00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Welcome to Astronomy Daily, season 5,
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 episode 79. I'm Anna.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 >> And I'm Avery. And today, today is the
00:00:09 --> 00:00:10 day.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:14 >> It really is. 54 years. That's how long
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 humanity has been Earthbound, locked
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 inside our cozy corner of the solar
00:00:18 --> 00:00:22 system. No human has ventured beyond low
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 Earth orbit since Apollo 17 touched down
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 on the moon in December 1972.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31 But last night that changed. Four
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 astronauts are on their way to the moon.
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 >> Today's episode is a special Aremis 2
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 edition. We're going deep on the launch,
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 on the history being made right now, and
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 on what's coming next for this crew.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 Plus, because the universe has a flare
00:00:47 --> 00:00:50 for the dramatic, the pink moon rose
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 over Earth right as they lifted off.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 >> You honestly couldn't write it. Let's
00:00:55 --> 00:00:59 get into it. At 6:35 p.m. Eastern time
00:00:59 --> 00:01:02 on Wednesday, April the 1st, yes, April
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 Fool's Day, NASA's Aremis 2 mission
00:01:05 --> 00:01:09 lifted off from launch complex 39B at
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 >> And for the record, absolutely not a
00:01:13 --> 00:01:14 joke.
00:01:14 --> 00:01:18 >> Definitely not. The 322
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 foot tall orange and white space launch
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 system, the SLS, vaulted off the pad
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 with 8.8 8 million pounds of liftoff
00:01:27 --> 00:01:31 thrust. The solid rocket boosters alone
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 provided more than 7 million pounds of
00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 that, burning out just 2 minutes after
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 launch when the stack was already 29 m
00:01:39 --> 00:01:40 high.
00:01:40 --> 00:01:44 >> 29 m in 2 minutes. That's extraordinary.
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 >> It is. And barely 10 minutes after those
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 engines first ignited, Artemis 2 was in
00:01:50 --> 00:01:54 orbit. The launch was nearly flawless.
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 Only minor battery and communications
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 range issues briefly concerned ground
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 crews, and those were resolved without
00:02:01 --> 00:02:02 drama.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:03 >> The crew are safe. They're in great
00:02:04 --> 00:02:05 spirits. NASA administrator Jared
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 Isaacman confirmed that in the
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 post-launch briefing. He called it a
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 defining moment, not just for NASA, but
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 for everyone who believes in
00:02:13 --> 00:02:14 exploration.
00:02:14 --> 00:02:17 >> And this is genuinely historic. The last
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 time human beings headed moonward was
00:02:19 --> 00:02:23 December 7th, 1972
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 before any of the four Artemis 2 crew
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 members were born.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 >> That really puts it into perspective.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 >> After reaching orbit, Orion deployed its
00:02:32 --> 00:02:33 solar array wings and the crew
00:02:34 --> 00:02:35 immediately began transitioning the
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 spacecraft from launch to flight
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 operations. They ran through checks on
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 life support, communications,
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 navigation, and then, as if that wasn't
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 enough, pilot Victor Glover got to take
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 the spacecraft for a manual test drive.
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 >> A test drive in a spacecraft around
00:02:54 --> 00:02:55 Earth.
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58 >> 70 minutes of hand flying the Orion
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 capsule, which has been officially named
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 Integrity, maneuvering around the now
00:03:03 --> 00:03:07 separated upper stage of the SLS. Lovers
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 verdict. And I'm paraphrasing here
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 because we love him. This flies very
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 nicely, very precise.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 >> Excellent review, five stars.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 >> So, as we record this on Thursday, April
00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 2nd, right now, today, the crew of
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 Artemis 2 is completing the final checks
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 before the most critical maneuver of the
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 mission so far.
00:03:29 --> 00:03:32 >> The trans lunar injection burn, TLI.
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 This is the moment they leave Earth's
00:03:34 --> 00:03:34 orbit.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:38 >> Exactly. If all systems pass inspection
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 and mission controllers at Houston's
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 Johnson Space Center will be
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 scrutinizing every data point, Belfire
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 Orion's Europeanbuilt service module
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 engine for approximately 6 minutes
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 around 8:00 p.m. Eastern tonight.
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 >> 6 minutes to change everything.
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 >> That burn will accelerate Orion to about
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 24
00:04:01 --> 00:04:05 mph escape velocity. At that speed,
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 Earth's gravity is still exerting just
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 enough pull that if something went wrong
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 and the engine couldn't fire again, the
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 spacecraft would remain on what's called
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 a free return trajectory,
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 >> meaning the moon's gravity would sling
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 them back towards Earth automatically.
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 >> Precisely. It's a beautiful piece of
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 physics and a critical safety feature.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 The crew isn't just being brave. The
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 mission is engineered so that even in a
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 worstc case scenario, the moon becomes
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 the mechanism that brings them home.
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 >> And if the checks don't pass,
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 >> mission controllers retain the option to
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 command Orion home early. Premature end
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 to this test flight, but a safe one.
00:04:47 --> 00:04:51 That's what Artemis 2 is, a test flight.
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 Every system is being validated for the
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 crews who will follow.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 >> We'll be watching that TLI burn very
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 closely tonight. Let's talk about the
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 four people making this journey because
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 beyond the technology, beyond the
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 rocket, this mission is about them and
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 about what their presence means.
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 >> Commander Reed Wisman, pilot Victor
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 Glover, mission specialist Christina
00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 from NASA, and mission specialist
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space
00:05:17 --> 00:05:18 Agency.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 >> And this crew is making history in ways
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 that go well beyond just going to the
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 moon. Victor Glover will become the
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 first person of color to travel beyond
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 low Earth orbit. Christina Coch will be
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 the first woman to fly to the moon's
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 vicinity. And Jeremy Hansen will be the
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 first non-American citizen to venture
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 that far from Earth.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:40 >> Every one of those firsts is
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 significant. And they're all happening
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 on the same flight.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 >> The World Air Sports Federation, the
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 FAI, is already preparing to ratify what
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 could be multiple spaceflight world
00:05:52 --> 00:05:53 records. The mission's planned
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 trajectory will take Orion to a high
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 point of around 70 km above Earth.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 The current altitude record for a crude
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 spacecraft in Earth orbit stands at just
00:06:04 --> 00:06:05
00:06:05 --> 00:06:10 km set by Gemini 11 back in 1966.
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 >> They're going to absolutely shatter
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 that. And the record for the farthest
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 any human has ever been from Earth is
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 currently held by the Apollo 13 crew,
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 248
00:06:23 --> 00:06:27 m. Artemis 2 is expected to go farther.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 >> I keep thinking about Victor Glover
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 saying he just wants to find the quiet
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 moments in all of this, to be present,
00:06:34 --> 00:06:35 to actually feel it.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 >> He said the biggest challenge would be
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 immersing himself in the moment because
00:06:39 --> 00:06:42 it'll be over so quickly. That kind of
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 reflection from someone living what the
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 rest of us can only dream about. That's
00:06:47 --> 00:06:48 something special.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 >> Special is hardly the word for it, but I
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 guess we don't have anything better. We
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 could do with a new word to use on
00:06:54 --> 00:06:55 occasions like this.
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 >> So, what does the next 10 days look like
00:06:57 --> 00:07:01 for Reed, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy?
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 >> Once that TLA burn fires tonight,
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 they're on a roughly 4-day journey
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 outbound. Gravity will slow them down
00:07:07 --> 00:07:11 steadily from nearly 25 mph all the
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 way down to about 3 mph. And it
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 won't be until they're about 41 m
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 from the moon that lunar gravity takes
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 over and starts pulling them forward
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 again. That transition is called the
00:07:24 --> 00:07:27 Lraange point and it's where the moon
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 effectively claims them. Day six of the
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 mission, that's Monday, April 6th, the
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 crew will reach the moon's neighborhood,
00:07:34 --> 00:07:35 approaching from the western lunar
00:07:35 --> 00:07:36 hemisphere.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 >> They'll come within approximately 4
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 m from the lunar surface, close enough
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 to see detail, far enough to swing
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 around on that free return ark, and
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 they'll be among the first humans ever
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 to lay eyes on parts of the moon's far
00:07:50 --> 00:07:51 side.
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 >> The far side, the side that never faces
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 Earth. No human has seen it directly
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 since the Apollo era. The conditions
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 during the flyby should create long
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 shadows across the surface. Sunrise
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 style lighting that reveals ridges,
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 crater rims, and depth that full
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 illumination normally hides. The
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 photographs from this flyby are going to
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 be extraordinary.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:15 >> Here's a thought. I wonder if they'll
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 see the alien moon bases. Maybe we can
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 finally put that story to bed for once
00:08:20 --> 00:08:21 and for all.
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 >> You love your conspiracy theories, don't
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 you, Avery? Let's move on.
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 >> And then they come home. Then they come
00:08:27 --> 00:08:31 home, a journey of more than 96 hours
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 back to Earth with a splashdown in the
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 Pacific Ocean planned for Friday, April
00:08:36 --> 00:08:41 10th. That re-entry will be at 25
00:08:41 --> 00:08:45 mph. And Orion will use a skip entry
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 technique, dipping into the atmosphere,
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 bouncing back into space, then coming in
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 again, bleeding off speed and heat in
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 stages. We'll be covering every step of
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 it right here on Astronomy Daily.
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 >> Here's something that didn't get a lot
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 of attention in all the launch
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 excitement, and we think it deserves its
00:09:05 --> 00:09:08 moment. The hitchhikers.
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 >> About 5 hours after launch, a series of
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 tiny satellites, cubats, roughly the
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 size of a shoe box, deployed from the
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 Aremis 2 spacecraft at one minute
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 intervals. four of them supplied by
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 space agencies from Germany, South
00:09:24 --> 00:09:28 Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 >> That's genuinely international. This
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 isn't just an American mission. It's a
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 mission that's carrying science from
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 four continents into deep space.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 >> Germany's contribution is called Teelis,
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 and it's studying how space affects
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 electrical components that could be used
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 in future lunar vehicles. Think of it as
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 stress testing the hardware that might
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 one day drive a rover across the moon.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:54 >> And then there's the one I find
00:09:54 --> 00:09:58 absolutely fascinating. Krad Cube
00:09:58 --> 00:10:02 Cube contains humanlike tissue organ on
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 a chip technology designed to measure
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 the effects of space radiation as the
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 spacecraft passes through the Van Allen
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 belts. Those are the two zones of
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 intense radiation that surround Earth
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 produced by trapped solar particles.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:19 >> So, we're essentially sending a tiny
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 laboratory of human tissue through the
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 most radioactive region near Earth to
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 understand what that does to biology,
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 >> which directly informs how we protect
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 future crews, not just on Artemis 3 and
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 beyond, but eventually on missions to
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 Mars. It's one of those stories where
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 the scale of what's being deployed is
00:10:40 --> 00:10:44 tiny, but the implications are enormous.
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 >> The universe in a shoe box.
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 >> We can't close today's episode without
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 acknowledging the cosmic coincidence
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 that made last night feel almost
00:10:53 --> 00:10:54 scripted.
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 >> The pink moon. April's full moon, known
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 as the pink moon, reached its peak at
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 10:12 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday night,
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 just hours after the Aremis 2 launch
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 window opened, the moon itself rose full
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 and luminous over the eastern horizon.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 >> Humanity launched towards the moon under
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 a full moon. I mean, come on. The pink
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 moon gets its name from the wild flower
00:11:20 --> 00:11:24 called moss pink or flocks subulada
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 which blooms across North America around
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 this time each spring. Various
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 indigenous communities have their own
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 names for it. The flower moon, the
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 windbreak moon, the frog moon.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 >> And tonight, Thursday, April 2nd, it's
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 still visible. If you're out after dark,
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 look east at dusk. It'll be hard to
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 miss. For our southern hemisphere
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 listeners, and there are plenty of you,
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 look north toward the moon rising in
00:11:49 --> 00:11:53 your eastern sky. The same moon our four
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 astronauts are right now h hurtling
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 toward at thousands of miles hour.
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 >> That shared view, us looking up, them
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 looking down, is one of my favorite
00:12:03 --> 00:12:05 things about space exploration. We're
00:12:05 --> 00:12:06 all part of it.
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 >> That's our special Artemis 2 launch day
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 edition of Astronomy Daily. What a day
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 to be alive and what a day to be
00:12:14 --> 00:12:15 listening.
00:12:15 --> 00:12:16 >> We'll be back tomorrow with the latest
00:12:16 --> 00:12:19 from the mission covering that TLI burn
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 result, any updates from the crew aboard
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 Integrity, and whatever else the
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 universe decides to throw at us.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 >> If today's episode moved you, if you
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 felt something when that rocket left the
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 pad, share it. Tell someone. This is a
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 moment worth talking about. from Anna
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 and Avery at Astronomy Daily. Keep
00:12:39 --> 00:12:39 looking up
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 >> and to read Victor, Christina, and
00:12:42 --> 00:12:46 Jeremy. Safe travels. We'll be watching
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 >> Daily
00:12:48 --> 00:12:56 Stories.
00:12:56 --> 00:13:04 Stories told.
00:13:04 --> 00:13:08 Stories for told.