Artemis II crew crosses boundary into space

[0:00] milestone at the 7 minute 30 second mark. And we are about to hear now in four miles cut off or [0:07] Miko miles downrange traveling more than 15,000 miles per hour. Integrity AOA open. The window is [0:23] now open for an abort once around option that would target splashdown in the Pacific Ocean [0:28] still following nominal ascent at this time. Dr. Oluse, give us an understanding of once they [0:42] arrive at the moon in several more days. As we're hearing now, they're about to have the engine cut [0:49] off in 10 seconds. They may not even have to really use their engines because a lot of this [0:55] slingshot maneuver, as we're describing, a lot of it, the pull of the gravity from the moon will [1:01] bring them back. Yes. When you are a physics student, sometimes you take a class called [1:05] orbital mechanics. And what you learn is that motion in space is not like motion here on the [1:11] surface of the earth. [1:12] You actually are doing orbits no matter where you're going. [1:19] You see the same on board, Stan. [1:25] Listening in for the clues to see where we are right now. [1:30] We have a nominal main engine cutoff heading in the right trajectory on the way to swing [1:35] around the moon. Core stage has separated, done its job. The space launch system upper stage, [1:40] the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, or ICPS, still attached to the Orion spacecraft. [1:46] Susan, it sounds like this has been a textbook launch. Everything has gone [1:50] exactly as planned. [1:51] That's exactly right, Lindsay. It was textbook. [1:59] Dr. Anderson, I want to bring you back in here. I understand that you just returned from a Mars [2:05] desert research station in Utah trying to understand how to survive in Mars because [2:12] that could be the ultimate step here that this mission is heading us toward. What did that [2:20] entail? [2:20] Yeah. So we have a course at the University of California. We have a course at the University of [2:24] Colorado where we take engineering students and we teach them kind of the fundamentals of medicine [2:30] and how that might apply in a spaceflight environment. We believe that the solutions to a [2:37] lot of the challenges around human health in spaceflight are going to require medical operations, [2:43] they're going to require clinicians, and they're going to require engineers. So our goal is to get [2:47] folks together, put them through complex simulations, and start working the problem and [2:51] figuring out how we can keep people healthy and happy. [2:54] And I think this is a very, very important part of the mission. We want to make sure that this [2:59] mission is going to be successful and productive on the moon or Mars. [3:05] What are some possible medical advances in particular that could ultimately result from a mission like this? [3:12] Yeah, certainly. I mean, I think we want to be sure that this vehicle performs the way we expect. [3:18] You know, one thing that people keep talking about is radiation. The radiation environment outside of the Earth's atmosphere and outside of the Earth's orbit is much higher. And so we want to better understand how high energy particles can be produced. [3:25] Dr. Anderson, thank you very much. [3:26] Dr. Anderson, thank you very much. [3:26] Thank you very much. [3:26] particles might affect human beings and that can translate back to therapeutics and approaches to [3:31] human health back here on Earth. And of course, Dr. Oluseyi, you were mentioning earlier that [3:37] there is this geopolitical race. Give us a sense of why we are trying to get back to the moon [3:44] before China, for example. Yeah, you have China, you have the European Space Agency, [3:48] you have a lot of private companies that are setting their sights on the moon. [3:51] But yet and still, NASA is still the leader. And this is a demonstration of NASA's technical [3:58] leadership. But one thing I also want to mention is we went to a visualization and conspiracy [4:02] theorists have hit on the fact that we get video close to ground, but then we go to a visualization [4:07] in space. And that's because there isn't a second camera up there to look at the spacecraft. So it [4:14] is not a conspiracy. It is the best you can do. That is confirmed. We also have the visors are [4:22] confirmed. [4:23] Susan, what are you watching for as a former NASA astronaut as you are watching these pictures? [4:29] They're launching entry suits. [4:30] You know, I'm looking towards the next steps. So the next big one is the solar array deploying. [4:37] And if they don't deploy, they don't go anywhere. So they come back to Earth. And, you know, [4:43] so every step of the way, there's a burn coming up soon to circularize their low Earth orbit [4:49] before they go into higher Earth orbit. [4:53] So what else is happening in space? [4:55] And we'll talk about the same thing this morning. [4:58] We'll have more of that in just a minute. [4:59] I want to bring in historian Jim Bell, Professor at Arizona State University, the [5:05] School of Earth and Space Exploration. Thanks so much for joining us on this momentous occasion, [5:11] professor. You've talked before about this being a dress rehearsal at full scale. What do you mean by [5:17] that? [5:18] Well, nobody has gone beyond lower Earth orbit. For more than 50 years. So this is, this crew, this amazing heroic crew, and my family, my [5:21] this amazing heroic crew. I still got goosebumps. They are pathfinders, right? They're pathfinders [5:28] for the astronauts that are going to go back to the surface of the moon. Pathfinders for the [5:33] astronauts who are going to go on to Mars eventually. So it really is historic. Of course, [5:40] we heard from Susan earlier saying at one point we're looking forward to the day when this is [5:45] just about humans. But of course, this crew does represent a much more diverse humanity than Apollo [5:52] did. You have the first woman, first person of color, first non-American to travel the lunar [5:58] distance. What does that mean to you? Well, look, I mean, these are incredible, heroic [6:05] professionals, right? They're scientists, they're engineers, they're heavily trained [6:11] individuals. They're representatives of the entire planet heading out [6:16] to Mars. [6:16] To beyond our planet, out to our nearest celestial neighbor. So I'm incredibly proud. All of us are [6:23] incredibly proud of the work that they're doing. And the crew of the thousands of engineers and [6:28] scientists and managers, administrators supporting them, it's really amazing. [6:33] And I want to bring in Cody Page, an engineer, professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia. [6:39] Your reaction, Cody, as you watch this? [6:44] I'm so inspired. [6:46] Tearing up. I feel like I'm witnessing history. This is such an exciting moment for all of us. [6:54] I'm, as a woman in engineering and I'm a Canadian, I feel especially attached to the crew that's [7:01] going. And just seeing this is incredible. Really being a part of history right now.