(NewsNation) — A NASA administrator says the Artemis II mission will send astronauts “farther into space than ever before.”
“Well, look, there’s been progress,” Jared Isaacman told NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich during a Wednesday show appearance. “We’re better at things. We’ve got rockets now that can land on ships.”
Isaacman’s remarks follow the space agency clearing the rocket last week ahead of its April launch. The launch will also mark humanity’s first trip to the moon in more than 50 years.
“You’ve got a couple of some of the wealthiest individuals in the world,” Isaacman added. “They’re putting their own resources on the line to develop capabilities for the good of all humankind.”
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“Now, why do we do it? I mean, we do it for pursuits of science and discovery, economic potential. We may have a lunar economy someday for national security reasons, to inspire the next generation. I guarantee after these astronauts fly around the moon, you’re going to have more kids dressing up as astronauts for Halloween. And that’s going to inspire the next generation to take us further.”
The Artemis II crew was supposed to blast off on a lunar flyaround earlier this year, but fuel leaks and other problems with the Space Launch System rocket interfered.
“The president created the Artemis program during his first term, which is probably the first meaningful step since the Kennedy era of returning astronauts to the lunar environment,” Isaacman said.
“His second term, actually my first day on the job after I was sworn in, he signed a new national space policy, said not only … ‘Get back to the moon, but go to stay, build the moon base and do the other things to get ready for missions like Mars and beyond.’”
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