Former Apollo 17 Astronaut Harrison Schmitt on privatization of space exploration

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," May 27, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: T-minus 33 minutes to history. America returns to space.

Of course, our astronauts have been going back and forth to the International Space Station for the better part of a decade. Unfortunately, for the better part of a decade, we have been hitching rides largely with the Russians.

Today, it's our own ride. And it's a private ride, at that, SpaceX, in conjunction with NASA, launching U.S. astronauts back into space. It all happens about a half-an-hour from now.

Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto, and this is YOUR WORLD, or, should I say, out of this world, because this day, a lot of people had wondered whether we would ever see. And now private enterprise has combined with the United States government in the form of NASA to make the impossible suddenly look very possible, in a little more than 30 minutes.

Phil Keating right now at Cape Canaveral on where we stand and where Mother Nature stands -- Phil.

PHIL KEATING, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: A lot of drama here today, Neil, a lot of drama, not only because of this historic day, this historic launch, the first time we have actually seen these steps and steps and steps, and the Hueys flying around, and the motorcade taken the astronauts out to the launch pad.

We haven't seen all of that in nearly a decade, since 2011, so a lot of buzz, a lot of excitement, and a lot of nostalgia, quite frankly. But it is a dramatic mission just for the astronauts, for SpaceX, for NASA. It's a new era that they're trying to do here in exactly 32 minutes.

But there was also the drama of the weather. We had a tornado warning here at 2:00 this afternoon that, fortunately, only lasted about 15 minutes. But it's been a day of deluge rain, lightning, thunder. The day started out with a drop in likelihood that weather would cooperate.

So it was going to be a 50/50 launch. Good news is, it's back up to 60 percent that it will happen. And I look out to the west, I see blue skies, and the cell that was over the Orlando area, it has broken up over the past hour. And one astronaut said, that is great news.

So perhaps this launch is looking like it is actually going to happen, and everybody here -- and I have got to say, because of coronavirus, NASA really strictly limited the number of media that could be here. Typically, there would be massive crowds in the background. There's really just a smattering of reporters and photographers and producers around here.

It's really somewhat of a ghost town, when you compare it to the other ones. But let's get to the launch pad, launch pad 39-A. That's the Falcon 9 rocket. And on top of, that is the Crew Dragon capsule. And within it are Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, the two experienced NASA astronauts who are going to take this maiden voyage.

It's still a test flight, but, for them, it's just a regular launch. And that's going to be intense and go all the way to the space station.

Right now, all systems are go, according to the NASA administrator and the flight launch teams. Likely, there will be a go/no go roundtable, as they always did with the shuttles, around 10 minutes prior to the launch time of 4:33 Eastern time, that always ends usually with the meteorologists.

And they're looking at the latest weather. The complicated part about this launch, Neil, is that this is a capsule. And the capsule can't land on a runway over in Spain or France, like the shuttle could. It's got to land in the water if there's a problem with the rocket, and then do that launch abort test.

So, the water, the sea state, the waves, they all have to be safe for the capsule to do that. So, the weather outlook for the team is really going 1,000 miles. They got out to the pad. They're in there. The crew access arm already moved off the rocket. So they are they're sitting and waiting, going on with the final systems checks.

And the excitement builds and builds -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, Phil, thank you very, very much. We will be monitoring things very, very closely, as you have expertly.

A little bit of detail on the Dragon, the size in there. It's about 27-feet high. It's about 30 feet across. It's holding two astronauts right now, but it can hold as many as seven. And that will come in handy for these future lunar launches you have heard much about, when we want to return to the lunar surface in about four years.

And this will be an integral part of that. Also, this is called the Crew Dragon. Up until now, we have seen this Dragon spacecraft go back and forth as Cargo Dragon, in other words, making 20 odd trips to the International Space Station.

And Douglas Hurley is getting a lot of attention here. Remember, he was the pilot in the very final shuttle mission. And that was the last time we, as Americans, sent astronauts into space. Ever since, we have been, as I say, hitching rides with the Russians, at a cost of around $86 million to $90 million per seat per trip each year, year in, year out.

This is about half that, but, again, essentially, we are paying ourselves, which, as Robert Behnken can tell you, is a far more promising financial math. And he's encouraged by that, also encouraged by private enterprise here.

Both gentlemen got to the launch pad, the famous 39-A that has launched all those Apollo rockets, including the one that took us to the moon for the first time in Apollo 11 with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, other major flights since. That was including the Skylab missions and a host of others.

But, today, they got to pad 39-A in a Tesla. They were obviously enjoying that, and not some of the more traditional vehicles you have seen that have gotten astronauts to that launch pad.

So, a lot at stake here.

Gene Kranz knows it. That name should be very familiar to you. You heard his voice. You know it as soon as you hear it, the legendary flight director, I believe, from Mercury and Gemini and the Apollo programs. He has had an integral role at the Kennedy Space Center through every historic mission you can imagine.

Gene kind enough to join us right now.

Gene, how do you feel about this, looking at all of this? Some goose bumps.

GENE KRANZ, FORMER NASA FLIGHT DIRECTOR: Neil, yes, I still have the sweaty palms I had every launch.

(LAUGHTER)

KRANZ: I want to thank you and FOX News for the opportunity, because I am been present in Mission Control for every manned launch in the entire American space program. And you're closing the loop for me today. So thank you very much.

CAVUTO: No, right back at you, my friend.

I mean, when you would be there -- you have been through so many historic triumphs and tragedies, but I was thinking particularly your role in that - - in that situation for Apollo 11, and particularly for Apollo 13.

I know Jim Lovell, the commander, had told me a number of times that you kept everybody calm. And I'm wondering how you keep people calm in an environment like this. I mean, people are nervous. As I said, Gene, this is the first time in about a decade we're doing this now.

How do you feel about all that?

KRANZ: Neil, I think it's a question of confidence in yourself, confidence in the team, incredible amount of training and trust that exists between the crew in the spacecraft and that on the ground.

We had marvelous leadership who gave us the responsibilities, turned us loose, and let us handle whatever problems occurred. To me, the question of the early programs was one of great leadership that gave very young people opportunities to participate in the American adventure.

CAVUTO: How do you feel about private enterprise playing such a key role here? Elon Musk, SpaceX, of course, critical to this. Richard Branson has his own space efforts going. We know Jeff Bezos does.

What do you think of that?

KRANZ: Neil, I think it's been a long time coming.

I think that then the -- as we moved out of the Mercury program, more and more responsibility was moved from the NASA program to build the hardware, test the hardware into the contractor establishment.

Now I think there's great opportunities out there. We have a very capable aerospace industry. And I think it is important that we maintain that capability, so, when we decide and move on to go further, we have a lot of good ideas coming in to the table on how to do the job, and then to build the capabilities to execute it.

I think Artemis 2024 is going to be a challenge. I hope to God we make it. I think it's one of leadership. It's one of a clear set of objectives and one of unity within the aerospace committee, the nation, and basically every person that really lives and works and dreams of the future.

CAVUTO: Gene, I want to thank you.

I mean, you never pat yourself on the back, but I think of the space program and where we are and what we have achieved, a lot of it wouldn't have happened without you, my friend.

So, I think you have a very grateful nation and, for all of us here, very grateful as well. I admired you growing up. I'm a few years younger than you, Gene. You just look young. But thank you very much, my friend.

Be well. Be safe, Gene Kranz.

KRANZ: Well, Neil, thank you and FOX News.

CAVUTO: Thank you.

All right, well, I earlier caught up with the NASA administrator on all this, the importance of it.

Jim Bridenstine was looking at it as a new pioneering effort between public and private enterprise, and he likes what he sees.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BRIDENSTINE, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: This is a new dawn in -- a new era in human spaceflight.

CAVUTO: And I'm sure it wasn't just coincidence that launchpad 39-A week was chosen for this today.

BRIDENSTINE: We actually had a competition a number of years ago for launch pad 39-A.

Obviously, this is the launch pad that took all of our astronauts to the moon. It's the same launch pad that most of the shuttle -- shuttles launched from. And now it has been leased. We had a competition to lease it out. And there were a number of competitors that wanted to have use of this launch pad, and SpaceX won the bid.

CAVUTO: You know, Jim, you have heard from a lot of space purists, including a couple of the astronauts I talked to, one going way back to the Apollo 7 flight, and who said that, while he understands the need for private enterprise to play a role, that NASA itself wasn't in this to make money. Private enterprises are.

He just worried -- I'm talking about Captain Cunningham of that flight -- that we don't lose sight of the fact that the mission matters more than the money for the mission.

What did you think of that?

BRIDENSTINE: Well, here's the -- we love Apollo. But the problem with Apollo is that it ended. The mission does matter more than the money.

CAVUTO: Yes.

BRIDENSTINE: But, without the money, there is no mission. That's why we're doing what we're doing.

If the government is creating the demand and the government is creating the supply, then we will always be limited in our activities in space. But if, instead, we can create a commercial marketplace for human activity, and we're using the International Space Station right now to prove that we can -- we can print human organs in 3-D in the microgravity of space that we cannot do here on Earth.

And we can do it using your own skin cells, your own adult stem cells, using your skin. We can create your own organs, Neil. It's going to be transformational for medicine here on Earth. But it's also how we compound pharmaceuticals. We can create immunizations. We can do this with this resource that is microgravity, in other words, almost zero gravity.

And we're also creating artificial retinas for the human eyeball. So the idea is, we are using the International Space Station -- when I say artificial retinas, I'm talking about the idea that a person who has macular degeneration does not have to lose their eyesight.

And so what I'm saying is, when we prove these capabilities, which we already are, there will be capital flowing into not just commercial launch, but commercial space stations. And that's ultimately the realization of a dream, where we can do more than ever before in space.

But it has to be focused on commercialization. NASA will always be there. We will be a customer. And when commercial is successful, which they already are, but, as they become more and more robust, we will be using American taxpayer dollars to go further, to do what only government can do at this point, but always with an eye for commercialization, including the moon and even onto Mars.

CAVUTO: So, for the astronauts, this will be a new experience for them.

They have both flown on shuttle missions twice each. If you include their spouses, who also flew on shuttle missions, they have got a lot of flying experience between them, but not this type of flight. I mean, they're used to working as fighter pilots and the rest with sticks and all of that.

This is a screen, much like a Tesla vehicle.

BRIDENSTINE: That's right.

CAVUTO: In fact, they're taking a Tesla vehicle out to the launch pad.

So it's a different era. I get that. But are -- it's stating the obvious that they're well-schooled on this new technology. How are they adapting ,and how were they adapting?

BRIDENSTINE: So, that's a wonderful point.

They're not -- they're not only well-schooled on the new technology. They helped develop it. So they have been involved in this program now for years, almost five years, and working side by side. We have had NASA engineers, NASA technicians, NASA astronauts working with SpaceX to develop this new era in human spaceflight.

And so, look, they're ready to go. And I have given them the green light. If they want me to, I will -- I will stop this flight, but they are they are ready to go. And they have -- they have said, we are go for launch. They're excited.

CAVUTO: All right, and I don't want to bring up the unthinkable, but you did touch on it there.

You have the power to stop this at any moment, even after launch and even right up to orbit, where they can jettison, God forbid, out of that capsule.

These are precautions and measures that were never taken with the shuttle. I'm sure that was by design. Can you update me on that?

BRIDENSTINE: Absolutely.

So, in theory, this is the safest human spacecraft that's ever been built. And I will say that again, the safest human spacecraft that's ever been built. Because we're doing this commercially, SpaceX launches the Falcon 9 rocket all the time. They're launching commercial payloads. They're launching scientific payloads for NOAA, for the Air Force, and for NASA. But now they're launching humans.

So, my point is, if you look at the space shuttles, they only flew when we were sending humans. And so every mission was a human spaceflight. But now we have got all of this history on a new rocket. So, it's really not that new anymore.

And on top of that, we have got a capsule that can eject. We actually have a launch abort capability that the space shuttles never had. So, as you said, all the way up until orbit, all along the trajectory, if we need to initiate a launch abort sequence, we can do so.

And, in fact, it's largely automated. But the astronauts, if they wanted to, they could initiate that sequence if they thought it was appropriate. But the point is, unlike the shuttles, we have built-in safety mechanisms here that didn't exist during the shuttle era.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAVUTO: All right, Jim Bridenstine, the NASA administrator here, just indicating a short time ago we are indeed go for launch. That would be in about 16 minutes from now.

I always think of my late friend Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on of the moon, the significance of this moment. He had hoped we would see it. He had concerns we might never.

Gene Cernan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: You were the last human being to touch that surface. How does that make you feel?

GENE CERNAN, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Humble.

I don't often -- I don't look up at the moment and say, man, what a great guy you are. You're the last guy that went to the moon.

I do it when you ask me.

We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: In just a few minutes, we will be talking to Harrison Schmitt, the other man who walked the surface of the moon with him on that memorable Apollo 17 flight, the last time we visited the lunar surface.

Tracy Cernan, the daughter of Gene Cernan, hopes that it won't be the last time. Imagine the stories that Tracy can tell. Unlike other dads, who had conventional jobs, not that there's anything wrong about it, Tracy's dad left mementos and her initials on the surface of the moon, even dedicated a famous rock to her.

She joins us right now.

Tracy, very good to see you. Thank you very much.

TRACY CERNAN, DAUGHTER OF GENE CERNAN: Thank you, Neil, for having me. Great to see you. CAVUTO: Your dad would love this day, wouldn't he?

T. CERNAN: Oh, my gosh, I think he would be extremely excited and extremely proud.

He fought for this for a long time. And he sure wanted to see it in his lifetime. And I think he would -- he'd be ecstatic to watch it right now.

CAVUTO: Tracy, tell me the story again about why he did what he did for you.

You were just a little girl at the time. What did you think?

T. CERNAN: About -- sorry. I missed that. About what he did for the initials?

CAVUTO: His memory up there, yes. Yes.

T. CERNAN: His memory up there.

Well, dad -- for going up there and doing everything and showing what he did and what he did for me, when he put my initials in the lunar dust, was very special for me, and special for him.

CAVUTO: All right.

T. CERNAN: He did it kind of just as a thought. So it was great.

CAVUTO: All right, Tracy, I don't mean to interrupt you here.

T. CERNAN: No.

CAVUTO: We're learning right now, because of weather and lightning in the area, they have scrubbed today's mission. They have scrubbed today's launch.

Again, your father was very familiar with this in Gemini and Apollo missions himself.

But, again, the mission was scrubbed. That's got to be always frustrating when you have it, but out of abundance of safety and caution, you do that sort of thing.

I'm wondering here. This just delays the trip. It doesn't cancel the trip. But what do you think your father would think of the role of a private company handling this or ostensibly leading the charge on this? What do you think he would say?

T. CERNAN: Oh, I think -- I think he would -- he was always for it. I think he would say it was great.

I think commercialization is the way to get more people up there, more excitement. Americans going back up to the moon or up into space from American soil is what he was very passionate about, and thought it should happen.

And so I think the fact that going commercial is the way -- it's the way of the future, and it's a way to make things happen.

CAVUTO: All right, Tracy, I want to thank you very, very much. Always good having you, especially today.

For those of you just watching here, seconds ago, NASA has scrubbed the SpaceX launch. There was inclement weather in the area, lightning and what have you.

This just didn't concern what's happening in the Cocoa Beach or Cape Canaveral area. It really has to include an area going more than 1,100 miles up the East Coast because of the possibility of an emergency landing on the part of the crew. And so the conditions have to be favorable all the way up to accommodate, that, again, from NASA Administrator Bridenstine.

"No launch for today. The safety for our crew was paramount."

What do we have now, guys? Who's available for us?

All right, Rex Walheim joins us right now, a colleague of the astronaut who is on board this flight, probably feeling a little bit frustrated. But he was with Commander Hurley on that last shuttle flight.

When you look at this, Rex, I mean, you're used to this sort of thing. It happens,a mission scrubbed in the last seconds. But what goes through the crew's thoughts when they hear that?

REX WALHEIM, NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, it's a range of emotions during a launch day, because you never know what day you're really going to launch.

You have a scheduled launch day. But you don't know what it's going to be like. So you prepare, and you prepare like you prepare for the Super Bowl, but you don't know what day the Super Bowl is on exactly.

But just before you're about to run the field, Bob and Doug are told back to crew quarters. But this is part of spaceflight. It's what keeps you on your toes and it keeps it interesting. So they're used to this kind of thing and they knew this was a possibility. So they will be able to head back to crew quarters, prepare a little bit more, get a little more sleep, and be ready to go for the next launch attempt.

CAVUTO: All right, the next launch, from what we hear, Rex, is going to be 3:22 p.m. on Saturday.

They have to time this to the millisecond, I guess, with a hookup eventually with the International Space Station, about 214 miles up there. And it's anyone's guess how long eventually, when they do launch, they will be up there.

The thinking was, it could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. What does that depend on?

WALHEIM: It depends on how the vehicle operates.

So, as you know, this is a test flight. So they're going to test all the systems out. And one of the systems they definitely need to test out is the solar arrays on the Dragon capsule. So they want to make sure that it lasts as long and has the robust capabilities that they think (AUDIO GAP) (AUDIO GAP).

They love having those guys up there, because, when Bob and Doug are up there, they have increased the size of the U.S. crew to three people. And that allows us to get a lot more science done, and it also gives us a chance to have to -- to get -- to do some space walks, because, right now, Chris is up there alone, Chris Cassidy.

And so you throw Bob Behnken in the mix, and you have a really good EVA team. And they want to use those guys and do some space walks.

CAVUTO: Now, obviously, it doesn't matter whether it's a privately funded or publicly funded space capsule. We're all at the mercy of Mother Nature.

This particular rocket has that escapability that, if things get untoward, the astronauts can jettison themselves darn near orbit. What do you think of that technology?

WALHEIM: It's great. It just shows you how smart the Apollo guys were and the teams before that, that had escape systems on their rockets.

And so we learned that lesson, and this is a great step forward for both the SpaceX vehicle and the Boeing vehicle and also the Orion vehicle, which will end up going to the moon, because they have these ability to pull away from the rocket if the rocket is having problems.

And that really significantly increases your safety factor. So, that's a step forward we like with this commercial crew vehicle.

CAVUTO: Rex, I'm just going to briefly interrupt you there for just a second here.

For those of you just tuning in now, the liftoff of SpaceX and this capsule delayed now until Saturday because of weather. There was lightning, inclement weather, not only in the immediate area, but up along the East Coast of the United States, where -- unfavorable conditions that had looked unlikely.

In fact, Bridenstine, the NASA administrator, had indicated that things were a go as recently as about four minutes ago. No longer a go now, but, out of an abundance of caution and safety, they will suit up, retry again on Saturday.

Rex, did you have any idea, looking back at that 2011 mission with Doug Hurley, the 53-year-old astronaut on board with Bob Behnken, that he would return, but in a different role almost a decade later?

WALHEIM: No, that was the -- that was a great surprise. I'm really happy for Doug. He's going to have a great time.

When we flew STS-135, we brought up an American flag that we put on the space station. It was to be brought home by the first crew after us that launches from the United States. Little did we know that Doug would be bringing that flag home, it looks like.

So, I was pretty excited that Doug gets to do this. And Doug being a test pilot, he just loves a chance to fly the first flight of a vehicle. So he's going to get to really have fun on this flight.

CAVUTO: Finally, I want to get your very quick thoughts on private companies doing this.

There are others competing. But it's a much more crowded space these days, if you think about it, Rex, from China, and obviously the Russians. We have seen a host of other countries expanding and doing this.

And I'm just wondering. I was reading some of the figures on China's space efforts. I don't know if this is true, but that they eclipse all others combined.

What do you think about the role China plays, obviously, our own tense relations now with China? Some critics have said that its missions aren't entirely in peace. What do you make of that?

WALHEIM: Well, I think I'm not sure what the future lies for them, but it spurs us all on.

The competition is good. And we want to be the best. So, the more competition we have, the more chances we can be the best. And that's what SpaceX and Boeing are doing, and our partners with Orion, with Lockheed Martin.

We're building new vehicles, new rockets, new spaceships. It's incredible, the period of time we're in. Right now, we're developing three different spaceships, Boeing, SpaceX, and Orion. It's absolutely amazing. And they're all doing great. And we're kind of entering a new golden age of spaceflight.

So it really is pretty exciting.

CAVUTO: It very much is. You made it that way.

Rex Walheim, thank you, NASA astronaut, much, much more. He has a very instrumental role in continuing the space enthusiasm that now, even with the weather, continues today.

As I just told you, the mission scrubbed today because of inclement weather. I guess lightning was a big factor in the area.

Phil Keating on all of that -- Phil.

KEATING: Hi, Neil.

The launch scrubbed 16 minutes and 54 seconds before the actual ignition order would have been given and the engines ignite and the rocket and capsule blast off into space with thunderous percussion.

So, very disappointing day for SpaceX in particular and Elon Musk, who has really with his team spent the past decade trying to get to this point, not just launching payloads of cargo and satellites, but launching humans back into space, and NASA, who has been all in on that.

U.S. taxpayers have contributed $2.5 billion for this public partner -- public-private partnership. But the good news here is, the day is done, the weather is said to be better on Saturday, and that's when this next opportunity to launch the Falcon 9 rocket, which is still sitting on launch pad 39-A, as well as the Crew Dragon at the top of it, that would be happening some time around 4:00 in the afternoon, Eastern time, on Saturday afternoon.

So, that's when we will do the entire day that we just lived through today, highly dramatic, especially the weather. We had a tornado warning at 2:00 in the afternoon for about 15 minutes. So that was pretty intense.

There were several bands of heavy, heavy rain, a lot of lightning, a lot of thunder at different time periods throughout the day. There was great hope when blue skies suddenly showed up to the west roughly 40 minutes before launch time, but Mother Nature just did not cooperate in the end.

So, this debut maiden historic launch of the SpaceX Falcon with the Crew Dragon and, most importantly, two NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, experienced, veteran space walkers, they will have to wait three more days before being able to take this brand-new opportunity with a SpaceX rocket and NASA astronauts all the way to the space station.

When they get there, incidentally, they will dock about 19 minutes after -- or 19 hours after liftoff. And then they're going to stay and live there and help do the research for about one month, possibly four months, and then they will eventually return in a splashdown back in the Atlantic Ocean off the coastline of Florida.

So, big crowds had gathered on the beach in Cocoa Beach and over across the water in Titusville. Everybody's so excited. There was really a feeling that, oh, my gosh, this is just like the return to the old days of the space shuttle launches, when there'd be tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people lined up all over the place in the area around Cape Canaveral.

But it was not to happen today -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Not yet.

I'm told also, Phil, that six out of 10 missions to space since it all started, whether unmanned or manned, have been delayed either hours or days or weeks because of weather.

KEATING: Yes.

CAVUTO: So, it happens. It's more common than it is uncommon.

KEATING: Absolutely.

CAVUTO: Thank you, my friend, Phil Keating, on all that.

KEATING: Yes. No.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: By the way, we are -- go ahead.

KEATING: I spent many, many days on delayed launches of the shuttle hanging out in Cocoa Beach waiting for the relaunch.

CAVUTO: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

KEATING: So here we are doing it again.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: That's a good place to wait out, my friend, Phil Keating.

KEATING: True, that.

CAVUTO: By the way, we did receive word here that it looks like the crew on the International Space Station has been alerted that their colleagues who were supposed to join them, as Phil was pointing out, about 19 hours roughly from now, if this had all gone as planted -- it did not -- but they have been alerted.

That includes U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy and Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner. One or two of those are going to be replaced. They will return in a Russian vessel.

And then it remains to be seen how long these two Americans would stay on the International Space Station. But they have been given a heads-up on that welcoming party tomorrow, push it off a little bit.

We will have more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: It's happened in six out of 10 launches, manned or unmanned, from Cape Canaveral, delayed, put off because of weather in this case, lightning in the area.

But they're going to take another shot at it on Saturday.

Stay with us. Back in 60.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: Well, it happens, and I was surprised to learn more often than you think.

In fact, about 60 percent of the time, a mission, manned or unmanned, since this all started back in the late '50s, if you include the early Vanguard rockets and more, realistically, into the '60s with the manned Mercury program and Gemini and Apollo, Skylab, and the space shuttle and all, that weather plays a big role in pushing back a planned launch either minutes or hours or days or weeks.

Tom Jones, a NASA astronaut, flew on no fewer than four shuttle missions, joins us right now.

Tom, I was surprised the percentage was that high.

TOM JONES, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Well I have lived it, Neil.

CAVUTO: I bet.

JONES: It's a case where launches to the space station require split-second precision.

You have to be right underneath the orbit of the space station with the fuel of the rocket as the critical factor. And so you can't steer left or right to chase the space station to one side of its plane or the other. So you have got to launch on time, or else you have got to recycle for another day.

You have to wait for the space station's orbit to come back over. So three of my missions were science missions, and we could afford a two-hour launch window, let's say. But for the space station mission that I flew and today's Crew Dragon attempt, you have to launch on the split second to make your launch on time and to get off the ground that day.

CAVUTO: Yes, I didn't even think of that. I mean, hooking up with the space station is what this is all about. And that has to be mathematically precise, much like in the days of Apollo, I guess, Tom, that you had that lunar window for only so long.

So that isn't unusual. But what happens then with the crew on that space station? Obviously, they're told, this isn't going to happen today, the hookup with these other guys doesn't happen 19 hours from now, more like 19 hours from, I guess, Saturday at 3:22 p.m., assuming that lifts off.

How do they calibrate for that?

JONES: Well, the crew up there is prepared to do all of the monitoring of the final approach of the Crew Dragon.

And so that's what their day, their workday, is designed around. So they will go back to a sleep schedule that gets them ready and fresh in the morning to monitor that final approach on Sunday in this case.

And they will be making preps to unload the cargo after the crew arrives. And, of course, there's going to be a big welcome dinner on board. There's only three astronauts on the space station right now. And it's a little lonely in a big empty space station like that, which normally holds six people.

And so I think they're going to really welcome this visit from Bob and Doug.

CAVUTO: Tom, your thoughts on private enterprise playing such a big role here.

We talk about Elon Musk and his vast fortune really from Tesla and obviously building SpaceX from scratch, that this is the wave of the future. And if he isn't a billionaire that ultimately does it and completes it, there are several billionaires, including Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, who can and will.

Is that the way it is these days

JONES: Commercial is going to be a much, much larger chunk of the United States' space program as a national effort.

So NASA is going to be doing the far frontier exploration-type missions, return to the moon, and heading out eventually to the nearby asteroids and eventually to Mars.

But the space close to Earth, laboratories in Earth orbit, pharmaceutical factories, tourist hotels, that's all going to be taken over by the private sector, and NASA will capitalize on that capability, the lowering of launch costs, the more frequent access, the more reliability because of competition.

NASA is going to capitalize on that and farm out services. This is a rental spacecraft, for all practical purposes. Same with Boeing's Starliner. We're going to be renting those spaceships to get to the space station.

But it's a much larger market than just the NASA business. And these two companies are going to take off with tourism and providing access to industrial facilities and research labs in space.

CAVUTO: All right, Tom Jones, thank you very much, my friend. We will meet another day to explore this.

In the meantime, we are looking at the significance of this day, just put off, not canceled, just put off a little bit, and looking at the weather conditions that prompted this, again, not unprecedented.

Six out of 10 times, this is exactly what happens. That number surprised me.

Kristin Fisher will be joining us after this.

You know her as a great correspondent, superb anchor, but both her parents, both her parents are astronauts. She didn't follow that path. But it's interesting that -- the woman who was called as a child our nation's first astro-tot on what she makes of this right now -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, CEO, SPACEX: We want to inspire kids to say that, one day, they want to wear that uniform. They want to -- they want to wear that spacesuit and get them fired up about, yes, I want to be an astronaut, I want to be - - I want to work on aerospace engineering, I want to advance spaceflight.

And I think what this -- what today is about is reigniting the dream of space.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, the SpaceX founder, Elon Musk, talking about how inspirational all this is to kids.

Kids understand weather. Kids might understand things getting scrubbed because of weather. And that's exactly what happened today.

But it's delayed. It's not denied. They're going to try another day for this. Saturday 3:22 p.m. Eastern time is the next shot at this.

In the meantime, I want to go to Kristin Fisher. Now, you might just say, all right, I love Kristin. She is a great correspondent. She is a wonderful anchor and all of that.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: But she's also the child of astronauts, which explains why she's so smart.

But she did not want to take that path. She was even called in her day America's first astro-tot. I always loved that.

Kristin, I mean, obviously you could hear from your parents and all as you grew older. I think you were very young, obviously, to remember their particular flights. But this is more routine than you think, huh?

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It really is more routine than you think.

And my dad actually scrubbed twice before he finally launched into space on the space shuttle. And just think about how disappointing it must be for these astronauts. He always talked about it, because just think, you wake up in crew quarters, you're all excited, you have your last breakfast, so to speak.

You leave crew quarters. You wave goodbye to your family. You do this dramatic drive to the launch pad, and then you wait for hours and hours and hours. And then you scrub, and you have to do it all over again.

So, as disappointed as I am, as you are, everybody watching and, of course, NASA, SpaceX and President Trump and the vice president, who made the trip down from Washington, D.C., to be there at this launch today, I can almost guarantee you that no one is more disappointed than Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken.

And they will try again on Saturday.

CAVUTO: Yes.

FISHER: But, certainly, it was the right call. There is no way that NASA or SpaceX was going to allow this first launch of American astronauts from U.S. soil to be dangerous in any way.

In fact, the COO of SpaceX, Neil, she went so far in her effort to really try to humanize the very technical steps in terms of building this spacecraft and getting ready to get to this point today, she put the pictures of the two NASA astronauts on a lot of SpaceX work orders to remind employees of just what was at stake.

So disappointing, but no doubt the right call.

CAVUTO: I'm glad they made the call they did, and didn't succumb to pressure.

I mean, it must be a lot of pressure, Kristin, to think of that, that, look, Kristin, we had the president of the United States, the vice president. They have arrived there. There's pressure, oh, gosh, we have got the big cheese and the vice president. We got to launch this thing. The whole world is watching.

And they didn't succumb to that.

FISHER: There's a word for it. They call it launch fever.

And, of course, there was quite a bit of discussion about, would there be further pressure placed on NASA and SpaceX to launch if you have President Trump and the vice president making the trek all the way down there, in the middle of a pandemic, no less?

But the fact that NASA and SpaceX made this decision just shows you that they have the right protocols in place. It happens. As you said, it happens about six out of 10 launches. So, this is nothing new. Happens all the time. It'll happen again, but, hopefully, Saturday is a go.

CAVUTO: Never wanted to be an astronaut, huh?

(LAUGHTER)

FISHER: You know, I think there's something to be said when both of your parents do something and they're really good at it.

I definitely felt a little bit of a desire to make my own path in the world. But on days like today, I am seriously second-guessing my career choice, although being here with you and getting to be part of FOX's coverage of this historic launch is certainly right up there.

CAVUTO: I think you made the right choice, Kristin. And we're delighted you did. I think America thanks you as well.

FISHER: Aww, thanks.

CAVUTO: Kristin Fisher, thank you very, very much. My best to your wonderful family.

In the meantime here, for those just tuning in, mission scrubbed, delayed, but not denied. This is more common, as Kristin just pointed out, than you think.

Neil Armstrong went through a couple of these. Remember him? He's gone, unfortunately, but his son Mark was kind enough to join us. And he will right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: Do you get annoyed -- I know you're all being congratulated at the White House today -- with the hero label?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess we don't -- we don't think of it that way. We just think as people who were given extraordinary opportunities in extraordinary times, and we're very grateful to have had that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, the Apollo 11 astronauts,the last time they were all together, talking to me about this back in 2004. That was then.

This is now, another mission that was scrubbed, put off. All of those gentlemen were aware of that.

We're going to be talking to Neil Armstrong's son about the significance of that, but weather again playing a very key role here today.

Rick Reichmuth, we have heard this once or twice before, right?

RICK REICHMUTH, FOX NEWS CHIEF METEOROLOGIST: Yes, for sure.

One thing that happens in Florida -- and you can see it with these storms today -- you get the big thunderstorms, those cumulus clouds, those cumulonimbus that go up really high in the air.

A lot of times, if you have ever seen those big storms, you see at the top they get blown off, and they create, we call it an anvil cloud, where you have the storm and then it just waves off to the side. They can't fly up through that either, because there's a lot of ice crystals in there.

So, let me tell -- show you the maps right now. We had a lot of storms right across that area, if you guys throw up weather eight, and you also can't have any kind of lightning right in the storm.

Now, the worst of these storms had just moved off towards the east. But a few lightning bolts started popping right in the area, just getting way too close to launch time. In fact, this is a look at the last hour of the radar, and you can see, just to the southeast of Cape Canaveral, a couple little live lightning flashes going on there, and then the storms back to the west of it as well that are going to build in.

Everybody now, Neil, is going to wonder what's going to happen on Saturday. Well, I tell you, we're getting into rainy season there. There's a lot of humidity. It is warm. And so you do see scattered showers, less of a chance of showers on Saturday than we saw today.

But there will be some storms in the area, it looks like. So, we're going to have to watch very closely on Saturday and hope we can just -- they can dodge one of those storms as well on Saturday. We will continue to track it right here for you as well -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, safety first.

The big appeal of this mission here is the fact that we don't have to pay the Russians anymore to hitch rides into space. And that's been costly. It's been about $86 million per astronaut per seat each and every time we do it. So it's added up.

This cuts that cost essentially in half, when we get into sort of the groove of this, and that could be a big savings.

Harrison Schmitt joins us right now on how significant that could be. Harrison is a geologist by training. He was on that Apollo 17 mission with Gene Cernan, the last man to walk the moon.

Harrison Schmitt is the last man alive that walked the moon. And he was kind enough to join us right now.

Harrison, it's always an honor to have you.

You're familiar with these things. They happen. They're going to try again on Saturday. What do you think?

HARRISON SCHMITT, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, as a -- I'm disappointed, I think, like a lot of folks.

But as a longtime director of the first be successful launch company, commercial launch company, Orbital Sciences, I want these things to move forward.

SpaceX has done a remarkable job. NASA is wise to bring them into the fold. And we will just see. I'm sure it'll -- Saturday will be another day.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: You know, Harrison, I was thinking, going back to the times of John F. Kennedy, when we were getting into space, that we forget that cost overruns were common. And we think of the private enterprise days. Maybe they will be less so.

But the fact of the matter is that costs were always prohibitive with space travel. And I remember this from John F. Kennedy, not that I was personally there at the time, but how he even joked about it, JFK on how much we spend for space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN F. KENNEDY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Next month, when the United States of America fires the largest booster in the history of the world into space for the first time, giving us the lead, fires the largest payroll -- payload into space, giving us the lead -- it will be the largest payroll, too.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

KENNEDY: And who should know that better than Houston?

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: It was a funny and poignant moment. It was President Kennedy speaking in Houston the day before he was assassinated, where he was saying to a Houston audience that loved our spending on space that it was pricey then. Cost overruns were ramping then.

And now, Harrison, here we have, working with private enterprise, to at least delay that. So what do you think of that portion?

SCHMITT: Well, I have to maybe modify that a little bit. Apollo did not have cost overruns.

Thanks to Jim Webb, we had a budget with an almost 100 percent management reserve. And when we encountered problems, we could work our way through them without slipping schedule.

Certainly, that did not hold with the space shuttle program. But Apollo stayed within the budget that Jim Webb and the Congress and the administration at the time put before us. So, it was really a remarkable accomplishment.

And one that was within budget.

CAVUTO: You know, Harrison, still, there were, I think, 21 Apollos planned. They cut it after 17. It was like the world was losing its fervor for the space program.

You were there. You know far better than I. And I'm wondering. What galvanized the early days of the space program with John F. Kennedy and landing a man on the moon before the decade was out. Once it was realized, and we were fighting the then Soviets for that, that we lost our sort of gusto.

Do we get that, will we get that gusto back?

SCHMITT: Oh, I think the gusto in the American people has always been there. The problem has been the historical perspective, I think, of our leadership.

And you have to recognize that, in the 1960s and early -- and '70s, there were a lot of other distractions within the United States. And that, I think, contributed to the ultimate cancellation of the last three of the Apollo series to the moon.

CAVUTO: So, these other private initiatives that you see, Harrison Schmitt -- and Jeff Bezos comes to mind. We might see Richard Branson, obviously, you know, what we have been seeing out of Elon Musk -- can this partnership work, no matter the company, no matter the private initiative, that NASA working with these types is the future?

SCHMITT: Well, I think it definitely is the future.

And the partnership has been working. Certainly, the cargo launches that Orbital Sciences and SpaceX have been providing to the International Space Station -- of course, Orbital Sciences is now a part of Northrop Grumman.

But those cargo launches have been very successful. And so I think NASA has been able to work out a relationship with the private sector that is going to mature with time and be a major contributor to our overall space program.

CAVUTO: You were a geologist -- are geologist. And so you Gene Cernan are on the moon, the last men to walk on the moon. We can all remember you singing on the moon. That was not a highlight for you, I might point out.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: But, having said that, the fact of the matter is, it all worked out.

And I'm wondering if you think now space is ready for it all to work out?

SCHMITT: Well, I think it is. And I think it has been for a long time.

It's just we now have leadership that wants to move forward. I think we finally recognize that international competition has always been there and it is now there in spades. And we're just going to have to meet that competition and succeed.

CAVUTO: All right, Harrison Schmitt, I want to thank you and for your service to this country and some memorable moments in American history.

I want to bring on Mark Armstrong right now. That last name rings a bell. He's the son of Neil Armstrong, kind enough to join us on the phone.

Mark, your father often talked about our returning to space. He didn't seem to much care whether it was a private initiative leading the way or NASA on its own. What do you think of that?

MARK ARMSTRONG, SON OF NEIL ARMSTRONG: Well, I think my dad's point of view when he and Gene Cernan testified in front of Congress is that we'd -- we had worked hard as a nation to create a leadership position in the space program.

And that was something that he thought that was hard-won and that we shouldn't give it up. Sadly, we did. And we canceled that Constellation program. But that has -- that has -- from those ashes, so many new initiatives have sprung.

And I'm very excited about this new launch and about -- and about the future of space exploration here in the United States.

CAVUTO: Real quickly, Mark, returning to the moon eventually, what do you think of that? How do think your dad would feel about it?

ARMSTRONG: Oh, he said very clearly that he thought that was an important step for us.

We -- the moon has a lot to offer, and we continue to learn about the resources on the moon that can help us with exploration beyond the moon. And being able to take the water in the polar regions that -- and mine that process that for fuel and other things is a very exciting area.

And I'm jealous of those young engineers coming up today, because I think they have great prospects going forward.

CAVUTO: I think you're right.

Mark, I apologize for some of the technical issues we had prior. It was very kind of you to call in.

Mark Armstrong, the son of Neil Armstrong.

So, mission scrubbed. Saturday is the next shot.

Here's "THE FIVE."

Content and Programming Copyright 2020 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2020 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

Fox News First