Sen. Mark Kelly on Artemis II: What astronauts see beyond the moon

[0:00] and we are thrilled to be joined by former astronaut and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly [0:04] live at Space Center Houston. Senator Kelly, thank you so much for your time. [0:09] You've spent over 50 days in space and you've traveled over 20 million miles. You know what's [0:16] going on up there. Can you tell us what these astronauts are going through right now? [0:24] Well, they're incredibly excited to have this opportunity and serve our country in this way. [0:30] I mean, all of them are obviously patriots. They've all flown in space with the exception [0:35] of the Canadian astronaut, Jeremy Hansen, but they're having a great time. Orion is performing. [0:43] I mean, it's been fantastic, the performance of that vehicle. And if I could just comment on what [0:48] the person you just had on had said about the 40 minutes around the [0:55] backside of the moon and being out of communication for an astronaut, [1:01] especially a nice period of time, right? The ground can't call you. They can't ask you to do [1:05] something. They can't bother you. You're sort of on your own. Every time we would go around the [1:10] planet in the space shuttle, we had about 15 minutes over the Indian Ocean where there was [1:14] no communication with the mission control center. So they'll be fine during that 40 minutes. [1:20] Nice little break, as you would say. Now, this really is uncharted territory for American space [1:26] explorers. The Apollo missions, they went into low moon, low lunar orbit. [1:31] What's the significance of this moment for the U.S.? [1:33] Well, this is like the next step to getting us back to the surface of the moon [1:42] and then building a permanent presence on the moon and hopefully building an economy on the [1:50] moon. We did that in low Earth orbit. We launched the space station in the late 90s. It's been [1:57] operating now. It's coming up on 30 years. We're planning to retire it in 2030. We're [2:03] going to transition to commercial space station. [2:05] But what this Artemis 2 mission is doing is it's allowing us to check out the Orion spacecraft [2:12] that's getting us back to the moon. Now we have to build a lander or more, maybe more than one, [2:19] to get us to the surface and then the other systems to stay there. But think of this as the [2:25] next important step of getting a U.S. presence on the surface of the moon. [2:32] Now, NASA, they're using this 10-day mission to test the space station. [2:35] They're testing the Orion spacecraft's life support systems for the first time, laying the [2:40] groundwork for future crewed Artemis missions. Why is this work so important? [2:49] Well, Artemis 1 took Orion around the moon on a similar kind of trajectory as this one, but [2:58] without the systems to support life, to support people. You have to be able to scrub carbon [3:03] dioxide out of the atmosphere. You have to have a, you know, working bathroom. You have to have a [3:10] bathroom. You've got to be able to feed the crew. The vehicle has to be at the right temperature to [3:15] make them comfortable, also for them to survive. The environment outside the spacecraft is [3:22] unsurvivable, right? It's a vacuum. In the sun, it could be 250 degrees. In the shade, it could be [3:30] minus 250, or even worse when you consider the part of space that they're in between the Earth [3:37] and the moon. So those are the things that we're trying to do. And I think that's what we're [3:40] trying to do. So those systems, it took a lot to develop them, check them out on the ground, [3:44] and this is the one time before future missions that have other objectives where we get to test [3:51] these systems in flight with real crew members. Now, as a senator, how do you explain to your [3:56] colleagues and your constituents why a mission like this, essentially a test flight, is worth [4:02] the risk and the investment? Well, I mean, it's hard to do, right? And there is, you know, [4:14] a lot of people who are in the crew and going on this kind of mission, right? But they get that. [4:20] There is also tremendous upside for us as a country. Yeah, these missions are expensive, [4:27] but NASA's budget is less than 1% of the federal budget. It is a good investment in the future of [4:35] our country. The innovation and the invention that we get out of doing hard things in space, [4:43] there's a huge return on that. [4:45] It's a huge investment. Our economy grows. We create thousands or tens of thousands of jobs [4:51] here on Earth, jobs that pay good wages that you can actually support a family on. So we're good [4:58] as a country. We're really good at it, doing these hard things, using science and engineering [5:03] to do things like send people to the moon. But from that, we get a lot out of that as a nation. [5:11] It's not just like this feels good because we accomplished, [5:15] accomplished this. It's also the return that we get in driving our economy forward. [5:21] Now, for young people watching tonight who might fly on those later Artemis missions, [5:26] what do you want them to hear from you as an astronaut turned senator about where this [5:32] journey is headed and why their generation matters so much to it? Well, I mean, their [5:41] generation is the future, right? I've got kids. My daughter's one's 31. The other's 28. I've got [5:50] a kid who's turned five. I have another grandkid on the way. They're the future of this country. [5:57] And we need them. You know, we need them to try to do some hard things, you know, like these [6:02] missions. I often talk to kids about this, kids that might not be that interested in science and [6:09] math, but they see astronauts and they're like, well, that's a cool thing that maybe I could do, [6:14] or I could work at NASA. I could become an engineer. And I remind these kids that they, [6:21] they also can do things that are hard. They put their minds to it. They focus on it. They try to [6:26] do well in school. There's tremendous opportunity in this country. I think people often forget that. [6:33] I mean, we're the greatest country in the world if you're looking to be able to do some [6:38] challenging things. And a mission like this with these four crew members, who, by the way, [6:45] look a lot like America, right? There's a person of color in Victor Glover, a woman, [6:51] Christina Koch. This looks like more, looks more like our country than the Apollo missions, [6:58] you know, did in the 1960s. So this should be exciting, you know, for young people and give [7:03] them an example about what they can accomplish. Now, Senator, I cannot let you go without asking [7:08] you this question. We know that NASA, they've been waking up the Artemis II crew with music. [7:13] What song do you think they should play next? Well, I'm a big U2 fan. So Beautiful Day is the [7:25] wake up music. [7:26] That my wife, Gabby, sent up to the space shuttle for me on at least one occasion, maybe more than [7:33] that. And I think U2 has a lot of great options. A beautiful day indeed, Senator Mark Kelly. Thank [7:40] you so much. Thank you.