Artemis II’s history-making lunar flyby preps NASA for future landing

[0:00] And for more now, I want to bring in astrophysicist, my buddy, Hakeem, who watched with us as we had this special report in retired NASA astronaut and aerospace engineer, Susan Kilbrane. [0:10] Thank you both so much for coming back on the show tonight. Hakeem, we witnessed history today. Just your reaction. [0:18] You know, I tell you, the physicist in me wants to point out what no one's talking about that's so amazing about this. [0:25] You know, they're coming back under the influence of gravity. And you know what we call motion like that here on Earth? Falling. [0:32] So we always talk about how courageous astronauts are. Well, if you fell off a cliff or you fell off a skyscraper, you'd be screaming all the way down. [0:41] Imagine falling from a quarter million miles up right into the ocean. That's what they're doing. [0:47] They're going to hit the Earth's atmosphere at 25,000 miles per hour. So the date is historic. Records are broken. [0:55] These people's lives are changed forever. And we are all inspired by their courage. And we are inspired that they have set this path. [1:04] They're the pioneers. And they are just the beginning of what's going to happen more and more. [1:08] It really is so fascinating to watch and be a spectator. But Susan, you've been in a similar place than they are as far as space. [1:18] Not at all this far. But what do you imagine is going through the heads of the astronauts on board right now? [1:25] Well, I guess. [1:26] Lindsay, I've been slightly closer than you have. But that's about it. [1:30] I find myself a little bit envious. I'm sure most astronauts that haven't had this opportunity, which is all of us, but the four of them, are wishing they could be there with them. [1:44] But it is so wonderful to be able to follow this story, you know, in real time. [1:50] And I think that they are excited, energetic, happy. [1:56] And just, you know, everything that they have worked so hard for has come to fruition here on this lunar flyby. [2:10] I mean, this is really what it was all about. [2:13] And so it's a glorious day for them. [2:17] And naming the crater after Reed's wife, Carol, was special to all the crew. [2:23] There were tears in all of their eyes. [2:26] You know, I was. [2:27] I watched Christina, in fact, wiping the tears from her eyes after the announcements. [2:33] And they all hugged. [2:34] And they named one crater integrity after their ship and one after Reed's wife who passed away. [2:42] So, I mean, this has just been an amazing day. [2:46] And I'm sure I'll be watching every moment of the mission from here until splashdown and beyond. [2:54] So many will. [2:55] And, Hakeem, we know that the crew snapped. [2:57] Several. [2:57] Several photos today of parts of the moon human eyes have never seen before. [3:01] What are the astronauts observing that satellites have not yet captured? [3:06] One of the most interesting features to me on the moon's surface are the so-called lunar swirls. [3:12] These are regions that are on the far side of the moon. [3:16] You can look them up. [3:17] People who are hearing this now, you can Google it or use your favorite search engine. [3:21] And, you know, they're somewhat of a mystery. [3:22] The mystery has been solved a bit because they have these very strong magnetic fields. [3:28] But, you know, it looks almost like a dust devil or a tornado went over the surface of the moon. [3:33] But there are areas where that local magnetic field, which may be caused by lava tubes from lava flows 3 billion years ago, diverting the solar radiation away from those locations. [3:44] So they don't get weathered and darkened by this solar radiation. [3:49] So that's really interesting. [3:50] They're also looking at different colors of minerals to try to understand the compositions of things. [3:55] And, of course, if we're going to have a permanent presence up there. [3:58] We're going to be looking for water. [4:00] So I don't know exactly if they're going to be seeking locations with water. [4:03] But they are going to be seeking good locations for future missions to land. [4:07] And, Susan, how important are those verbal observations that the astronauts are describing and relaying back to mission control? [4:15] That's really what it's all about. [4:17] We've had photography. [4:19] We've had vehicles and manned vehicles orbiting the lunar surface, mapping out the whole surface of the moon. [4:29] But we haven't had that human piece, the eyeballs, that are examining what they're seeing and reporting back real time. [4:38] You know, the colors, the three dimensions, the, you know, as the sunlight hits it from different angles, how does it change? [4:47] Because they're going to be able to piece together all the photographs, all the verbal observations, and really get a much better landscape of the entirety of what they've seen. [4:59] How moving and instructive, informative for us all. [5:06] Astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi and retired NASA astronaut and aerospace engineer Susan Kilrain, we thank you both so much for your insight. [5:14] Appreciate it.