1 00:00:11,060 --> 00:00:16,700 Four astronauts have just flown around the Moon on Artemis II. 2 00:00:16,700 --> 00:00:19,460 They travelled one million kilometres, 3 00:00:19,460 --> 00:00:24,220 going deeper into space than any humans have gone before. 4 00:00:24,220 --> 00:00:25,940 - Wow. - It's indescribable. 5 00:00:25,940 --> 00:00:27,580 There's no adjectives. 6 00:00:27,580 --> 00:00:29,820 I'm going to need to invent some new ones. 7 00:00:29,820 --> 00:00:34,180 - They returned to Earth at 32 times the speed of sound. 8 00:00:37,420 --> 00:00:39,700 - Your Artemis II crew! 9 00:00:39,700 --> 00:00:41,660 - APPLAUSE 10 00:00:41,660 --> 00:00:43,260 For three and a half years, 11 00:00:43,260 --> 00:00:47,980 we've been filming behind the scenes of Artemis II, 12 00:00:47,980 --> 00:00:52,260 Nasa's most important mission in half a century. 13 00:00:52,260 --> 00:00:54,580 - I call it the arrogance of humanity. 14 00:00:54,580 --> 00:00:58,300 The fact that we think we can assemble machinery like this 15 00:00:58,300 --> 00:01:00,220 and launch it successfully, 16 00:01:00,220 --> 00:01:02,780 it just leaves you with a sense of awe. 17 00:01:02,780 --> 00:01:06,340 - Three, two, one, launch. 18 00:01:07,580 --> 00:01:10,380 - Sending astronauts to the Moon and back 19 00:01:10,380 --> 00:01:13,140 is expensive, complex and dangerous. 20 00:01:14,860 --> 00:01:16,820 - Space flight is risky, 21 00:01:16,820 --> 00:01:19,900 so what you're trying to do is minimise that risk. 22 00:01:21,300 --> 00:01:23,540 - Everything has to happen perfectly. 23 00:01:23,540 --> 00:01:26,580 It's not about being hasty, it's about doing it right. 24 00:01:28,060 --> 00:01:31,140 - The unexpected behaviour of the heat shield 25 00:01:31,140 --> 00:01:35,780 poses a significant risk to the safety of future crewed missions. 26 00:01:38,260 --> 00:01:41,180 - For the last decade, thousands of engineers 27 00:01:41,180 --> 00:01:44,260 have been working on the Artemis programme, 28 00:01:44,260 --> 00:01:47,860 building a rocket powered by liquid hydrogen 29 00:01:47,860 --> 00:01:50,180 that won't blow up at launch... 30 00:01:51,940 --> 00:01:55,700 - 90% of the entire mass that we've got is chemical energy, 31 00:01:55,700 --> 00:01:58,300 and we continually accelerate. 32 00:01:58,300 --> 00:02:03,260 - ..perfecting a capsule that can get back from the Moon safely... 33 00:02:03,260 --> 00:02:04,820 - Ready to test? 34 00:02:06,980 --> 00:02:08,380 - Yes! 35 00:02:11,980 --> 00:02:17,260 - ..paving the way for astronauts to inhabit a permanent Moon base. 36 00:02:17,260 --> 00:02:20,740 - We are actually making science fiction a reality, 37 00:02:20,740 --> 00:02:22,940 and it's happening as we speak. 38 00:02:24,300 --> 00:02:26,900 - At the dawn of a new space age, 39 00:02:26,900 --> 00:02:30,420 the pressure is on to go back to the Moon. 40 00:02:30,420 --> 00:02:32,900 - Five, 41 00:02:32,900 --> 00:02:34,900 four, 42 00:02:34,900 --> 00:02:36,820 three, 43 00:02:36,820 --> 00:02:39,100 two, 44 00:02:39,100 --> 00:02:40,180 one. 45 00:02:58,100 --> 00:03:01,780 - Three and a half years before the launch of Artemis II, 46 00:03:01,780 --> 00:03:03,700 NASA launches Artemis I. 47 00:03:05,820 --> 00:03:10,820 A test flight to the Moon and back without astronauts on board. 48 00:03:13,820 --> 00:03:17,860 - There are things that we've done many times in sims, 49 00:03:17,860 --> 00:03:21,020 and we've done them many times in the lab. 50 00:03:21,020 --> 00:03:26,100 But in a tanked configuration at the pad, it was the first time. 51 00:03:28,900 --> 00:03:31,300 It is incredibly quiet in the room. 52 00:03:33,940 --> 00:03:36,540 Everybody is focused on their system. 53 00:03:36,540 --> 00:03:38,260 They're focused on the data. 54 00:03:40,780 --> 00:03:43,260 I mean, there's not a sound. 55 00:03:44,780 --> 00:03:51,260 - It's the first flight of the Space Launch System, SLS, 56 00:03:51,260 --> 00:03:54,540 the rocket specially built for the Artemis programme. 57 00:03:55,900 --> 00:03:59,020 2.2 million kilograms of fuel 58 00:03:59,020 --> 00:04:04,460 have to ignite on cue to lift the rocket into space. 59 00:04:06,500 --> 00:04:09,980 - Rockets are insanely complex vehicles. 60 00:04:09,980 --> 00:04:12,860 Everything has to go right for it to succeed. 61 00:04:12,860 --> 00:04:15,140 And if a single important thing goes wrong, 62 00:04:15,140 --> 00:04:16,340 the rocket blows up. 63 00:04:16,340 --> 00:04:19,940 I mean, it is the ultimate kind of pass-fail test. 64 00:04:19,940 --> 00:04:24,780 - At this time, I give you a go to resume count and launch Artemis I. 65 00:04:30,220 --> 00:04:32,660 - A huge crowd has come to watch the launch. 66 00:04:32,660 --> 00:04:36,420 Among them, some of the hundreds of engineers 67 00:04:36,420 --> 00:04:39,500 that have worked on the Artemis hardware. 68 00:04:39,500 --> 00:04:40,900 - Three minutes. 69 00:04:40,900 --> 00:04:45,340 Less than three minutes from launching. 70 00:04:45,340 --> 00:04:49,140 In a few minutes, she's going to light up back there. 71 00:04:49,140 --> 00:04:52,140 She's one of these dots, right? There she is. 72 00:04:52,140 --> 00:04:54,780 Oh, my gosh. 73 00:04:54,780 --> 00:04:58,500 Oh, my gosh. This is happening. This is happening. 74 00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:03,220 I have been working with Artemis since 2012. 75 00:05:03,220 --> 00:05:06,580 So that is literally ten years. 76 00:05:06,580 --> 00:05:10,300 A decade of my life has been dedicated to Artemis. 77 00:05:10,300 --> 00:05:13,500 Waiting for this moment. 78 00:05:13,500 --> 00:05:15,620 I'm just so beyond excited. 79 00:05:18,300 --> 00:05:22,740 - Watching on are members of Nasa's 50-strong astronaut corps. 80 00:05:23,780 --> 00:05:28,380 None of them yet knows who'll be chosen to fly on Artemis II. 81 00:05:30,100 --> 00:05:33,020 - Even when I finally got selected to be an astronaut, 82 00:05:33,020 --> 00:05:36,300 the Moon seemed still incredibly far away. 83 00:05:36,300 --> 00:05:40,460 Now that we are actually starting to fly these missions, 84 00:05:40,460 --> 00:05:42,460 it's started to become real. 85 00:05:42,460 --> 00:05:44,380 - And here we go. - Ten... 86 00:05:46,820 --> 00:05:48,380 - I got a bit of a... 87 00:05:48,380 --> 00:05:51,100 The hair on my arm stood up just a little bit 88 00:05:51,100 --> 00:05:55,980 as those final six seconds ticked off the countdown clock. 89 00:05:55,980 --> 00:05:59,500 - Six, five, core stage engine start. 90 00:06:00,740 --> 00:06:02,300 - And then the call. 91 00:06:02,300 --> 00:06:06,500 "Booster ignition and lift-off." 92 00:06:06,500 --> 00:06:08,300 - Three, two, one... 93 00:06:08,300 --> 00:06:10,660 - Lift-off of Artemis I. 94 00:06:17,300 --> 00:06:18,660 - Oh, my God! 95 00:06:20,180 --> 00:06:24,140 - We rise together back to the Moon and beyond. 96 00:06:26,460 --> 00:06:29,100 - Wow, that is bright, 97 00:06:29,100 --> 00:06:31,020 and that is hauling off the pad. 98 00:06:31,020 --> 00:06:34,300 - Oh, my God. It's really hard to look at. I can't even look at it! - Yeah. 99 00:06:47,260 --> 00:06:48,660 - Oh, my God. 100 00:06:59,380 --> 00:07:01,060 Mummy worked on that. 101 00:07:01,060 --> 00:07:02,820 Isn't that cool? 102 00:07:09,100 --> 00:07:10,660 - Woohoo! 103 00:07:14,380 --> 00:07:16,660 Outstanding. 104 00:07:20,420 --> 00:07:21,500 - It was... 105 00:07:23,220 --> 00:07:25,340 It was breathtaking. 106 00:07:33,700 --> 00:07:36,220 - Good control on the roll from teams in Mission Control Houston. 107 00:07:36,220 --> 00:07:37,460 All good calls so far. 108 00:07:37,460 --> 00:07:39,900 Now 30 seconds into the flight for Artemis I. 109 00:07:42,140 --> 00:07:45,020 - The SLS is a multi-stage rocket. 110 00:07:46,580 --> 00:07:50,020 Once each stage has done its job, it separates. 111 00:07:54,460 --> 00:07:56,820 The spacecraft becomes lighter, 112 00:07:56,820 --> 00:07:59,700 better able to accelerate away from Earth. 113 00:08:08,620 --> 00:08:11,820 Within two hours, all that remains are the crew 114 00:08:11,820 --> 00:08:17,340 and service modules, known as Orion, heading into deep space. 115 00:08:20,340 --> 00:08:24,060 It takes five days for Orion to reach the Moon, 116 00:08:24,060 --> 00:08:28,100 where it settles into a distant lunar orbit, 117 00:08:28,100 --> 00:08:33,220 allowing mission controllers to test the flight systems of Artemis I. 118 00:08:35,780 --> 00:08:40,540 - For me, one of the highlights was seeing the Earth 119 00:08:40,540 --> 00:08:42,780 pass behind the Moon 120 00:08:42,780 --> 00:08:45,140 and disappear and then come out the other side. 121 00:08:47,660 --> 00:08:51,500 8 billion people disappeared behind 122 00:08:51,500 --> 00:08:54,420 the only other place that humanity had ever been. 123 00:08:57,500 --> 00:08:59,060 I've had a different perspective 124 00:08:59,060 --> 00:09:01,180 every time I've looked at the Moon since then. 125 00:09:03,140 --> 00:09:07,460 - Nasa's newest Moon explorer is barrelling its way back home 126 00:09:07,460 --> 00:09:09,940 after circumnavigating the Moon and beyond. 127 00:09:12,060 --> 00:09:13,820 - Returning from the Moon, 128 00:09:13,820 --> 00:09:16,940 the capsule is travelling 7,000mph faster 129 00:09:16,940 --> 00:09:21,500 than if coming back from the International Space Station. 130 00:09:21,500 --> 00:09:24,060 As it hits the upper atmosphere, 131 00:09:24,060 --> 00:09:28,460 friction generates intense heat and super hot plasma, 132 00:09:28,460 --> 00:09:31,500 visible through the capsule window. 133 00:09:34,260 --> 00:09:36,980 The only protection from this inferno 134 00:09:36,980 --> 00:09:40,260 is a heat shield just 4cm thick. 135 00:09:42,460 --> 00:09:45,620 - Demonstrating the heat shield at lunar re-entry velocities 136 00:09:45,620 --> 00:09:47,700 was our number one priority, 137 00:09:47,700 --> 00:09:51,660 because temperatures outside got half as hot as the Sun, 138 00:09:51,660 --> 00:09:54,300 approaching 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. 139 00:09:57,780 --> 00:09:59,780 When you come back from the Moon, 140 00:09:59,780 --> 00:10:04,060 you're coming back at Mach 32, or 24,500 miles an hour. 141 00:10:04,060 --> 00:10:07,580 In fact, we came back at 24,581 miles an hour. 142 00:10:07,580 --> 00:10:09,660 We were 81 miles an hour over the speed limit. 143 00:10:11,660 --> 00:10:14,180 - And there it is, 144 00:10:14,180 --> 00:10:15,260 5,000ft. 145 00:10:18,300 --> 00:10:20,660 Three good main chutes for Orion. 146 00:10:23,300 --> 00:10:25,980 Orion in the perfect orientation for splashdown. 147 00:10:30,140 --> 00:10:31,380 Splashdown. 148 00:10:35,500 --> 00:10:40,020 - The idea for Artemis II is to go back to the Moon, 149 00:10:40,020 --> 00:10:43,140 but this time with a crew of astronauts on board. 150 00:10:44,900 --> 00:10:50,460 They'll do a single wide loop, flying 7,000km beyond the Moon, 151 00:10:50,460 --> 00:10:54,580 the furthest any humans have ever been into space, 152 00:10:54,580 --> 00:10:57,340 before returning back to Earth. 153 00:10:59,220 --> 00:11:01,260 - Artemis I was about testing the hardware, 154 00:11:01,260 --> 00:11:02,900 making sure that everything would work 155 00:11:02,900 --> 00:11:04,820 going to the Moon and back. 156 00:11:04,820 --> 00:11:07,980 Now they're putting people on board, and people, of course, 157 00:11:07,980 --> 00:11:10,700 there is a sense of danger, a sense of trepidation. 158 00:11:10,700 --> 00:11:12,900 We need to keep the people safe. 159 00:11:12,900 --> 00:11:15,820 - It just amps up the safety factor, right? 160 00:11:15,820 --> 00:11:18,620 With Artemis I, a failure would be bad, right? 161 00:11:18,620 --> 00:11:20,900 But it wouldn't have been catastrophic. 162 00:11:20,900 --> 00:11:24,020 If you lose the human crew on Artemis II, that is catastrophic. 163 00:11:24,020 --> 00:11:26,740 That calls into question the future of the whole Artemis programme. 164 00:11:30,780 --> 00:11:37,660 - It's a new era of pioneers, star sailors and adventurers. 165 00:11:46,100 --> 00:11:48,460 - APPLAUSE 166 00:11:48,460 --> 00:11:52,140 With so much riding on the safety of the astronauts, 167 00:11:52,140 --> 00:11:58,020 NASA holds a stage managed event to unveil the crew of Artemis II. 168 00:11:58,020 --> 00:12:00,740 - She's no stranger to breaking records, 169 00:12:00,740 --> 00:12:05,580 logging the longest continuous space flight ever by a woman. 170 00:12:05,580 --> 00:12:09,820 Your mission specialist, Christina Hammock Koch. 171 00:12:12,340 --> 00:12:17,460 - I am someone who has loved exploration since I was little. 172 00:12:20,300 --> 00:12:22,700 I used to be inspired by the night sky, 173 00:12:22,700 --> 00:12:26,300 and I loved things that made me ponder the size of the universe, 174 00:12:26,300 --> 00:12:29,700 my place in it, and everything that was out there to explore. 175 00:12:31,340 --> 00:12:36,700 - He's an F-18 pilot and a Canadian astronaut, Jeremy Hansen. 176 00:12:37,940 --> 00:12:41,820 - I was interested in aviation as a young child, 177 00:12:41,820 --> 00:12:45,700 and I specifically remember coming across a picture 178 00:12:45,700 --> 00:12:48,060 of a human standing on the Moon, 179 00:12:48,060 --> 00:12:50,460 and it's still burnt in my brain. 180 00:12:50,460 --> 00:12:54,020 And so this really is full circle for me, going to the Moon. 181 00:12:55,180 --> 00:13:01,060 - He's a naval aviator that's flown over 40 different aircraft, 182 00:13:01,060 --> 00:13:02,700 Victor Glover. 183 00:13:04,780 --> 00:13:08,100 - I have fantasised about stepping on the Moon. It's my dream. 184 00:13:10,780 --> 00:13:13,020 They call things moonshots, 185 00:13:13,020 --> 00:13:16,220 when people accomplish something amazing. 186 00:13:16,220 --> 00:13:20,540 It's our generation's opportunity to have our own literal moonshot. 187 00:13:21,780 --> 00:13:28,740 - He is a decorated test pilot and leader of the highest character, 188 00:13:28,740 --> 00:13:29,940 Reid Wiseman. 189 00:13:31,980 --> 00:13:34,020 - Our boss at the time set up a fake meeting 190 00:13:34,020 --> 00:13:36,020 over at the quarantine facility. 191 00:13:37,060 --> 00:13:39,780 I dial in and as soon as I dialled in and I saw the director 192 00:13:39,780 --> 00:13:41,580 of flight operations, I was like, 193 00:13:41,580 --> 00:13:43,540 "Oh, this is not any normal meeting." 194 00:13:43,540 --> 00:13:45,180 And then they went into 195 00:13:45,180 --> 00:13:47,380 "would you would you like to fly on Artemis II?" 196 00:13:47,380 --> 00:13:49,980 And that's kind of the way they always do it, with a question. 197 00:13:49,980 --> 00:13:52,540 And no-one's ever going to answer, "No." 198 00:13:53,660 --> 00:13:55,940 - Your Artemis II crew! 199 00:13:55,940 --> 00:13:59,540 - APPLAUSE 200 00:14:00,980 --> 00:14:04,100 - We know you can run, man. You went up those stairs. 201 00:14:06,940 --> 00:14:08,420 Dude. 202 00:14:08,420 --> 00:14:14,140 - These will be the first humans to fly to the Moon since December 1972. 203 00:14:15,380 --> 00:14:16,940 Apollo 17. 204 00:14:16,940 --> 00:14:19,460 - Jack, do you read me? - Yeah. 205 00:14:19,460 --> 00:14:21,940 - Hello, Houston. 206 00:14:21,940 --> 00:14:23,180 - 17, loud and clear. 207 00:14:24,620 --> 00:14:27,140 - Hippity, hoppity, hippity, hoppity, 208 00:14:27,140 --> 00:14:29,580 hippity hopping over hill and dale. 209 00:14:31,540 --> 00:14:35,140 - Artemis intrinsically builds on the legacy of Apollo. 210 00:14:36,300 --> 00:14:38,180 We stand on the shoulders of giants 211 00:14:38,180 --> 00:14:40,180 and we've learnt so much in human exploration. 212 00:14:40,180 --> 00:14:42,940 But, of course, returning to the Moon when we haven't done that 213 00:14:42,940 --> 00:14:46,620 for over 50 years, we are looking back to Apollo. 214 00:14:46,620 --> 00:14:49,060 We're making those comparisons. 215 00:14:49,060 --> 00:14:51,300 - By golly, this time goes fast. 216 00:14:52,780 --> 00:14:55,820 - Apollo was clearly a programme designed 217 00:14:55,820 --> 00:14:59,940 to demonstrate US superiority in technology compared to 218 00:14:59,940 --> 00:15:02,500 the Soviet Union, and it was successful in that. 219 00:15:02,500 --> 00:15:04,060 And then once it completed that task, 220 00:15:04,060 --> 00:15:06,460 they shut it down, because it cost a lot of money 221 00:15:06,460 --> 00:15:07,780 and every time they launched, 222 00:15:07,780 --> 00:15:12,100 there was a 10 or 15% chance that the crew would not come back safely. 223 00:15:14,420 --> 00:15:17,460 - Over the course of three and a half years, 224 00:15:17,460 --> 00:15:21,580 the Apollo programme completed a total of six lunar landings... 225 00:15:23,660 --> 00:15:28,380 ..at a cost equivalent to $280 billion today. 226 00:15:32,700 --> 00:15:38,220 - We leave as we came, and God willing, as we shall return, 227 00:15:38,220 --> 00:15:43,100 with peace and hope for all mankind. 228 00:15:44,900 --> 00:15:48,460 - If you look at Nasa's budget in the 1960s, 229 00:15:48,460 --> 00:15:52,020 at its peak, it was drawing down 5% of the federal budget. 230 00:15:52,020 --> 00:15:55,220 Nasa's budget today is 0.5%. 231 00:15:55,220 --> 00:16:00,740 So ten times less or one tenth of what it was back in the 1960s. 232 00:16:00,740 --> 00:16:03,340 And NASA is sort of building the Artemis programme 233 00:16:03,340 --> 00:16:04,700 within that budget. 234 00:16:16,740 --> 00:16:20,180 - Despite having much less money, the long-term ambition 235 00:16:20,180 --> 00:16:23,500 for Artemis far exceeds that of Apollo. 236 00:16:26,500 --> 00:16:30,700 Rather than landing astronauts for a few days at a time, 237 00:16:30,700 --> 00:16:34,260 the goal is to establish a permanent Moon base... 238 00:16:36,100 --> 00:16:40,900 ..a stepping stone to explore Mars and the rest of the solar system. 239 00:16:48,700 --> 00:16:51,620 Although Artemis II won't land on the Moon, 240 00:16:51,620 --> 00:16:55,940 Victor Glover is part of the team prepping for future missions 241 00:16:55,940 --> 00:16:59,980 when astronauts will set foot again on the lunar surface. 242 00:17:01,540 --> 00:17:03,540 - All right, you guys ready to go in the water? 243 00:17:04,700 --> 00:17:06,380 - Give me two, ready. - Copy that. 244 00:17:07,380 --> 00:17:12,260 - Today's task is to simulate a moonwalk underwater, 245 00:17:12,260 --> 00:17:16,620 testing the new spacesuit being developed for lunar exploration. 246 00:17:20,020 --> 00:17:23,780 Glover is familiar with the sensation of being weightless, 247 00:17:23,780 --> 00:17:27,860 having carried out four spacewalks at the International Space Station. 248 00:17:30,300 --> 00:17:31,540 But this is different. 249 00:17:32,860 --> 00:17:34,980 On the Moon there is gravity, 250 00:17:34,980 --> 00:17:37,780 but it's six times weaker than on Earth. 251 00:17:39,420 --> 00:17:42,420 - Anything that, say, weighs 100lb on Earth 252 00:17:42,420 --> 00:17:45,940 would weigh one sixth that on the Moon's surface. 253 00:17:47,540 --> 00:17:49,980 Also, the suit itself is filled with air, 254 00:17:49,980 --> 00:17:51,260 and air is buoyant, 255 00:17:51,260 --> 00:17:54,220 so you're inside of a balloon at the bottom of the pool, 256 00:17:54,220 --> 00:17:57,140 and you have to add weight to it in specific places, 257 00:17:57,140 --> 00:17:59,900 such that you don't do a flip, for instance, 258 00:17:59,900 --> 00:18:01,420 as soon as you start to, 259 00:18:01,420 --> 00:18:04,140 you know, outstretch your arms or start to walk around. 260 00:18:06,140 --> 00:18:09,220 - Hey, Victor, I'm just going to suggest you use this time 261 00:18:09,220 --> 00:18:10,860 to exercise the joints on the suit, 262 00:18:10,860 --> 00:18:13,420 just to get a feel for how those move. 263 00:18:16,220 --> 00:18:18,660 - As you kneel down, you're not only balancing 264 00:18:18,660 --> 00:18:20,460 and holding up your weight, 265 00:18:20,460 --> 00:18:25,340 you're also moving a big suit that only bends in certain places. 266 00:18:25,340 --> 00:18:28,300 And so that joint wants to move my leg a certain way. 267 00:18:28,300 --> 00:18:33,340 And so I had to take my time and let the suit move, let my body move. 268 00:18:33,340 --> 00:18:35,860 But it was good. 269 00:18:38,540 --> 00:18:40,260 - Approaching the moon surface. 270 00:18:43,220 --> 00:18:45,140 - APPLAUSE 271 00:18:48,140 --> 00:18:51,460 On the same day, India lands an uncrewed 272 00:18:51,460 --> 00:18:54,060 spacecraft on the moon - 273 00:18:54,060 --> 00:18:57,660 the first successful landing at the lunar south pole. 274 00:19:01,220 --> 00:19:02,900 - The Vikram is India's lander 275 00:19:02,900 --> 00:19:05,380 that they attempted to get on the surface of the Moon today. 276 00:19:05,380 --> 00:19:07,460 And so I actually was going to jump out of the pool 277 00:19:07,460 --> 00:19:09,620 and go check my phone to see if they were successful. 278 00:19:09,620 --> 00:19:10,980 I'm hearing that they were, 279 00:19:10,980 --> 00:19:13,420 but I haven't read the news myself yet. 280 00:19:13,420 --> 00:19:16,580 - They were. - Awesome. Well, congratulations to India. 281 00:19:16,580 --> 00:19:19,060 That's a big accomplishment, major. 282 00:19:21,380 --> 00:19:24,460 - A rover rolls out of the Vikram lander 283 00:19:24,460 --> 00:19:27,540 and starts exploring the south pole. 284 00:19:29,340 --> 00:19:33,300 This is the same area of the moon being targeted by NASA 285 00:19:33,300 --> 00:19:35,540 for future Artemis missions. 286 00:19:37,820 --> 00:19:42,020 During the Apollo programme, each landing was at a different site 287 00:19:42,020 --> 00:19:44,300 clustered around the lunar equator. 288 00:19:46,500 --> 00:19:49,220 The plan for all future Artemis missions 289 00:19:49,220 --> 00:19:51,820 is to land near the south pole. 290 00:19:53,580 --> 00:19:57,980 This part of the Moon has deep craters where the sun never shines. 291 00:19:57,980 --> 00:20:01,580 They're thought to contain huge deposits of water 292 00:20:01,580 --> 00:20:02,940 in the form of ice. 293 00:20:04,140 --> 00:20:05,380 - Where you have ice, 294 00:20:05,380 --> 00:20:09,220 you have the ability to melt that and provide drinking water 295 00:20:09,220 --> 00:20:13,300 clearly for habitation modules, but also then the potential to split 296 00:20:13,300 --> 00:20:16,660 that water into hydrogen and oxygen gas, 297 00:20:16,660 --> 00:20:18,820 which can be used for atmosphere, 298 00:20:18,820 --> 00:20:21,500 and it can also be used for potential rocket fuel. 299 00:20:23,380 --> 00:20:26,860 - With other countries eyeing up the same real estate, 300 00:20:26,860 --> 00:20:31,300 NASA needs to get its astronauts to the Moon as soon as possible 301 00:20:31,300 --> 00:20:35,620 and stake its own claim to the lunar south pole. 302 00:20:35,620 --> 00:20:37,020 - Isn't it time to get a move on? 303 00:20:37,020 --> 00:20:40,260 - We are getting a move on. Trust me, we are whipping the ponies. 304 00:20:40,260 --> 00:20:41,980 And you don't want to run too fast, right? 305 00:20:41,980 --> 00:20:44,620 It's not about being hasty, it's about doing it right. 306 00:20:44,620 --> 00:20:46,260 And like I said, I'm not in a rush. 307 00:20:46,260 --> 00:20:49,020 We had a saying in Navy test flying - if you want it bad, 308 00:20:49,020 --> 00:20:50,940 you get it bad. And these spacecraft, 309 00:20:50,940 --> 00:20:52,740 everything has to happen perfectly. 310 00:20:52,740 --> 00:20:54,620 We've got a lot of things that have to go perfectly 311 00:20:54,620 --> 00:20:56,460 to get us to the Moon and back safely. 312 00:20:56,460 --> 00:20:59,940 So for Artemis II, I want it to go at the pace that it needs to go, 313 00:20:59,940 --> 00:21:02,900 and that's going to be the best thing that we can do to ensure 314 00:21:02,900 --> 00:21:05,860 Artemis III is a success - or whatever mission 315 00:21:05,860 --> 00:21:08,340 we actually put humans on the surface of the Moon. 316 00:21:10,740 --> 00:21:15,100 - At over 3,000 sites across the US and in Europe, 317 00:21:15,100 --> 00:21:18,980 engineers are developing hardware for the Artemis II mission. 318 00:21:23,420 --> 00:21:26,700 They're building a rocket capable of sending astronauts 319 00:21:26,700 --> 00:21:31,100 to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era. 320 00:21:36,420 --> 00:21:40,940 That rocket is the Space Launch System - SLS. 321 00:21:40,940 --> 00:21:45,700 Its huge core stage contains the fuel tanks and main engines. 322 00:21:48,500 --> 00:21:51,140 Alongside are two solid fuel boosters 323 00:21:51,140 --> 00:21:53,580 to provide extra thrust at launch. 324 00:21:54,900 --> 00:21:57,220 Above is the upper stage, 325 00:21:57,220 --> 00:22:01,660 and then the service module that power the vehicle in space. 326 00:22:03,740 --> 00:22:06,780 And finally, the Orion crew module, 327 00:22:06,780 --> 00:22:09,420 which will carry the astronauts to the Moon. 328 00:22:14,860 --> 00:22:16,580 Since the 1960s, 329 00:22:16,580 --> 00:22:18,580 NASA rockets have been designed 330 00:22:18,580 --> 00:22:23,220 and engineered here at Marshall Space Flight Center. 331 00:22:23,220 --> 00:22:25,820 NEWSREEL: - Out of this centre will come the vehicles 332 00:22:25,820 --> 00:22:30,020 that will carry the United States into outer space. 333 00:22:36,340 --> 00:22:38,940 - The challenge for any rocket engineer 334 00:22:38,940 --> 00:22:41,500 is to balance the rocket equation... 335 00:22:42,860 --> 00:22:45,980 ..which determines the ratio of fuel 336 00:22:45,980 --> 00:22:50,540 to mass to thrust needed for a successful launch. 337 00:22:52,300 --> 00:22:54,060 - Physics doesn't read PowerPoint. 338 00:22:54,060 --> 00:22:55,340 It doesn't read our reports. 339 00:22:55,340 --> 00:22:56,900 It doesn't care about any of that. 340 00:22:56,900 --> 00:22:59,380 So the rocket equation is simply a representation 341 00:22:59,380 --> 00:23:02,140 of the physical requirements to cheat gravity. 342 00:23:03,820 --> 00:23:09,020 - The tyranny of the rocket equation is that heavy rockets require more 343 00:23:09,020 --> 00:23:15,100 fuel, but more fuel makes rockets heavier, requiring even more fuel. 344 00:23:17,060 --> 00:23:21,660 A fully loaded SLS weighs 2.6 million kg, 345 00:23:21,660 --> 00:23:25,660 of which 2.3 million is fuel. 346 00:23:25,660 --> 00:23:29,140 - 90% of the entire mass that we've got is chemical energy, 347 00:23:29,140 --> 00:23:32,220 and a good bit of the rest of that mass is actually structured 348 00:23:32,220 --> 00:23:33,780 to hold that chemical energy. 349 00:23:34,980 --> 00:23:39,740 We're going from zero velocity sitting on the launchpad 350 00:23:39,740 --> 00:23:41,900 to 32,000ft per second. 351 00:23:43,020 --> 00:23:45,500 That's an incredible energy ride, 352 00:23:45,500 --> 00:23:47,500 so we continually accelerate. 353 00:23:49,620 --> 00:23:52,060 So this is like no other kind of atmospheric machine. 354 00:23:52,060 --> 00:23:54,060 It's not like aeroplanes. It's not like cars. 355 00:23:54,060 --> 00:23:56,620 We don't get to a cruising speed and stop. 356 00:23:57,660 --> 00:23:59,780 And so we designed for every iteration 357 00:23:59,780 --> 00:24:03,260 that could occur between lift-off and orbit. 358 00:24:09,860 --> 00:24:13,900 - The rocket's journey into space is another engineering challenge. 359 00:24:15,340 --> 00:24:18,620 At Marshall, they still test aerodynamics 360 00:24:18,620 --> 00:24:22,220 using a wind tunnel built during the Apollo era. 361 00:24:23,740 --> 00:24:27,940 By inserting a scale model of the SLS into the tunnel 362 00:24:27,940 --> 00:24:29,940 and blowing air over it, 363 00:24:29,940 --> 00:24:33,300 it's possible to analyse the forces acting on the rocket 364 00:24:33,300 --> 00:24:38,300 as it accelerates through Earth's atmosphere on its way into space. 365 00:24:41,780 --> 00:24:44,180 - This is 25,000 to 50,000ft, 366 00:24:44,180 --> 00:24:46,660 and air molecules pile up on each other. 367 00:24:46,660 --> 00:24:49,900 They create a very dense layer of air. 368 00:24:49,900 --> 00:24:51,820 And so that's what we call a shock wave. 369 00:24:51,820 --> 00:24:55,260 And so once we get supersonic, we'll see these all over the vehicle. 370 00:24:57,740 --> 00:25:01,340 That dictates our stability in our control system, and this gives us 371 00:25:01,340 --> 00:25:04,300 all the data that we need in order to control the rocket. 372 00:25:07,620 --> 00:25:11,340 - Such data can be used to plot every second of the journey... 373 00:25:13,260 --> 00:25:16,500 ..ensuring the smoothest and safest ride into orbit. 374 00:25:17,540 --> 00:25:19,940 - There's a joke around Marshall Space Flight Center 375 00:25:19,940 --> 00:25:22,820 that in God we trust, everybody else bring data. 376 00:25:33,580 --> 00:25:36,020 - On the outskirts of New Orleans, 377 00:25:36,020 --> 00:25:40,220 Artemis II has gone from its design phase into assembly. 378 00:25:44,220 --> 00:25:48,140 65m long, the core stage of the SLS 379 00:25:48,140 --> 00:25:52,260 is the largest single rocket section NASA has ever built. 380 00:25:57,980 --> 00:26:00,420 - When you see SLS, you think scale. 381 00:26:00,420 --> 00:26:04,420 You do not understand scale until you go see that thing in real life. 382 00:26:07,540 --> 00:26:10,100 I call it the arrogance of humanity. 383 00:26:10,100 --> 00:26:13,580 The fact that we think we can assemble machinery like this 384 00:26:13,580 --> 00:26:17,620 and launch it successfully, it just leaves you with a sense of awe. 385 00:26:18,940 --> 00:26:21,420 - Three. Two. One. 386 00:26:25,220 --> 00:26:29,580 - The core stage contains two massive aluminium fuel tanks, 387 00:26:29,580 --> 00:26:33,700 which at launch will be filled with liquid hydrogen and oxygen. 388 00:26:36,540 --> 00:26:40,780 Liquid hydrogen generates more thrust than any other rocket fuel... 389 00:26:42,100 --> 00:26:46,540 ..but its molecules are so light and loosely packed together 390 00:26:46,540 --> 00:26:50,020 they require more storage space than any other fuel. 391 00:26:53,020 --> 00:26:55,820 That's why the core stage is so large. 392 00:26:58,580 --> 00:27:01,380 - Liquid hydrogen is the rocket fuel of choice, 393 00:27:01,380 --> 00:27:03,700 and you can see why - it packs a punch. 394 00:27:03,700 --> 00:27:08,060 It will get people to the Moon, but it is incredibly hard to handle. 395 00:27:10,860 --> 00:27:14,500 It needs to be kept at temperatures of -250 Celsius. 396 00:27:15,780 --> 00:27:18,780 The fuel lines, the tank itself, 397 00:27:18,780 --> 00:27:21,340 everything has to be kept at that temperature 398 00:27:21,340 --> 00:27:25,900 or the liquid hydrogen will start to evaporate, to expand. 399 00:27:27,140 --> 00:27:30,620 Now imagine if your liquid hydrogen starts expanding in the tank - 400 00:27:30,620 --> 00:27:33,780 the tank will explode, and so everything has to be kept at that 401 00:27:33,780 --> 00:27:38,060 low, low temperature so that everything stays in its liquid form. 402 00:27:40,460 --> 00:27:44,180 - The space shuttle also used liquid hydrogen as a fuel source... 403 00:27:45,540 --> 00:27:48,020 ..but encountered so many problems 404 00:27:48,020 --> 00:27:51,620 that 60% of all its launches had to be postponed. 405 00:27:53,940 --> 00:27:57,220 The worry is the same thing will happen with Artemis. 406 00:28:01,060 --> 00:28:03,940 - Lift-off of the 25th space shuttle mission, 407 00:28:03,940 --> 00:28:05,900 and it has cleared the tower. 408 00:28:08,420 --> 00:28:10,620 - NASA knows only too well 409 00:28:10,620 --> 00:28:14,260 how dangerous liquid hydrogen can be at launch. 410 00:28:14,260 --> 00:28:18,340 - Normal throttles for most of the flight, 104%. 411 00:28:18,340 --> 00:28:20,300 - Challenger, go at throttle up. 412 00:28:20,300 --> 00:28:21,700 - Roger, go at throttle up. 413 00:28:28,260 --> 00:28:31,780 - With the Challenger space shuttle, a rupture of the fuel tank 414 00:28:31,780 --> 00:28:35,740 caused liquid hydrogen to ignite catastrophically... 415 00:28:37,420 --> 00:28:39,020 - Obviously a major malfunction. 416 00:28:40,500 --> 00:28:43,180 - ..taking the lives of seven astronauts. 417 00:28:47,700 --> 00:28:52,660 The core stage of the SLS is transported 1500km by barge... 418 00:28:54,340 --> 00:28:58,220 ..to Kennedy Space Center, from where it will eventually launch. 419 00:29:00,420 --> 00:29:04,460 On arrival, it's taken to the Vehicle Assembly Building, 420 00:29:04,460 --> 00:29:07,500 the largest single-storey building in the world. 421 00:29:10,060 --> 00:29:14,620 The head of NASA, Bill Nelson, is taking a look for himself. 422 00:29:16,620 --> 00:29:21,300 - That core stage packs a big punch. 423 00:29:21,300 --> 00:29:26,100 8.8 million pounds of thrust 424 00:29:26,100 --> 00:29:30,620 at lift-off in those four engines right there. 425 00:29:30,620 --> 00:29:34,140 By the way, those engines were the same engines 426 00:29:34,140 --> 00:29:36,500 that were on the space shuttle. 427 00:29:39,380 --> 00:29:43,140 But instead of throwing them away, we're using them. 428 00:29:47,980 --> 00:29:52,460 - Rather than inventing a new engine, NASA was mandated by Congress 429 00:29:52,460 --> 00:29:56,940 to recycle and update the RS-25 engines 430 00:29:56,940 --> 00:29:59,540 that had previously powered the space shuttle. 431 00:30:02,260 --> 00:30:07,380 Developed in the 1970s to deliver maximum thrust from liquid hydrogen 432 00:30:07,380 --> 00:30:11,540 fuel, they were known as the Ferrari of rocket engines. 433 00:30:16,060 --> 00:30:21,020 - The space shuttle main engines were great engines, really miraculous. 434 00:30:21,020 --> 00:30:24,660 But it turns out if you want an affordable space programme, 435 00:30:24,660 --> 00:30:27,100 you don't want to be launching Ferraris in space, 436 00:30:27,100 --> 00:30:30,020 especially if you drive it one time and the car goes away. 437 00:30:30,020 --> 00:30:32,620 You know, you want a Toyota that you can drive again 438 00:30:32,620 --> 00:30:34,220 and again and again and again, 439 00:30:34,220 --> 00:30:37,460 and that's really kind of been the big change. 440 00:30:37,460 --> 00:30:40,340 - While the shuttle was designed to be reusable, 441 00:30:40,340 --> 00:30:43,100 the SLS is a single-use rocket. 442 00:30:44,540 --> 00:30:50,060 Each RS-25 engine will be flown only once and then discarded. 443 00:30:52,220 --> 00:30:55,540 A disposable engine at a premium price. 444 00:30:56,940 --> 00:30:59,580 - If you total up all the money that Nasa's spending, 445 00:30:59,580 --> 00:31:02,940 the costs of a single RS-25 engine 446 00:31:02,940 --> 00:31:06,900 is between 100 million and 140 million USD. 447 00:31:10,180 --> 00:31:15,780 SpaceX is building a comparable Raptor engine for $500,000. 448 00:31:15,780 --> 00:31:17,260 Half a million. 449 00:31:22,060 --> 00:31:25,420 - Having committed to the RS-25 engines, 450 00:31:25,420 --> 00:31:29,780 NASA is unable to use new and cheaper options 451 00:31:29,780 --> 00:31:33,500 currently being developed by the commercial space sector. 452 00:31:37,940 --> 00:31:42,340 - Congress basically told NASA that it's going to use contracts, 453 00:31:42,340 --> 00:31:45,660 workforce systems from previous programmes. 454 00:31:47,620 --> 00:31:50,140 It wanted to try and save some money, 455 00:31:50,140 --> 00:31:52,660 probably save some of that expertise. 456 00:31:52,660 --> 00:31:57,340 And so until Congress says NASA can move away from this, 457 00:31:57,340 --> 00:32:00,660 which isn't until at least Artemis V, Nasa's going to keep 458 00:32:00,660 --> 00:32:03,500 flying SLS without reusable engines. 459 00:32:07,140 --> 00:32:10,260 - At the top of the spacecraft sits the Orion capsule, 460 00:32:10,260 --> 00:32:11,740 which carries the crew. 461 00:32:12,780 --> 00:32:16,300 Inside, there's nine cubic metres of space - 462 00:32:16,300 --> 00:32:18,380 the same as a medium-sized camper van. 463 00:32:20,980 --> 00:32:23,020 But before it can go to the Moon, 464 00:32:23,020 --> 00:32:25,820 it needs to be certified ready to fly. 465 00:32:31,460 --> 00:32:35,180 To do this, engineers are running post-flight tests 466 00:32:35,180 --> 00:32:38,060 on the returned capsule from Artemis I. 467 00:32:42,540 --> 00:32:45,460 They start by shaking the capsule, 468 00:32:45,460 --> 00:32:47,820 blasting it with extreme noise... 469 00:32:49,900 --> 00:32:52,980 ..200 times more intense than a jet engine... 470 00:32:54,540 --> 00:32:58,300 ..simulating the most extreme vibrations that might occur 471 00:32:58,300 --> 00:32:59,460 during a mission. 472 00:33:04,780 --> 00:33:07,780 The focus is on the forward bay cover - 473 00:33:07,780 --> 00:33:10,500 the yellow cap at the top of the capsule - 474 00:33:10,500 --> 00:33:14,980 which needs to eject on re-entry so the parachutes can deploy 475 00:33:14,980 --> 00:33:18,260 and the capsule can slow down and land safely. 476 00:33:21,820 --> 00:33:25,580 It's critical that this mechanism works properly on Artemis II. 477 00:33:26,660 --> 00:33:30,140 - It takes less than a second for the pyros 478 00:33:30,140 --> 00:33:32,940 or explosives to separate that cover, 479 00:33:32,940 --> 00:33:35,380 but it takes months to plan, 480 00:33:35,380 --> 00:33:37,620 months to make sure that everything is set up. 481 00:33:37,620 --> 00:33:40,420 Like, we're looking here at a catch system 482 00:33:40,420 --> 00:33:43,340 so the forward bay cover will go into that net, 483 00:33:43,340 --> 00:33:47,260 the bungee cords then will keep a tension so it stays in that. 484 00:33:47,260 --> 00:33:50,140 And then we have very high speed photogrammetry 485 00:33:50,140 --> 00:33:53,300 cameras that are set up with extremely bright lights 486 00:33:53,300 --> 00:33:57,060 that are focused on the hardware so the engineers can analyse it 487 00:33:57,060 --> 00:34:00,060 and see if all the systems are performing as expected. 488 00:34:02,100 --> 00:34:06,380 - If any wires or bolts have come loose from the shaking, 489 00:34:06,380 --> 00:34:08,940 the forward bay cover could malfunction... 490 00:34:10,300 --> 00:34:13,500 ..forcing engineers to rethink the design of the capsule. 491 00:34:16,460 --> 00:34:18,140 - Ready to test? 492 00:34:18,140 --> 00:34:20,540 All right, let's go test. 493 00:34:23,540 --> 00:34:28,260 - Testing does end up requiring more time to be put in 494 00:34:28,260 --> 00:34:31,580 to the design development process of spacecraft. 495 00:34:32,660 --> 00:34:37,540 But it's necessary at both the component level 496 00:34:37,540 --> 00:34:40,060 and all the way up to the entire system level. 497 00:34:41,460 --> 00:34:44,220 That's how we fly spacecraft safely. 498 00:34:46,420 --> 00:34:48,700 - On my mark, I'll fire FBC pyros. 499 00:34:50,900 --> 00:34:52,060 Three. 500 00:34:53,380 --> 00:34:55,140 Two. 501 00:34:55,140 --> 00:34:56,260 One. 502 00:35:01,820 --> 00:35:03,100 - Yes! 503 00:35:03,100 --> 00:35:04,820 - CHEERING 504 00:35:06,380 --> 00:35:09,580 - Confirmation of FBC pyros firing. 505 00:35:09,580 --> 00:35:10,780 - Copy. 506 00:35:14,820 --> 00:35:17,660 - The forward bay cover has detached cleanly. 507 00:35:18,700 --> 00:35:21,660 The capsule's design has passed its test. 508 00:35:25,060 --> 00:35:27,580 But all is not well with Orion. 509 00:35:34,700 --> 00:35:37,300 When Artemis I splashed down, 510 00:35:37,300 --> 00:35:39,580 the mission was hailed as a great success. 511 00:35:40,580 --> 00:35:43,700 But in reality, there were problems with the capsule. 512 00:35:46,060 --> 00:35:48,220 As it was hauled onto the recovery ship, 513 00:35:48,220 --> 00:35:50,620 it was quickly examined by engineers. 514 00:35:51,980 --> 00:35:54,820 Their biggest concern - the heat shield. 515 00:35:56,180 --> 00:35:59,980 How was it affected by the intense heat of re-entry? 516 00:36:01,980 --> 00:36:04,460 Fitted to the underside of the capsule, 517 00:36:04,460 --> 00:36:07,540 the heat shield is built from Avcoat, 518 00:36:07,540 --> 00:36:12,020 an epoxy resin developed in the 1960s for the Apollo programme. 519 00:36:14,380 --> 00:36:17,540 The tiles are meant to melt and vaporise, 520 00:36:17,540 --> 00:36:19,860 taking heat away from the capsule. 521 00:36:21,900 --> 00:36:23,820 But it didn't work out like that. 522 00:36:27,460 --> 00:36:30,340 It takes 16 months for the state of the heat shield 523 00:36:30,340 --> 00:36:32,100 to become public knowledge. 524 00:36:33,700 --> 00:36:36,980 - This report caused quite a stir when it came out. 525 00:36:36,980 --> 00:36:41,780 It makes some pretty sort of damning claims, really. 526 00:36:41,780 --> 00:36:44,140 What I'm looking at here especially 527 00:36:44,140 --> 00:36:46,860 is the pictures of the Orion heat shield. 528 00:36:46,860 --> 00:36:51,780 What you can see is sort of cavities and some burn marks on these areas. 529 00:36:51,780 --> 00:36:55,540 And it is pretty scary, because this was the technology 530 00:36:55,540 --> 00:36:59,020 that's going to be used to get people to the Moon, 531 00:36:59,020 --> 00:37:02,860 and yet there is this degradation. 532 00:37:02,860 --> 00:37:06,420 And the Inspector General actually says, "In our judgment, 533 00:37:06,420 --> 00:37:09,420 "the unexpected behaviour of the heat shield poses 534 00:37:09,420 --> 00:37:14,540 "a significant risk to the safety of future crewed missions." 535 00:37:14,540 --> 00:37:17,380 And sort of having something like that written 536 00:37:17,380 --> 00:37:20,220 in a report means a response is needed. 537 00:37:20,220 --> 00:37:23,660 Something has to change, because this sort of charring 538 00:37:23,660 --> 00:37:26,460 of the heat shield could risk human life. 539 00:37:28,140 --> 00:37:31,740 - The material's ablative, so it sort of burns away slowly. 540 00:37:31,740 --> 00:37:33,180 And you expect that, 541 00:37:33,180 --> 00:37:37,540 but you didn't expect chunks of it to fall away like they did. 542 00:37:40,900 --> 00:37:43,820 When you see something that anomalous on a critical system 543 00:37:43,820 --> 00:37:46,340 like the heat shield where there's no backup, 544 00:37:46,340 --> 00:37:48,580 then that really raises your concerns. 545 00:37:52,020 --> 00:37:56,460 - It looks like you can see pieces of the shuttle coming off. 546 00:37:59,060 --> 00:38:02,180 - Columbia, Houston, UHF comm check. 547 00:38:04,060 --> 00:38:07,380 Columbia, Houston, UHF comm check. 548 00:38:10,860 --> 00:38:15,020 - The risk of an accident at re-entry is well known to NASA. 549 00:38:16,380 --> 00:38:19,900 In 2003, damaged heat tiles led to the break-up 550 00:38:19,900 --> 00:38:21,820 of the space shuttle Columbia. 551 00:38:23,940 --> 00:38:28,300 As with Challenger, seven astronauts lost their lives. 552 00:38:31,260 --> 00:38:36,460 - The space shuttle had two major disasters and 14 astronauts died. 553 00:38:36,460 --> 00:38:39,860 That has weighed heavily on NASA, on America, 554 00:38:39,860 --> 00:38:43,180 and it's definitely something that has affected this mission 555 00:38:43,180 --> 00:38:44,940 and other human space flight missions. 556 00:38:46,020 --> 00:38:50,380 - NASA launches a formal investigation into what went wrong 557 00:38:50,380 --> 00:38:54,300 with the heat shield and how best to proceed with the mission. 558 00:38:59,660 --> 00:39:03,740 Seven months later, the agency announces its conclusions. 559 00:39:06,100 --> 00:39:10,900 - We've conducted expansive testing, 560 00:39:10,900 --> 00:39:14,020 including analysing samples from 561 00:39:14,020 --> 00:39:18,060 the heat shield, and now we know the root cause. 562 00:39:19,740 --> 00:39:23,820 - Blame is focused on the skip entry manoeuvre 563 00:39:23,820 --> 00:39:26,940 used for the first time on Artemis I 564 00:39:26,940 --> 00:39:30,940 to slow the spacecraft down as it entered Earth's atmosphere. 565 00:39:32,100 --> 00:39:36,420 - This is a technique we use coming back from the Moon, because 566 00:39:36,420 --> 00:39:41,500 the velocity is much greater than coming back from low Earth orbit. 567 00:39:43,660 --> 00:39:47,740 - They were trying a different re-entry procedure, a skip entry. 568 00:39:49,460 --> 00:39:51,500 So that's where the spacecraft dips 569 00:39:51,500 --> 00:39:54,820 into the Earth's atmosphere once, 570 00:39:54,820 --> 00:39:57,780 then it creates a small amount of lift. 571 00:39:57,780 --> 00:40:00,300 It exits the Earth's atmosphere, 572 00:40:00,300 --> 00:40:03,780 and then it comes back in a second time for the re-entry. 573 00:40:05,100 --> 00:40:07,260 Doing that skip manoeuvre meant 574 00:40:07,260 --> 00:40:10,460 that layers of gas were trapped inside the heat shield. 575 00:40:10,460 --> 00:40:13,580 So when it came into Earth's atmosphere for the second time, 576 00:40:13,580 --> 00:40:16,460 those gases had to escape and that caused cracking 577 00:40:16,460 --> 00:40:18,820 and chunks of the heat shield to come off. 578 00:40:23,340 --> 00:40:26,460 - NASA decides to keep the existing design of heat shield 579 00:40:26,460 --> 00:40:27,740 for Artemis II... 580 00:40:29,540 --> 00:40:32,180 ..but to ditch the double dip skip entry. 581 00:40:34,900 --> 00:40:40,020 Instead, Artemis II will make what engineers call a ballistic entry, 582 00:40:40,020 --> 00:40:43,060 with a single, steeper profile, 583 00:40:43,060 --> 00:40:46,300 as if the capsule has been fired like a bullet from a gun. 584 00:40:49,980 --> 00:40:51,140 But will it work? 585 00:40:52,660 --> 00:40:56,660 - We don't know. I mean, engineering, the models, 586 00:40:56,660 --> 00:40:59,580 all the modelling suggests it will work. 587 00:40:59,580 --> 00:41:03,020 But all of that data suggested that with the skip 588 00:41:03,020 --> 00:41:06,860 re-entry on Artemis I, there wouldn't be heat shield loss. So... 589 00:41:08,420 --> 00:41:10,500 - This is a compromise. 590 00:41:10,500 --> 00:41:13,140 They're keeping the existing heat shield because to design a new 591 00:41:13,140 --> 00:41:15,260 one would take an awful long time. 592 00:41:15,260 --> 00:41:17,100 But with all space missions, 593 00:41:17,100 --> 00:41:18,700 there is a risk. 594 00:41:18,700 --> 00:41:20,940 They've mitigated the risk as much as possible, 595 00:41:20,940 --> 00:41:24,060 but there is still always that risk that there could be 596 00:41:24,060 --> 00:41:26,780 a catastrophic failure and loss of life. 597 00:41:31,020 --> 00:41:33,060 - We'll be nervous coming in. 598 00:41:33,060 --> 00:41:34,980 You can't be not nervous. 599 00:41:34,980 --> 00:41:36,900 But you trust the architecture, 600 00:41:36,900 --> 00:41:39,860 you trust the engineering, and it's going to work out. 601 00:41:46,660 --> 00:41:48,740 - Go for upstage to internal power. 602 00:41:48,740 --> 00:41:50,740 - With the launch now scheduled 603 00:41:50,740 --> 00:41:56,780 for spring 2026, the astronauts spend time in the Orion simulator, 604 00:41:56,780 --> 00:41:59,820 practising every step of the mission... 605 00:41:59,820 --> 00:42:02,140 - Launch in ten seconds if you're syncing your watches. 606 00:42:02,140 --> 00:42:03,340 - There's initial lift. 607 00:42:03,340 --> 00:42:05,580 - ..starting with launch. 608 00:42:05,580 --> 00:42:10,140 - Five. Four. Three. Two. One. 609 00:42:10,140 --> 00:42:11,260 Launch. 610 00:42:13,460 --> 00:42:14,540 - In the air. 611 00:42:16,380 --> 00:42:18,340 There is a lot of training. 612 00:42:18,340 --> 00:42:20,260 If we were to boil it all down, 613 00:42:20,260 --> 00:42:22,700 we could probably get it done in under a year. 614 00:42:22,700 --> 00:42:24,820 But we are also flying this vehicle for the first time, 615 00:42:24,820 --> 00:42:27,820 so we do need to spend a lot more time than 616 00:42:27,820 --> 00:42:31,820 the next crew will have to spend on just all of the what-ifs. 617 00:42:31,820 --> 00:42:34,740 - Six minutes, 30 seconds so far. 618 00:42:34,740 --> 00:42:36,180 Meco is in 90 seconds. 619 00:42:37,540 --> 00:42:39,660 - I would say 90% of the training we have done, 620 00:42:39,660 --> 00:42:42,260 we've provided feedback where we could cut it down, 621 00:42:42,260 --> 00:42:45,740 we could shorten this, we could focus on these important aspects. 622 00:42:46,740 --> 00:42:49,220 - Shut down in three, two, one. 623 00:42:52,500 --> 00:42:53,900 - We're road testing the training. 624 00:42:53,900 --> 00:42:56,060 We're road testing the preparation towards launch. 625 00:42:56,060 --> 00:42:58,580 We're road testing all of that. That's our job. 626 00:42:58,580 --> 00:43:01,140 - There is no substitute for preparation. 627 00:43:02,180 --> 00:43:04,940 There's no substitute for having an intimate knowledge 628 00:43:04,940 --> 00:43:08,700 of what you're doing, and what that allows you to do is generate options 629 00:43:08,700 --> 00:43:10,580 when things go wrong. 630 00:43:10,580 --> 00:43:13,700 As we say in the military, you train hard, you fight easy. 631 00:43:14,740 --> 00:43:17,900 - I often get asked, "Why put people in space? 632 00:43:17,900 --> 00:43:22,100 "We have robotic missions, we have AI, why have humans?" 633 00:43:22,100 --> 00:43:24,060 - What is the pressure that makes you worried 634 00:43:24,060 --> 00:43:26,580 we couldn't recharge the N2 regulator? 635 00:43:26,580 --> 00:43:28,900 - To me, they are critical, 636 00:43:28,900 --> 00:43:32,820 because they are literally the eyes and the ears of the mission. 637 00:43:34,140 --> 00:43:37,420 - On the Artemis II mission, the astronauts aren't going to do 638 00:43:37,420 --> 00:43:40,740 much flying. They're going to do some demonstrations, but that's not 639 00:43:40,740 --> 00:43:43,700 essential - Orion could fly itself to around the Moon. 640 00:43:43,700 --> 00:43:46,980 But in emergencies, you do want humans flying. 641 00:43:48,180 --> 00:43:49,700 That's what they trained for. 642 00:43:53,100 --> 00:43:57,300 - A huge rocket that will carry NASA'S first crewed Moon mission in more 643 00:43:57,300 --> 00:44:01,540 than half a century has begun its journey to the launchpad in Florida. 644 00:44:02,620 --> 00:44:05,700 Artemis II may blast off as early as next month 645 00:44:05,700 --> 00:44:07,980 on a ten-day trip around the Moon. 646 00:44:16,780 --> 00:44:21,060 - Now, this is the start of a very long journey. 647 00:44:21,060 --> 00:44:25,540 We ended our last human exploration of the Moon on Apollo 17, 648 00:44:25,540 --> 00:44:27,300 the 17th mission. 649 00:44:27,300 --> 00:44:29,780 Now, I hope someday my kids are going to be watching, 650 00:44:29,780 --> 00:44:33,340 maybe decades into the future, the Artemis 100 mission. 651 00:44:34,540 --> 00:44:37,140 We should be able to undertake repeatable, 652 00:44:37,140 --> 00:44:39,260 affordable missions to and from the Moon. 653 00:44:41,020 --> 00:44:45,820 - The SLS rocket slowly rolls out to the launchpad. 654 00:44:45,820 --> 00:44:48,740 Top speed - 0.8 miles an hour. 655 00:44:50,100 --> 00:44:52,740 - You four are about to fly farther into space 656 00:44:52,740 --> 00:44:55,020 than any humans have ever flown. 657 00:44:55,020 --> 00:44:58,580 But how are you training your families as you get ready 658 00:44:58,580 --> 00:45:00,380 to leave them behind on Earth? 659 00:45:01,500 --> 00:45:04,380 - Trying to train them honestly and openly. 660 00:45:04,380 --> 00:45:05,700 With my kids, I told them, 661 00:45:05,700 --> 00:45:07,420 "Here's where the will is, here's where the trust documents 662 00:45:07,420 --> 00:45:09,020 "are, and if anything happens to me, 663 00:45:09,020 --> 00:45:10,700 "here's what's going to happen to you." 664 00:45:10,700 --> 00:45:13,100 It's our families that we think about the most on launch day. 665 00:45:14,780 --> 00:45:18,980 - After 12 hours, the rocket arrives at its destination. 666 00:45:20,580 --> 00:45:22,740 Launchpad 39B. 667 00:45:28,180 --> 00:45:31,340 But in February, it has to roll back again 668 00:45:31,340 --> 00:45:33,940 into the Vehicle Assembly Building. 669 00:45:35,500 --> 00:45:38,820 Engineers have discovered two problems - 670 00:45:38,820 --> 00:45:41,540 a hydrogen leak and a helium leak. 671 00:45:47,380 --> 00:45:52,500 By March, the rocket has been repaired and it rolls out again. 672 00:45:54,540 --> 00:46:00,220 NASA sets a new launch date - 1st of April 2026. 673 00:46:04,500 --> 00:46:07,220 - About nine hours prior to lift-off, we'll wake up. 674 00:46:07,220 --> 00:46:08,780 They're going to take our temperature, 675 00:46:08,780 --> 00:46:10,420 our weight, our blood pressure. 676 00:46:10,420 --> 00:46:13,260 Once that's complete, it's time to go start getting dressed, 677 00:46:13,260 --> 00:46:14,780 and we'll go into the suit room. 678 00:46:17,020 --> 00:46:18,860 They'll leak-check us, 679 00:46:18,860 --> 00:46:20,700 make sure our suit holds pressure. 680 00:46:22,060 --> 00:46:25,940 And then when that's complete, we wait until it's time to walk out. 681 00:46:35,420 --> 00:46:38,980 From the moment that you walk out to go out to the launchpad, 682 00:46:38,980 --> 00:46:41,620 you're on this extremely choreographed timeline. 683 00:46:46,340 --> 00:46:49,220 - The spacecraft awaits its crew. 684 00:46:51,700 --> 00:46:54,100 - As you get out to the pad, you can look all the way up and see the top 685 00:46:54,100 --> 00:46:55,420 of the rocket. 686 00:46:55,420 --> 00:46:58,020 It's full of fuel, so it'll be venting. 687 00:46:59,380 --> 00:47:01,500 It'll be cold, it'll be alive. 688 00:47:02,620 --> 00:47:04,820 And we are just teeny tiny specks... 689 00:47:05,980 --> 00:47:08,500 ..amongst this 280-foot-tall rocket in front of us. 690 00:47:10,620 --> 00:47:12,380 We'll get in an elevator. 691 00:47:12,380 --> 00:47:15,220 We'll ride that elevator up to the 274 level. 692 00:47:16,820 --> 00:47:20,540 And we walk down the gantry to the white room, put on our helmet, 693 00:47:20,540 --> 00:47:22,700 put on our gloves, make sure we look good from head to toe, 694 00:47:22,700 --> 00:47:24,300 and then one at a time, we'll go into the Orion 695 00:47:24,300 --> 00:47:25,900 and start getting strapped in. 696 00:47:27,260 --> 00:47:30,260 - The crew has given their capsule a nickname... 697 00:47:31,460 --> 00:47:33,060 ..Integrity. 698 00:47:34,940 --> 00:47:38,340 It'll be their home for the next ten days of the mission. 699 00:47:43,660 --> 00:47:47,180 - We are now under an hour from the opening 700 00:47:47,180 --> 00:47:51,820 of our two-hour launch window at 6:24pm Eastern Time. 701 00:47:51,820 --> 00:47:53,460 - Yes, this has been a beautiful day. 702 00:47:53,460 --> 00:47:56,260 Rocket science has hundreds - or thousands - of things that all 703 00:47:56,260 --> 00:47:59,540 have to go just right. It all has to be perfect. 704 00:47:59,540 --> 00:48:01,940 The rocket has to launch within this window. 705 00:48:01,940 --> 00:48:04,020 If it doesn't launch in this window, it can't go today. 706 00:48:08,980 --> 00:48:12,420 - You get to T minus ten minutes, ten minutes to go in the countdown, 707 00:48:12,420 --> 00:48:14,540 they'll pause it there for about 30 minutes. 708 00:48:14,540 --> 00:48:16,820 They'll go through and ask basically everyone 709 00:48:16,820 --> 00:48:20,340 if they're part of the rocket or the spacecraft is good to go. 710 00:48:20,340 --> 00:48:21,820 - MCO. 711 00:48:21,820 --> 00:48:23,300 - MCO is go. 712 00:48:23,300 --> 00:48:25,780 - Houston flight. - Houston flight is go. 713 00:48:25,780 --> 00:48:29,500 - If there's a reading out of bounds during that time, then the countdown 714 00:48:29,500 --> 00:48:32,620 will be stopped and the launch will be scrubbed for the day. 715 00:48:32,620 --> 00:48:36,180 - Artemis II crew is go for launch. 716 00:48:36,180 --> 00:48:37,780 - I copy that. 717 00:48:37,780 --> 00:48:39,140 - Good luck. 718 00:48:39,140 --> 00:48:41,380 Godspeed, Artemis II. 719 00:48:41,380 --> 00:48:42,500 Let's go. 720 00:48:44,580 --> 00:48:46,100 - Ten. Nine. 721 00:48:46,100 --> 00:48:48,620 Eight. Seven. 722 00:48:48,620 --> 00:48:50,220 RS-25 engines. 723 00:48:51,660 --> 00:48:53,380 Four. Three. 724 00:48:53,380 --> 00:48:54,980 Two. One. 725 00:48:54,980 --> 00:48:57,660 Booster ignition and lift-off. 726 00:48:58,900 --> 00:49:00,260 - Go! 727 00:49:00,260 --> 00:49:02,420 - CHEERING 728 00:49:02,420 --> 00:49:04,100 - That's - BLEEP... 729 00:49:07,340 --> 00:49:09,980 - The crew of Artemis II now bound for the Moon. 730 00:49:12,100 --> 00:49:14,700 Humanity's next great voyage begins. 731 00:49:16,780 --> 00:49:18,220 - Good roll pitch. 732 00:49:18,220 --> 00:49:19,860 - Roger, roll pitch. 733 00:49:29,220 --> 00:49:32,660 - Mission control, Houston, seeing good performance from main engines. 734 00:49:32,660 --> 00:49:35,020 Three miles in altitude, 735 00:49:35,020 --> 00:49:37,180 travelling more than 1,200 miles per hour. 736 00:49:40,500 --> 00:49:44,180 - The rocket powers its way into orbit 737 00:49:44,180 --> 00:49:47,740 as designed by the engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center. 738 00:49:51,740 --> 00:49:52,900 - Confirm separation. 739 00:49:56,340 --> 00:49:58,620 Now passing 5,000 mph. 740 00:50:00,580 --> 00:50:03,580 - Houston, Integrity. Good last jettison. Great view. 741 00:50:05,100 --> 00:50:08,460 - Yeah, Integrity, nominal Meco. Core stage separated. 742 00:50:12,580 --> 00:50:16,740 - It was really great to look out the window and see the full Moon 743 00:50:16,740 --> 00:50:18,740 off the front of the vehicle. 744 00:50:18,740 --> 00:50:20,900 There's no doubt where we are heading right now. 745 00:50:20,900 --> 00:50:22,340 All right. Signing off. 746 00:50:24,940 --> 00:50:26,460 - It's great to see you all wave 747 00:50:26,460 --> 00:50:28,340 and we are really enjoying seeing you up there. 748 00:50:29,380 --> 00:50:31,580 - Not as much as we're enjoying being here. 749 00:50:32,620 --> 00:50:33,780 - That is true. 750 00:50:36,820 --> 00:50:40,660 - The spacecraft is being monitored by Mission Control in Houston. 751 00:50:42,180 --> 00:50:44,700 It's now travelling into deep space... 752 00:50:46,860 --> 00:50:48,460 ..heading for the Moon. 753 00:50:49,820 --> 00:50:54,140 - We know that there was some talk about some burnt smell 754 00:50:54,140 --> 00:50:56,300 when the...from the heaters. 755 00:50:56,300 --> 00:50:58,860 So we just thought we'd check in with you. 756 00:50:58,860 --> 00:51:01,060 - We're continuing to look at that. 757 00:51:01,060 --> 00:51:03,580 - Jeremy Hansen is the only one who hasn't been to space before. 758 00:51:03,580 --> 00:51:05,260 The rest of them, they have an idea 759 00:51:05,260 --> 00:51:06,740 of how to move their bodies in space, 760 00:51:06,740 --> 00:51:08,980 but it's different for each person on how long it takes 761 00:51:08,980 --> 00:51:12,740 to get used to it, and if they get motion sick or not. 762 00:51:12,740 --> 00:51:15,900 So there's just a lot that will be going on during this mission. 763 00:51:18,340 --> 00:51:22,820 - Your body is being bombarded by galactic cosmic rays. 764 00:51:22,820 --> 00:51:24,700 And actually we see that as astronauts, 765 00:51:24,700 --> 00:51:26,260 when we're falling asleep, 766 00:51:26,260 --> 00:51:29,260 you close your eyes and before you actually drop off, 767 00:51:29,260 --> 00:51:31,820 you'll see several flashes 768 00:51:31,820 --> 00:51:34,740 like bright streaks of light going across your eye. 769 00:51:34,740 --> 00:51:37,500 And you know that that's a high-energy particle 770 00:51:37,500 --> 00:51:39,460 striking the back of your retina. 771 00:51:39,460 --> 00:51:43,180 It's quite pretty to look at, but it's not when you realise the damage 772 00:51:43,180 --> 00:51:45,020 that could be doing to your body, 773 00:51:45,020 --> 00:51:47,140 and that could cause some form of cancer. 774 00:51:54,820 --> 00:51:58,780 - Good morning, Houston from inside Integrity... 775 00:51:58,780 --> 00:52:02,100 - On day six, Integrity reaches the Moon. 776 00:52:04,940 --> 00:52:08,180 The crew will do a seven-hour flyby, 777 00:52:08,180 --> 00:52:12,580 capturing high quality images of the lunar surface, 778 00:52:12,580 --> 00:52:16,540 going further from Earth than any crew has gone before. 779 00:52:18,020 --> 00:52:22,060 But first, they want to name a crater 780 00:52:22,060 --> 00:52:25,620 located at the western edge of the Moon's near side. 781 00:52:26,980 --> 00:52:29,580 - A number of years ago, we started this journey 782 00:52:29,580 --> 00:52:33,580 in our close-knit astronaut family and we lost a loved one. 783 00:52:35,100 --> 00:52:37,060 Her name was Carroll, 784 00:52:37,060 --> 00:52:40,860 the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie. 785 00:52:42,460 --> 00:52:44,340 And we would like to call it Carroll. 786 00:52:45,580 --> 00:52:50,260 And you spell that C-A-R-R-O-L-L. 787 00:53:01,980 --> 00:53:06,460 - On the ground, the science team are receiving live reports 788 00:53:06,460 --> 00:53:09,460 as the astronauts fly by the Moon 789 00:53:09,460 --> 00:53:12,700 observing different geological features. 790 00:53:12,700 --> 00:53:17,340 - I think Copernicus is the easternmost feature that we can see. 791 00:53:17,340 --> 00:53:19,980 A very nice ring to the north, 792 00:53:19,980 --> 00:53:23,860 and the south is with a lot of terrain shadow features. 793 00:53:26,180 --> 00:53:28,500 - We are getting a sneak preview from 794 00:53:28,500 --> 00:53:30,740 one of our cameras at what you're looking at, 795 00:53:30,740 --> 00:53:32,620 and we see some of what you're describing. 796 00:53:33,660 --> 00:53:34,740 We love it. 797 00:53:37,540 --> 00:53:39,700 - The Artemis II crew has been trained 798 00:53:39,700 --> 00:53:43,060 to observe the Moon, to find significant features. 799 00:53:44,500 --> 00:53:46,660 As the spacecraft goes around the Moon, 800 00:53:46,660 --> 00:53:49,220 an astronaut can look at a spot from different angles. 801 00:53:49,220 --> 00:53:51,660 It might take a spacecraft years to have 802 00:53:51,660 --> 00:53:53,940 that trajectory where they can see all those angles. 803 00:53:55,380 --> 00:53:58,820 - Something I've never seen in photographs before, but is very 804 00:53:58,820 --> 00:54:02,820 apparent - all the new craters, some of them are super tiny. 805 00:54:02,820 --> 00:54:05,940 There's a couple that really stand out, obviously, 806 00:54:05,940 --> 00:54:09,300 and they are so bright compared to the rest of the Moon. 807 00:54:11,660 --> 00:54:14,740 - The flyby ends with a final flourish... 808 00:54:16,820 --> 00:54:18,780 OOHING 809 00:54:20,420 --> 00:54:24,740 ..a total solar eclipse seen for the first time from space. 810 00:54:26,660 --> 00:54:32,620 - The Sun has gone behind the Moon and the corona is still visible... 811 00:54:33,660 --> 00:54:35,900 ..and it creates a halo almost around the entire Moon. 812 00:54:35,900 --> 00:54:38,860 But when you get to the Earth side, the earthshine has already shone 813 00:54:38,860 --> 00:54:41,260 and the Moon is just hanging in front of us, 814 00:54:41,260 --> 00:54:46,260 this, uh, black orb out in front of us. 815 00:54:46,260 --> 00:54:48,300 Um... Wow. It's amazing. 816 00:54:50,100 --> 00:54:53,180 No matter how long we look at this, our brains 817 00:54:53,180 --> 00:54:57,300 are not processing this image in front of us. 818 00:54:57,300 --> 00:54:59,980 There's no adjectives. I'll need to invent some new ones 819 00:54:59,980 --> 00:55:03,220 to describe what we are looking at out this window. 820 00:55:07,300 --> 00:55:08,980 - Wow. 821 00:55:08,980 --> 00:55:10,220 - It's so cool. 822 00:55:16,820 --> 00:55:21,060 - After nine days in space, Artemis II is coming home. 823 00:55:24,220 --> 00:55:27,220 - Re-entry I think is probably the most critical part of the mission. 824 00:55:28,300 --> 00:55:31,820 - You can see the reflection of one of the crew members in the window. 825 00:55:33,300 --> 00:55:34,820 - You're testing the Orion heat shield, 826 00:55:34,820 --> 00:55:37,460 which had some failure during Artemis I. 827 00:55:37,460 --> 00:55:40,740 So that's, I think, in terms of pucker factor for me, 828 00:55:40,740 --> 00:55:42,380 that re-entry will be the highest part. 829 00:55:45,500 --> 00:55:49,260 - With the heat shield, I am optimistic, 830 00:55:49,260 --> 00:55:53,100 but there's no getting round it - it is a time of trepidation, 831 00:55:53,100 --> 00:55:57,220 and it is one of those moments where you wish them godspeed. 832 00:55:59,220 --> 00:56:02,900 - And we have crossed the threshold, now entering the Earth's atmosphere. 833 00:56:04,020 --> 00:56:07,140 - In the final stretch here, the last 13 minutes. 834 00:56:07,140 --> 00:56:08,980 They're about to lose communications, too. 835 00:56:08,980 --> 00:56:10,380 It'll be a six-minute blackout. 836 00:56:16,460 --> 00:56:20,020 - As predicted... - Communications are gone. - ..communications blackout. 837 00:56:20,020 --> 00:56:22,180 No voice, no data from the crew. 838 00:56:24,260 --> 00:56:27,780 This is a visualisation of the plasma build-up around the 839 00:56:27,780 --> 00:56:32,140 spacecraft and the repelling of that heat on Integrity's heat shield. 840 00:56:39,420 --> 00:56:43,140 So that pinpoint of light shows the vehicle, the first 841 00:56:43,140 --> 00:56:46,220 tug of gravity being felt by Integrity's astronauts. 842 00:56:49,620 --> 00:56:51,220 We're getting intermittent views. 843 00:56:53,220 --> 00:56:55,540 Still waiting to establish voice communication. 844 00:56:58,260 --> 00:57:01,460 - Integrity, Houston. Comm check post-blackout. 845 00:57:06,300 --> 00:57:08,740 - Houston, Integrity. We have you loud and clear. 846 00:57:10,540 --> 00:57:13,740 - Big cheers from the viewing room here in Mission Control as voice 847 00:57:13,740 --> 00:57:16,900 communication re-established with commander Reid Wiseman. 848 00:57:18,260 --> 00:57:20,620 - We see three good-looking parachutes. 849 00:57:21,940 --> 00:57:23,140 - Integrity copies. 850 00:57:34,340 --> 00:57:35,860 Houston, Integrity. Splashdown. 851 00:57:35,860 --> 00:57:38,620 Sending post-landing command now. 852 00:57:38,620 --> 00:57:40,700 - Splashdown confirmed. 853 00:57:40,700 --> 00:57:42,740 - CHEERING 854 00:57:45,700 --> 00:57:48,020 - The first crew member is out of Integrity. 855 00:57:49,580 --> 00:57:51,340 - So if we do this right, 856 00:57:51,340 --> 00:57:55,820 we'll look back on Artemis II and barely remember it. 857 00:57:55,820 --> 00:57:59,020 You know, we have celebrated the Apollo programme for 50 years, 858 00:57:59,020 --> 00:58:01,180 and we've been constantly looking back. 859 00:58:01,180 --> 00:58:03,700 And so what we want to do is actually look forward. 860 00:58:05,780 --> 00:58:08,180 My hope is that this is just the beginning 861 00:58:08,180 --> 00:58:12,100 of not Artemis III, IV, V but Artemis 30, 50. 862 00:58:12,100 --> 00:58:15,500 And then you have a growing community on the Moon, 863 00:58:15,500 --> 00:58:18,460 potentially on Mars, throughout the solar system. 864 00:58:21,100 --> 00:58:22,780 That's what we're working toward. 865 00:58:22,780 --> 00:58:26,300 Now, will we get there? I'm hopeful, but I'm not certain. 866 00:58:28,020 --> 00:58:31,860 - The next mission will be a test flight in low Earth orbit. 867 00:58:34,060 --> 00:58:37,420 But the plan for Artemis IV is to land on the Moon... 868 00:58:39,700 --> 00:58:42,100 ..some time in 2028.