Artemis II crew share first words from space

BBC:

The excitement was palpable as the four Artemis II astronauts spoke to Earth on day two of their journey around the Moon on a range of issues from faulty toilets to sleeping in space, to the weight they were carrying with this historic mission.

Commander Reid Wiseman started the live broadcast by recalling the “spectacular view of Earth from space”.

“You can see the entire globe from pole to pole… It was the most spectacular moment and it paused all four of us in our tracks,” he said.

The team, which includes pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, has completed a critical engine burn that could propel the Orion spacecraft to the far side of the Moon.

The crew were accompanied by a plushie of their Moon mascot, designed by eight-year-old Lucas Yee from San Francisco, as they broadcast live from space.

Wiseman said the team realised the “gravity” of the historic mission, which will take them further from Earth than any other human has ever gone.

Their 10-day journey will ferry them up to 252,799 miles (406,840km) from Earth, exceeding the previous record set by Apollo 13 – 248,655 miles – in 1970.

The crew will not be landing on the Moon on this current mission, and will instead use it to prepare for a potential lunar landing by 2028.

“There is nothing normal about this… [It’s a] Herculean effort,” said Reid, who spent the early part of his career as a fighter pilot before getting selected by Nasa as an astronaut in 2009.

“Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of. It’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the Moon,” added Hansen, who is the first Canadian to go to the Moon.

Hansen described his debut flight as an “extraordinary” experience.

“[It’s a] tremendous amount of disbelief for me… I wish I could have gotten here sooner,” he added.