Artemis II astronauts get hoisted up by Navy helicopters after exiting Orion capsule

[0:00] You know, and it's interesting, I've got this question a lot over the last few weeks [0:05] about, you know, we did this before, 53 years ago, and, you know, that, I think, I mean, [0:10] it is a reasonable thing to contemplate, like, you know, what's gone on since then. [0:14] And what I'd tell you is, you know, when we did Apollo, which, again, the more we learn [0:20] about what they did, the more magical it seems what they were able to accomplish given the [0:24] technology and the learnings that they had. [0:26] But when we did Apollo, the architects of Apollo, you know, Gilbert, Seaman, Von Braun, [0:31] Mueller, they, what they really, really wanted to do, you know, as they were contemplating [0:37] what it meant to expand our range of action to the lunar surface, what they wanted to [0:40] do was learn how to live and work in space for a long time. [0:44] They wanted to do that first before they were confident they could expand their range of [0:47] action to the moon. [0:48] Now, of course, the politics at the time and the mission at the time was different, and [0:52] so they had to go straight to the moon and bring people home, and then after that the [0:56] program kind of lost its momentum. [0:59] But you know, after that, NASA kept moving along those paths, right? [1:02] So we recognized during Apollo that reusability was going to be important. [1:06] We spent a lot of money on those machines, and, you know, we spent a lot of money on these [1:09] machines here, even though, but we recognized that reusability was important, which is why we [1:14] built a winged space plane called the Space Shuttle. [1:16] And then we used that reusable machine to build a space station. [1:20] And then we learned for 25 years how to live and work in space and have been able to develop [1:24] technologies that can enable exploration. [1:26] So really, what I think is now, 53 years later, we're at the point where the architects of [1:31] Apollo would have been pleased that we're now ready to actually go back to the moon and go [1:36] back to stay because we've learned all the things we needed to learn. [1:39] There's a lot of people pleased here tonight, and we really thank you for joining us. [1:44] Ahmed Shathria, NASA's associate administrator, as we begin to hoist the crew onto the helicopters [1:50] to head back to the recovery ship. [1:52] Thank you very much. [1:53] Thank you, Rob. [1:54] And congratulations, Ahmed. [2:20] This is Mission Control Houston, with the crew members now beginning to be hoisted aboard [2:24] the Navy helicopters. [2:25] Let's go to Megan Cruz aboard the USS John P. Mertha, who will take it from here. [2:30] Hey, Rob. [2:39] Yeah. [2:40] Back on the bow of the ship here, we are seeing the helicopters circling Orion, the first one [2:47] there, having just completed picking up the first astronaut. [2:53] Hilo 2 now hovering just 40 feet above the front porch, lowering a recovery specialist out [3:04] of the helicopter. [3:07] That person will touch down in the front porch just there. [3:15] The crew members already outfitted with a harness that will allow them to quickly attach [3:21] to the hoisting device. [3:23] The power of those blades throwing water out at the center there. [3:36] The front porch with now three astronauts and the recovery specialists. [3:43] Again, crews already outfitted with a harness vest. [3:55] And here we go. [3:57] Second astronaut now off the front porch, getting hoisted into the second helicopter. [4:10] Helicopter will now hover just a distance away to give room for the first helicopter to [4:17] come back and pick up the third astronaut. [4:26] As we wait for that helicopter to come back, make its way back around, just want to mention [4:32] that the president of the United States called our NASA administrator today while he was on [4:37] the ship, just minutes after we interviewed him live on our coverage, and congratulated him [4:44] and NASA on this history-making moment tonight. [4:54] Helicopter one again hovering 40 feet over the front porch. [5:01] We will soon see another recovery specialist getting lowered onto the front porch. [5:06] Wow, imagine sitting on that front porch, the wind, the water. [5:14] But again, the recovery team determined that a helicopter flight back to the ship here would [5:24] be safer, faster, and more comfortable for our crew who just completed a 10-day mission [5:29] around the moon. [5:33] Third astronaut in the air, getting hoisted quickly back into the first helicopter now. [5:40] That first helicopter now on its way back to the ship here, we will soon see it land in [5:54] just a few minutes. [5:56] Again, all this action happening just 3,000 yards away from us, so a very quick flight back [6:00] to the flight deck. [6:06] Now the only person left on the front porch, Commander Reed Wiseman. [6:14] Second helicopter now making its way back over to the front porch. [6:22] Here it comes, making its final approach here, last astronaut. [7:11] Commander Reed Wiseman now off the front porch and almost into the second helicopter. [7:20] Both now on their way back to the ship where we are, the USS John P. Murtha, just west of [7:27] San Diego and the Pacific Ocean.