NASA returns to the Moon - and beyond

[0:00] 10, 9, 8, 7, RS-25 engines, lift, 4, 3, 2, 1. [0:11] The crew of Artemis II now bound for the moon. [0:14] Just after 11 p.m. on Wednesday night, [0:17] that was the sound of NASA's Artemis II mission taking off from the Florida coast. [0:22] Four astronauts on a huge rocket heading at great speed to space. [0:27] Their final destination is the moon. [0:28] They're not going to land there, but they're going to go around the dark side of the moon. [0:32] And when they make it there, [0:33] these pioneers will be the humans who have traveled furthest from Earth. [0:38] Sometimes I'm a little bit skeptical of space stories, [0:42] but everyone is united on this one, that it's ambitious, it's awe-inspiring, [0:47] and also it's very accessible because so much of this mission you can tune into in real time. [0:53] And that's what we will be focusing on in this episode of Newscast. [0:57] Hello, it's Adam in the Newscast studio. [1:03] And for this episode, I'm joined down the line by Dr. Maggie Adair, [1:06] legendary space scientist. [1:08] Hello, Maggie. [1:09] Hello. [1:10] I should say Dame Maggie. [1:12] Congratulations on your elevation. [1:14] Oh, thank you. [1:15] Maggie's good, though. [1:16] Good to hear it. [1:17] And also with us is astronaut Tim Peake. [1:19] Hi, Tim. [1:20] Hi, Adam. [1:21] Now, you two are the hosts of the BBC series, the podcast 13 Minutes Presents Artemis II. [1:27] Maggie, just explain the reference there in the title of your podcast. [1:31] Yes. [1:31] So 13 Minutes Presents. [1:34] So the original podcast was talking about [1:36] the [1:37] first moon landings. [1:38] And so that 13 minutes when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were actually sort of landing on the moon. [1:44] That's what that's covering. [1:45] But since then, we've gone on to cover many other things. [1:48] Apollo 13, the space shuttle, and sort of got more in the bag. [1:53] But at the moment, we're doing Artemis II, and we're doing a daily podcast on that. [1:58] Great. [1:58] Such a good idea. [1:59] And Maggie, we started today's episode of Newscast by listening to the sound from Mission Control as the rocket went up on Wednesday. [2:06] Now, where were you watching it? [2:09] What was going through your head as that was happening? [2:12] So I was at home and my daughter was away, but I was speaking to her by WhatsApp and we were watching the launch together. [2:19] And the thing is, I tuned in quite early and sort of at three hours in, I was thinking, well, what's the likelihood of it going up? [2:27] And we got closer and closer to the launch. [2:28] I thought, you know, this is actually happening. [2:30] And then there was a pause at 10 minutes. [2:32] I thought, oh, my goodness, you know, will we? [2:34] And it did. [2:34] And it was magical. [2:35] And it was far more exciting. [2:36] And I anticipated being because I'd met all the astronauts on board. [2:41] And so to see them blast off into space and head towards the moon was just quite breathtaking. [2:46] Although, Tim, there were a couple of last minute glitches, weren't there? [2:49] Glitches that were fixed quite quickly, but nonetheless, they were there. [2:53] Yeah, they were. [2:54] Absolutely. [2:54] They had firstly a bit of a problem with the termination system. [2:58] This is the system that would be used to actually destroy the rocket in the event that it came off course and caused a danger to the public. [3:05] And they lost communication. [3:06] So that was a kind of no go. [3:08] It took them 50 minutes to repair. [3:10] Actually, they ended up using some of the old shuttle hardware to repair that. [3:14] And then they had a problem with the launch abort system. [3:16] This is the system that carries the crew safely away from the rocket if it has a catastrophic malfunction. [3:22] And one of the batteries had a problem. [3:24] But there was really a fantastic team ethic, some great teamwork going on to fix those problems. [3:31] And you could just tell by the enthusiasm in mission control how they were working through those issues. [3:36] That they really wanted to go last night. [3:39] It was so interesting hearing lots of my colleagues who were there on the ground covering the launch just reacting just to the physicality of what it's like being in the vicinity of a launch. [3:49] And I suppose you're not even in the near vicinity because you have to be a really long way away. [3:52] And Rebecca Morrell, our science editor, just saying she could almost feel it in her bones. [3:57] Tim, you know what it's like to actually be on board when that massive force is powered up. [4:03] What does it feel like? [4:05] Do you know, it was interesting. [4:06] I was more nervous watching that rocket last night than sitting on top of a rocket myself. [4:11] Especially when you've got good friends on there. [4:14] So when you're inside the rocket, yes, you feel the noise. [4:17] You feel the vibration. [4:19] You feel that acceleration. [4:21] But quite quickly, you're going faster than the speed of sound. [4:24] So a lot of that noise is behind you. [4:26] And actually, for the people watching the launch, they sometimes have a better experience. [4:30] That visceral feeling of your chest feeling the vibrations from 22 million horsepower lifting off the launch. [4:36] That is quite something. [4:38] So that would have been spectacular for the people in Florida last night. [4:42] I mean, lots of us have felt like it's called the G force, isn't it? [4:44] When you're on a roller coaster, how much more than a roller coaster is it? [4:50] It's quite a bit more, but it's more sustained. [4:53] That's the point. [4:54] So on a roller coaster, some of them you can pull four Gs. [4:57] That's four times your body weight. [4:59] At the moment, we're all here on Earth experiencing one G. [5:02] But if we have a problem with the rocket, particularly during reentry, we can go up to nine Gs. [5:07] So we train in the centrifuge to practice how to withstand this G force, how to do special breathing techniques so that we don't lose consciousness. [5:16] So there is a real art to kind of tolerance with G and getting used to it. [5:20] Oh, do you want to try and teach me the technique now? [5:22] The breathing? [5:23] Not that I'm planning to experience intense G forces on the way home. [5:26] So for astronauts, it's a bit different from fighter pilots. [5:29] Fighter pilots are experiencing G in a different direction. [5:32] The main problem with a fighter pilot is losing blood from the brain and losing that oxygen from the brain. [5:37] And passing out for astronauts, we're lying on our back during launch and reentry. [5:41] So the problem for us is we feel that crushing force on our chest. [5:45] So imagine four people lie down on the floor and imagine four people, your same body weight sitting on your chest. [5:51] That's what you're feeling. [5:53] And if you try and breathe, you think you're going to take a nice lungful of air, but actually you can't. [5:58] Your chest can't expand. [6:00] And so you end up taking a tiny amount of air in and it can be really quite disconcerting, almost a feeling of suffocation. [6:06] So you have to get. [6:07] Used to gulping, gulp breathing and practicing that in the centrifuge and not panicking. [6:13] Wow. [6:14] This is like the most intense mindfulness class you can imagine. [6:18] So I know you two have just been recording the latest episode of 13 Minutes Presents. [6:22] So I'm not sure if you're totally across what's happening right this second, but we're recording about 20 past three on Thursday afternoon. [6:28] Maggie, what sort of stage is the mission at the moment? [6:32] Yes. [6:32] So they've been up in Earth orbit for just over 20. [6:37] Well, actually just under 24 hours now. [6:39] And the big question, I always see the Orion capsule a bit like a brand new camper van. [6:45] And so this is the first time humans have been on board. [6:47] So they're testing out all the systems. [6:49] They had a bit of a glitch for the loo earlier. [6:51] They are testing sort of the heating system. [6:54] It was a lovely clip we showed where they're actually trying to find their luggage because they got a bit nippy and they couldn't find their jumpers. [6:59] So they're sort of doing the sort of the housekeeping at the moment, but they're testing the system and the next sort of exciting stage will be what they call. [7:07] The Translunar Injection. [7:08] So they haven't decided if they're actually going to go to the moon yet. [7:11] They need to make sure that all systems are go on board. [7:14] But if that is the case, then they are orbiting the Earth. [7:17] And what they'll do is they'll do this Translunar Burst, which will actually take them and propel them towards the moon. [7:22] Yeah, Tim, I was quite surprised that it wasn't all done in one go. [7:26] That there is quite a lot of time where they're going to be in Earth orbit before they start the next bit of the journey. [7:32] Yes. [7:32] And that was all pre-planned in order to give the crew and give Mission Control. [7:37] Plenty of time to test out the system. [7:39] So Victor Glover, the pilot, he's already taken manual control of the spacecraft, [7:43] flown it around one of the upper stages of the rocket actually to practice the maneuvering. [7:48] They've tested the communications, the navigation systems with star trackers. [7:52] They tested the life support system. They've had a four hour sleep. [7:56] They've tried eating and drinking and troubleshooting all of these problems. [8:00] And as Maggie says, they're not going to make that Translunar Injection until they're sure that spacecraft ready to go [8:07] to the moon, because once they fire those engines, it's very hard to stop and come back home again. [8:12] Actually, the easiest thing is just to carry on to the moon. [8:15] And that's an eight day journey there and back. [8:17] And also, Maggie, I mean, it's incredibly accessible all of this to us down here on Earth. [8:22] You can see them saying night-night to Mission Control as they're getting ready for their four hours of sleep. [8:27] We've all seen the video on our socials of them throwing their iPhones to each other in zero gravity. [8:33] It's almost like we are there with them. [8:35] It is. [8:36] And I think that is the point. [8:37] It's the power of technology these days. [8:39] And they took their phones because they're going to take selfies from up there. [8:42] And it really brings it home that these are four people, four humans out there in space. [8:47] Their environment is very alien, but the things they're doing are sort of quite familiar. [8:52] And I think that hopefully that's an inspiration to the next generation. [8:56] We're looking for the next budding space scientists and astronauts, and I hope this will inspire them. [9:01] And Tim, obviously, it must bring back memories for you of the times you were doing this. [9:06] Absolutely. Yeah. [9:07] I mean, I'm hugely envious, as is every astronaut right now. [9:11] Hugely envious of that crew. [9:12] They're enjoying the most spectacular views of Earth. [9:15] They're the furthest away right now than humans have been since 1972. [9:19] They're seeing Earth the size of a basketball held at arm's length. [9:23] And it will just look absolutely spectacular. [9:25] For Jeremy Hansen, Canadian, this is his first time in space, so he'll be getting used to weightlessness as well. [9:31] But it just brings back memories of just how spectacular that view is. [9:35] And Tim, in terms of the kit. [9:37] In the Orion capsule, has kind of technology and comfort levels of that sort of stuff moved on a lot since you were doing it? [9:47] Yes, they have moved on. [9:49] But of course, on the space station, I guess it's like a five-star luxury hotel compared to Orion. [9:54] We've got plenty of space. [9:56] You've got your own bunk with your own sleeping bag in it. [9:59] You've got a hygiene area. [10:00] You've got a treadmill. [10:01] You've got a weight machine. [10:03] You've got a galley for cooking. [10:05] They're having to do everything in something the size of a minivan. [10:08] So they folded their seats away, the seats for launch and reentry. [10:13] They folded them away to make some more room in that area. [10:16] They've installed the loo, which is in the floor, to try and give them some privacy. [10:21] They open a panel and kind of go down into the floor where the loo area is. [10:25] So, yeah, they're kind of converting their camper van to try and make as much space as possible. [10:30] Maggie, you mentioned that you've both chatted to the four crew members. [10:34] Tell us a bit more about them. [10:35] They're a wonderful bunch. [10:38] It was lovely to meet them. [10:39] And so, of course, there's Reid, who is the commander. [10:43] And he has a sort of a quiet air about him, sort of speaking and listening to interviews as well from the rest of the crew. [10:53] I think he's a leader that they are very happy to follow. [10:56] Then there's Victor, the pilot. [10:58] And as Tim was saying, he's been doing some of the manoeuvres and he was really looking forward to that. [11:08] So that's very exciting. [11:10] Then there is Jeremy. [11:13] He's the first non-American to go to the moon. [11:17] They haven't travelled far. He's Canadian, but he's still the first non-American to go to the moon. [11:21] And then, of course, there's Christina. [11:22] And I've spoken to her many times and interviewed her many times. [11:25] The first woman to go into space. [11:27] And they had, Tim was talking about the loo there. [11:30] She's the mission specialist. [11:32] So she's an engineer by trade, spent quite a bit of time out in Antarctica. [11:36] And when the loo. [11:38] They had some difficulties with it and she was the one who went and fixed it. [11:41] So lovely to have an engineer on board. [11:43] And of course, the first woman to go to the moon as well. [11:45] So exciting times and a lovely crew. [11:48] And Tim, watching the build up, you could see NASA had wanted to really sort of X factorise this. [11:54] And so they were playing on a loop this video of the four crew members kind of stepping forward and into the spotlight and striking heroic poses. [12:04] Like the contenders used to do on X Factor or maybe the characters do on Fortnite. [12:08] How do you, as a professional, juggle the celebrity bit of the job because you've become a celebrity with the fact that actually you have to be a total nerd as well? [12:19] I know it is a bit of a juggling act. [12:22] That crew though, they understand as soon as you become an astronaut, you're also an ambassador for space. [12:27] We have to explain what we're doing and why we're doing it. [12:30] And that's really important. [12:32] So that connection to the public, getting the message out there is something that the astronauts will appreciate. [12:38] They have to do. [12:39] But also when the hatch closes, it's just pure focus of, you know, operational focus of thought and clarity and being as professional as possible. [12:48] So they'll get that balance right. [12:50] Yeah, you're thinking about the mission rather than the selfie. [12:54] Absolutely. [12:55] Now, in terms of the mission, Maggie, just give us kind of the elevator pitch for why they're doing this. [13:00] Yes. [13:01] And so I'm quite excited by this mission because with the Apollo programme, to me, it was a lot about sabre rattling. [13:07] It was about sort of a dream. [13:08] It was about sort of demonstrating sort of prowess. [13:10] It was quite political. [13:11] This has the political elements. [13:13] But now we're going to the moon with purpose. [13:15] So Artemis 2 is part of a series of missions. [13:20] Artemis 1 was testing the SLS, the Space Launch System, and the Orion capsule, but with no one on board. [13:26] So it went up into space. [13:27] It came back down. [13:28] So now we have sort of the Orion capsule, but with the four crew members on board. [13:35] And they are going out towards the moon and then falling back to Earth. [13:38] So we don't actually land on the moon. [13:40] Then we'll have Artemis 3, which will do further tests. [13:43] But Artemis 4 is the one I'm really excited about because that's when we get boots on the ground on the moon. [13:48] Now, before we do that, NASA plans to do that by about 2028, which might be a little optimistic. [13:53] But before we do that, there's various bits of infrastructure that need to be set up. [13:57] But, yes, this is the long-term plan. [13:59] It's quite interesting because people often ask why we're going back to the moon now. [14:03] And we've had such a hiatus of over 50 years. [14:05] But in that hiatus, space scientists like me, [14:07] we're building sort of satellites and probes, some that went in orbit around the moon [14:12] and some robotic missions that landed on the moon's surface. [14:15] And one of the discoveries is frozen water at the moon's poles, South Pole. [14:20] And so part of this mission and part of what Artemis 2 will be doing is they'll be going to the far side of the moon. [14:26] That's the side of the moon that never faces towards the Earth. [14:28] So they'll be seeing part of the moon that has never been seen by human eyes before. [14:33] But one of the things they're trying to do is I'd like to say it's like reconnaissance [14:36] or trying to find out what's going on. [14:37] They're trying to find a parking space. [14:39] Where will the best places on the South Pole be to go and have a look? [14:43] And so they've been trained in geology. [14:45] They've got telescopes and cameras on board. [14:47] And they'll be looking at the South Pole region in great detail [14:50] to work out what might be the possible landing spots in the future. [14:54] And, Maggie, you talked about infrastructure that needs to be put in place. [14:58] We're going to be sending things up that just sort of hang about, [15:01] waiting for a rendezvous in years to come, aren't we? [15:04] Yes. [15:06] So we're going to have sort of the lunar gateway, [15:08] a sort of a space docking system. [15:10] And that's why Victor was practising some of the manoeuvres earlier. [15:13] So we can actually dock to items in space [15:17] and transfer people from a capsule like Orion to the lunar lander. [15:22] And so all this infrastructure needs to be put in place [15:25] before we get sort of the boots on the ground. [15:27] But at the same time, there are lots of plans. [15:30] And the thing is I almost shake to say it [15:32] because they've been planned to make sort of a moon base. [15:35] So sort of go back before the moon landings. [15:37] But it feels tantalisingly close at the moment. [15:40] And with a moon base, we can utilise that liquid water, [15:43] get oxygen and hydrogen, which is effectively rocket fuel, [15:47] and then actually start sort of the journey to beyond our bit of space [15:51] and go out towards the solar system. [15:54] And there are grand plans ahead, but it all starts with this. [15:57] And we will talk about Mars in a second. [15:59] But, Tim, this idea of a permanent moon base, [16:02] just try and sort of paint a picture [16:04] of what that facility would be. [16:08] Well, as Maggie pointed out, one of the good things [16:10] about the south pole of the moon is water ice. [16:12] So you've got resources there that we can use. [16:15] We need to protect ourselves from radiation. [16:17] There are a number of ways you can do that. [16:19] You can also think about using the regolith there, the lunar soil, [16:23] and perhaps using 3D printing techniques [16:25] to actually print out building blocks that could help to make a structure. [16:29] Anything that you can use on the moon [16:31] that saves you having to carry it there in a rocket and a spacecraft [16:35] is going to be cheaper, simpler, and easier to do. [16:38] So we're investigating how we can perhaps use these different techniques [16:42] to provide some sort of structure, some sort of shelter there [16:45] that will enable our scientists to live and work for months, [16:48] maybe years even, at a time at that research facility. [16:52] But the moon was once part of Earth, [16:54] so it's fascinating to be able to tell us more about our own planet [16:58] and also to see what resources might be on the moon that can help us. [17:02] So, Tim, that thing about the moon being part of Earth, [17:04] that's the idea that an asteroid hit the Earth, [17:07] a bit of the planet was ejected, [17:10] and then went into orbit and became the moon. [17:13] That's totally rock solid, if you pardon the pun, that theory now. [17:18] Well, I think it's scientifically recognised. [17:21] I'm going to hand over to Maggie. [17:23] To my knowledge, it's recognised by the scientific community now [17:27] as the most plausible explanation as to how we have a moon. [17:32] I think saying as obvious, [17:33] unequivocally, is always hard for a scientist, [17:37] but this is the best theory we have at the moment. [17:39] And it was more sort of a planet the size of Mars [17:42] that collided with the early Earth. [17:44] It ejected material, and so this planet, we call it Earthia, [17:48] and this ejection from the Earth sort of merged together [17:51] to form sort of this new body. [17:53] And the moon used to be a lot closer to us, [17:56] and this moon is slowly spiralling away from us [17:58] about the same rate our fingernails grow, so very slowly. [18:02] But, yeah, [18:03] yes, it is our companion in space. [18:05] And so having a moon base there makes sense [18:08] because it's in close proximity. [18:10] But then, of course, then we're looking beyond. [18:13] I mean, what happened to that planet that crashed into us? [18:15] Where did it go? [18:16] So it coalesced with the Earth. [18:18] Oh, I see. [18:19] Oh, yeah, sorry, that's what you were saying, yeah. [18:20] Yes. [18:21] So I thought you were talking about the fact [18:22] that the stuff that was ejected coalesced to become the moon. [18:25] Yeah, so we think this sort of planet Theia [18:28] and the matter sort of coalesced to form the Earth. [18:31] I see. [18:32] But it looks quite similar. [18:34] Because if you look at the materials that the moon is made of, [18:37] they have great similarities to the sort of thing we find here on Earth. [18:41] That's one of the pieces of evidence to support the theory. [18:44] And here's a bit of a philosophical question about the moon, Maggie. [18:47] Does the moon and studying it tell us more about space and other planets, [18:51] or does it actually tell us more about our own planet? [18:54] Because it's a sort of like small mirror of ourselves, isn't it? [18:58] It is. [18:59] But also I see it as a time capsule. [19:01] So the solar system formed about four and a half billion years ago. [19:07] And then we had sort of a massive movement of planets. [19:11] There was a period called the late heavy bombardment [19:13] where we had sort of planets moving around through the solar system. [19:16] We have the formation of the moon, but the moon has virtually no atmosphere. [19:20] And so it's like a time capsule because anything that has landed on this moon's surface, [19:24] it hasn't been weathered or eroded or sort of hit with rain [19:27] or the things that happen to anything that's landed on Earth. [19:30] And so when we go to the moon, [19:32] we can actually look at those things that have landed on the surface [19:37] and get an understanding of our early solar system and sort of beyond. [19:41] So it's quite interesting in that respect. [19:44] But then, yes, it is also our companion and governs quite a bit of what's going on, [19:49] the dynamics of our Earth system and more than the tides. [19:53] So, yes, I think it's doing both. [19:56] Also, it takes some of the hits that we would otherwise hit Earth. [19:59] So some of the asteroids that might come and hit Earth [20:02] because the moon is relatively large compared to most other planets. [20:06] So our moon is relatively large compared to the size of our planet. [20:11] It takes some of those hits. [20:13] So I do see it as our companion in space and it's taking some of the hits for us. [20:17] And Tim, in terms of the moon being a stepping stone to the planet Mars, [20:22] how much is that actually the plan? [20:25] How much is that is that is just a sort of aspiration [20:28] and a potential thing along the way? [20:30] It's very much the plan. [20:32] Artemis is going to be able to teach us a lot about how we can do the Mars mission [20:36] more safely, more effectively, more efficiently [20:39] in terms of living on another celestial body effectively, [20:44] but also the technology that we need to get there and back. [20:47] Mars is achievable. It's just a long mission. [20:49] Put it into context, the space station is up at 400 kilometers. [20:52] Now, that's not that far. [20:54] You could drive there in a few hours. [20:56] The moon is out at 400,000 kilometers. [20:58] That's a four day journey. [21:00] Mars is up to 400 million kilometers away. [21:03] It's a long, long way away. [21:05] And we think the first mission is likely to be a three year mission. [21:08] So in order to embark on that kind of mission, [21:10] you need to know a lot about the habitation modules, [21:13] the food that you're going to eat, the water you take there, [21:16] the radiation shielding to protect your body as you travel outside of Earth's magnetosphere. [21:21] So going to the moon, which is relatively safe in terms of proximity to Earth, [21:26] you can have emergency return of that crew in just a few days. [21:30] That's a great place to go and learn the lessons that we need [21:33] to be able to more safely explore the solar system. [21:36] But we're not that far away. [21:38] I reckon by the late 2030s, early 2040s, [21:41] we'll be seeing those first human missions to Mars. [21:44] And that will be built on the lessons that we learned from the Artemis program. [21:48] This feels like a bit of a grim question to ask, [21:50] but the level of risk for a Mars mission, [21:53] how low would it have to go for it to be ethical for us as a species [22:00] to do it, Tim? [22:01] Well, we're not looking at one-way trips to Mars. [22:04] Absolutely not. [22:05] We're far better than that. [22:07] We're cleverer than that. [22:08] We're smarter. [22:09] We can get crews there and back. [22:10] In terms of risk, it's an interesting one. [22:12] You have to accept some degree of risk. [22:15] And certainly, we were all talking last night before the mission [22:19] that there was quite a large amount of risk associated with this launch. [22:23] The crews themselves, they understand that. [22:25] They were talking quite candidly about that, [22:28] how they'd addressed it with their families, [22:30] for example. [22:31] So yes, there will be risk involved in the Mars mission, [22:34] but everybody would have worked really hard to mitigate that risk [22:37] down to an acceptable level to get the job done. [22:42] And Maggie, at the start of the conversation, [22:44] you harkened back to the Apollo missions of the 60s and 70s, [22:48] and you talked about the political climate then. [22:51] And of course, the political climate there was the Cold War [22:54] and the so-called space race between the US representing capitalism [22:58] and the Soviet Union representing communism. [23:00] What's the kind of the geopolitics of the space race of 2026? [23:05] And so I think the sabre rattling does continue. [23:08] But I think there's sort of a new superpower. [23:13] So the USSR, as it was and now Russia, [23:16] is sort of, I'd say, a third level player. [23:19] So it's mainly between China and America now. [23:22] But it's quite interesting sort of talking about going to Mars [23:25] and sort of there's the scientific and engineering challenges of it, [23:29] but also there's the cost. [23:31] And so I think we need the impetus to get sort of people signed up [23:36] to actually spending the money to get us to Mars. [23:39] So I think the technology is available today, [23:41] but I think it is the sort of the political clout [23:44] and also the, and to a certain extent, [23:47] I think there is a desire to be the first to get back to the moon [23:50] and the first to get to Mars. [23:52] And I think that might be the impetus we need to spend the cash [23:55] to actually get us there. [23:57] So it is a different climate [23:59] for the one of the Cold War, [24:01] but I think we are still trying to show superiority. [24:04] And I think that's what NASA is about, [24:06] trying to get sort of boots on the moon [24:08] and then boots to Mars. [24:10] But there's other players in the field, [24:13] but they're sort of, [24:14] they haven't got the money to spend [24:16] in the way America and China does. [24:18] And Tim, finally, just to you, [24:20] in just over a week's time, all going well, [24:22] these four pioneers will splash down in the Pacific Ocean. [24:26] What's it like when you come home? [24:28] You know what it's like when you've done a hard day at work [24:31] and you get home and it's a bit like, [24:33] or you've had an amazing night out and you get home [24:35] and you're a bit like, [24:36] I mean, this must be that times about a billion to the power of 10. [24:40] Yeah, there's definitely going to be a period of readjustment [24:43] for the crew when they get back. [24:45] It's going to be quite remarkable. [24:47] They'll be utterly exhausted, but they'll be expecting that. [24:50] You know, we send astronauts to space to work hard. [24:52] The journey back home is going to be quite brutal. [24:55] They're coming back into Earth's atmosphere at 25,000 miles per hour. [24:58] That's not going to be a soft ride. [25:00] So it'd be fascinating though to hear from the crew firsthand [25:05] how the mission went, what was the launch like, [25:07] what went well, what could have been done better. [25:09] So everybody will want a piece of them. [25:11] The scientific community will for debriefings. [25:14] There'll be press activity going on. [25:17] They'll want some time with their families as well, [25:19] but they won't get that for the first few weeks. [25:21] It's going to be incredibly busy for them. [25:23] And last question to you, Maggie, [25:24] is there going to be a piece of data [25:26] or something that is gathered from this mission [25:28] that you can't wait to get your hands on [25:30] that's just never been seen before? [25:32] Or is it actually just more proof of things we sort of know? [25:36] I think the fact that they're going to be going to the far side of the moon [25:40] and we're going to get human eyes on this for the first time. [25:43] And so we have in the past sort of sent probes [25:46] to see the far side of the moon. [25:47] We've got images of that. [25:49] But the combination, that's what I build, satellites that do that. [25:52] But the combination of sort of the technology, [25:55] so like the cameras and the telescopes and things like that, [25:58] with the human brain. [26:00] My example is Earthrise, the picture taken by Apollo 8. [26:04] It wasn't programmed and no one expected them to do it, [26:07] but they saw it and they thought everybody on Earth needs to see this. [26:10] And so they took the image and it was epic. [26:13] But having sort of human eyes on the moon, [26:15] especially the south pole of the moon, [26:17] I think it's going to be in a similar way epic. [26:19] And we're going to see things that we've just never appreciated before [26:22] because the human processor will be behind them. [26:26] Oh, yeah. [26:27] I mean, I'm dying to know what the sort of the meme [26:30] of this mission is going to be. [26:32] They'll then just become imprinted on every eyeball on Earth [26:35] for the next hundred years. [26:37] So let's see. [26:38] Maggie, thank you so much. [26:40] Lovely to speak to you. [26:41] And Tim, great to speak to you too. [26:44] Thank you very much. [26:46] And that's all for this episode of Newscast. [26:48] Apart from to say I've already recorded the inaugural episode [26:52] of Electioncast 2026, [26:54] where we are looking at the elections in some areas of England, [26:58] also in Scotland and Wales. [27:00] And that will be landing in your Newscast feeds on Friday, [27:05] as it will do every Friday throughout the election campaign [27:08] before it ends on the 7th of May. [27:10] And then there'll be loads and loads and loads of episodes [27:12] about the results and the consequences that flow from them. [27:15] I hope you enjoyed tuning in to the Artemis II mission [27:17] over the Easter weekend. [27:19] And also you'll be able to tune in to mine and Chris's [27:21] new Newscast miniseries, [27:23] which is about the Home Office, [27:25] the history and some of the challenges in that government department [27:27] right now. [27:28] So plenty for you to listen to over the Easter weekend [27:31] from Newscast. [27:32] Have a good one. [27:33] Bye bye.