr. Kennedy predicted.

"Science and education will be enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school," he said.

You might say the space program outdid itself, exceeding even the president's crystal ball.

Consider these products we use every day, which came straight from the Space program:

The technology that puts cameras into cell phones, Memory Foam, Scratch-resistant sunglasses, the Dustbuster, GPS, and LED lighting,

NASA Historian Brian Odom says, They all got their earliest uses, in the early days of the space program, which centered on Texas.

"Going to the moon was an incredibly important thing, right? Because you're you're looking at how do we... move ourselves off of Earth and out into other places... and that's what we're doing from the Mercury program, Gemini and Apollo, up to about Apollo 14, but Apollo 15 is a little different. You really are diving into the geology of the moon. You're really beginning with a Lunar Roving Vehicle. You can really expand your science out really do some research, right? So you got Apollo 1516 and 17. After 17 you do come back in and you say okay, where do we go from here?" he said.

The obvious choice at the time...Mars. but with the Vietnam War still going, and some troubling economic trends at home, President Richard Nixon decides the needs at home are greater than the needs of outer space.

NASA stays closer to home...

" Skylab launching America's first station in space, sending three crews to do incredibly important research and learning about low Earth orbit. And the space shuttle will go on launch in April 1981. And we'll have this incredibly important suite of missions where we learn about low Earth orbit we learn about access to low Earth orbit, building a space station, launching the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X Ray Observatory, and then servicing those missions," said Odom.

All run, from the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Texas has a foothold in the door.

"What was once the furthest outpost of the old west, Houston will be the furthest outpost on the new frontier of science and space," said President John F. Kennedy.

But can it maintain that foothold in the face of a private enterprise free-for-all over space?

TO BOLDLY GO...

NASA ran the American space program as a solo act for the first 40 or so years of its existence. Now you can count more than a handful of successful companies all making money, or about to... off of space,

Most have major operations in Texas, but can Texas keep its hold on these companies?

TV's Captain Kirk explains the thin band of air around the earth, minutes after he steps off a Blue Origin capsule.

This time his beaming face has nothing to do with "Scotty", as actor William Shatner connects in a way he never expected, to the character he's played off and on, for a lifetime.

He returned from his first-ever trip into space, speaking almost in religious terms.

"Everybody in the world needs to see this....." he says in an almost reverent way.

Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, may not run the nation's top private space company, but he sure knows how to get attention, having the actor whose 4 year mission in television space still plays in re-runs today.

Where's NASA in all this? The whole plan at Blue Origin, comes directly from NASA research, as the space agency started handing off little pieces of the space program to private companies, years ago.

"At what point does does NASA leave off and private can private enterprise takeover? Where's that? Where's that sweet spot? That's a great point. And I think, you know, it depends on exactly what you're looking at, right? Because if you're looking at something from the aeronautics portfolio, you know, the X vehicles, you're learning a lot of important things there. And it still is that r&d, right you're the government can invest money in solving questions. Private industry, for the most part can't do it's not in its you know, there's no market maybe yet for that for that ability. But, you know, NASA the government can can inject money into the into a problem, but some r&d behind it and then get that to the private industry as much as as quickly as it can," said NASA Historian Brian Odom.

And from a wide field at first, three private companies have become the most recognizable names in the game.

Of those... two located major operations in Texas.

Sir Richard Branson located in New Mexico, what you might call, "Texas lite".

Just as the railroad barons Cornelius Vanderbilt, James hill, Collis Huntington shaped modern travel. The space barons, Elon musk, Jeff bezos and Richard Branson almost through sheer force of will, aim for the stars, shaping our future travel.

Bezos has a base in West Texas out near El Paso, in Van Horn where he's spent untold millions on building the Blue Origin launch site, offices and necessary infrastructure for his 275 Employees and 50 contractors.

Outside of Texas, Blue Origin has its headquarters in Kent, Washington, 20 minutes south of Seattle. ... Cape Canaveral, FL. Home to its New Glenn manufacturing, orbital launch and support facilities. . other operations you'll find in Arlington, VA. ...Huntsville, AL. .. and Los Angeles.

Blue Origin's capsule takes off from the Van Horn site, the reusable main rocket lands here, and the capsule tumbles to earth, nearby.

Richard Branson and Burt Rutan joined forces to get Virgin Galactic off the ground. Their company takes a different approach to space launches, believing the cheapest and easiest way to get off the ground... hitch a ride on a specially built mother ship to take you to the edge of the atmosphere where you unlink, hit the afterburners and sail off into the darkness.

Even though Virign had a successful first flight, issues with the stability of the space plane forced virgin to push back the start of regular service sending its stock price in for a hard landing.

uncertainty about Virgin's future also raises questions about it's home base, Spaceport America. Virgin is the biggest tenant at the facility just outside Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Managers though say with other, new tenants moving in, Virgin's success becomes less important to Spaceport's survival.

Though privatization of the space program got off to a slow start by many accounts, Today, NASA refers with pride, to it's private partners, and one of it's early success stories, SpaceX, charting a path laid out with government research.

" From that you can get incredibly important things like the you know, the ability of SpaceX to get people to the International Space Station to kind of dominate transportation paradigm in low Earth orbit," said Odom.

"This experience is something unbelievable," said Shatner.

Because if TV's Captain Kirk has it right, we may all get to ride a rocket into space in the years ahead.

"What you have given me is the most profound experience i can imagine," Shatner told Jeff Bezos.

"I hope I never recover from this," he said.

SPACE WHO?

Space X moved in near McGregor about 20 years ago.

You might say McGregor's been booming for a long time.... most recently with SpaceX.

"They originally started off probably a couple 100 acres and now they occupied 4000 acres of our industrial park. What started as a couple of employees. Now they're in probably close to 1000 and it's still expanding," said Mc Grgor Mayor jim Hering.

What we now know as McGregor's SpaceX facility, began as a world war two era explosives factory called the "Bluebonnet Plant".

Phillips Petroleum moved in for a while with a test lab for different types of fuel.

Rockets arrived, when a small rocket company called Rocketdyne moved in to learn the secrets of the German V-2 rocket and put them to "American Use".

During that time, Rocketdyne's research helped lead to the creation of the v Saturn 5 rocket which sent men to the moon.

the turn of the century brought SpaceX here, and the site grew along with the company.

""This is the horizontal test stand. This is the very first place we fired a rocket was right here" said SpaceX Co-Founder Tom Mueller, in a SpaceX-prepared video.

Rocket genius Mueller designed, built and tested rockets from here for years, retiring in 2020.

His pre-produced tour of SpaceX McGregor shows us some of the highlights.

"The block house is an underground bunker control engine testing like the Merlin booster engine, we're setting up a test of the the daily duty cycle Falcon nine," Muller says.

The engine tests at McGregor roar loudly and shake the ground for miles... something neighbors know all too well by now.

Space X actually has three rocket testing stands, including it familiar-looking tall gantry.

When you hear how powerful these engines are made, all the shaking and roaring seems to make sense.

'" The Falcon nine first stage up here that we're getting ready to do the sort of historical the first folder burn up all nine engines so there's nine engines running 95,000 pounds each. That's a total of 860,000 pounds for about 170 seconds" says Mueller.

And the engines generate lots of heat.

"Right in there where that black type comes down and it goes into the exchangers because the exhaust of course coming out of that thruster is about 3000 degrees. " Mueller adds.

McGregor also tests the Space X capsules.

"Dragon capsule just started into qualification. This is the first fully flight Dragon capsule we built" Mueller says.

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In-Depth: Texas and the New Race for Space - KXXV News Channel 25