True Patriot Love - The Mission Is Under Way： 50 Years In The Making

00:00:00.000 December 1972 is a long time ago and that's how long it's been since they had a space mission

00:00:10.400 around the moon. That changes on April 1st as candidates Jeremy Hansen is part of a four-person

00:00:15.640 astronaut crew taking off on Artemis 2 for an historic mission around the moon. To talk more

00:00:20.920 about it, Thrill will be joined by my very own astronaut Mike Wixson. Space case. You've been

00:00:25.560 in space a few times i believe that's true yeah yeah uh thanks for sharing that jim i appreciate

00:00:31.260 that uh this is cool what's it's very cool i was three years old the last time anybody made an

00:00:36.640 attempt to go up to the moon and uh you know i don't recall it with uh such excitement as i do

00:00:42.740 this and i always say this i can't tell you how many people jim i've said so we're taking off for

00:00:48.540 the moon this week and everybody that i say it to says we are well it's so here's the thing you have

00:00:53.840 understand in 1969 when neil armstrong and buzz aldrin they go to the moon the whole world stopped

00:01:01.680 for this moon mission that all started with john f kennedy trying to beat the the soviets the

00:01:07.640 russians to the moon so they land on the moon which with slide rulers and hand calculators

00:01:14.500 and math on a chalkboard like goodwill hunting that's how they did it yeah and then by 1972

00:01:21.540 two and apollo 17 they're like yeah that's fine and it's been talked about you had the space shuttle

00:01:27.200 you had all these space missions space in low orbit and high orbit is filled with satellites

00:01:33.340 and space junk but it's amazing to me it's been so long we're at 54 years since we're back going

00:01:39.760 around the moon well our our space missions became very different the very much the onset of the

00:01:45.400 space shuttle and space stations uh you know really observing space became more of a mission

00:01:52.280 for us and setting up the world with the right satellite telemetry so that we have communications

00:01:58.240 and safety and GPS and everything right that became the focus getting to the moon seemed to

00:02:03.920 be like one and done okay we're good we did that let's move on so here's where it's different and

00:02:08.840 here's what I find fascinating about the geniuses and the scientists behind it is there is a real

00:02:14.180 plan to have a moon base yeah to have people actually spend a serious amount of time on a

00:02:20.560 moon base on the moon so with the uh the rocket the artemis 2 and the rockets that they're using

00:02:26.160 and the technology and the advancements from 1972 this is the big test launch artemis 2 they have

00:02:33.140 an artemis 3 artemis 4 they actually land on the moon and start laying the the groundwork and

00:02:39.100 planning for the next phase, which is a moon base. Now, there's a few reasons for doing this.

00:02:44.060 It's all part of the next steps to getting to Mars. But they also want to be China because 0.94

00:02:49.560 China's mentioned they could be there in 2030. And once that happened, it had the same push that

00:02:55.240 America had in the 1960s with Sputnik and Russia. It's interesting to me that we think getting to

00:03:01.580 the moon first still is a really big deal. I mean, let's say America gets there first and then China

00:03:07.540 arrives what are we gonna do set up a subdivision there's gonna be property lines i don't know i

00:03:12.320 think at that point we're all in it for the same reason uh but you're right this is interesting

00:03:17.220 because this and and correct me if i'm wrong jim you're more the the science and space guy i know

00:03:23.220 that for sure but this is all about getting the uh journey down pat getting yes getting a test

00:03:31.000 underway that shows that we can get around the moon in this fashion like we've never done before

00:03:35.720 and hit its orbit and then understand correct anything that needs corrected before they try

00:03:42.480 to actually stick the moon as it were yeah so it's 10 days and as the rocket launches it

00:03:48.300 circumnavigates the atmosphere around the world into low earth orbit and they use the slingshot

00:03:55.740 of gravity to get to the moon it's a million kilometers and they end up traveling over the

00:04:01.800 10 days and then they go around the backside the dark side of the moon and slingshot back so once

00:04:07.680 they leave the the orbit of the moon it's three days back to earth and then they end up in the

00:04:13.560 capsule which goes through earth's atmosphere but it's all it's all part of there's like a whole

00:04:18.380 grand plan a master plan learning about the the path to travel to the moon going into orbit like

00:04:26.140 high orbit they're calling it on this trip around the moon and then making the steps to get on the

00:04:31.240 moon and figure out what it's going to take to put man back mankind back in the moon and put a

00:04:36.300 moon base there with actual permanence yeah yes uh and as you point out uh they already are talking

00:04:41.700 about what will be in that moon base that it will be survivable for months and months at a stretch

00:04:46.900 that research and uh the ability to understand how to get off the moon into other parts of our cosmos

00:04:53.400 will become the focus because the the talk the quest to put someone on mars is always with us

00:05:01.960 it's it's something huge but we have to be able to pull this off as a species as scientists before

00:05:09.040 they can think about getting to mars because chris hatfield had a brilliant interview he's one of the

00:05:13.680 the great pilots and astronauts this country's ever produced and he mentioned that they can get

00:05:19.080 to mars there's no way to get home that's what i've often heard and that's a terrifying one-way

00:05:25.480 trips are never nobody ever books a one-way trip without a huge amount of effort on the other end

00:05:32.200 to uh to either launch a new life no no a one-way ticket is always terrifying so

00:05:38.200 so this is where you know as a canadian i'm so proud of chris hadfield like jeremy hansen a

00:05:44.120 a former F-18 pilot, and now an astronaut.

00:05:47.080 But when Chris Hadfield was on the space station,

00:05:50.180 they realized that being in space for a long period of time,

00:05:56.100 when you're there for a duration of time,

00:05:58.320 your body shrinks, your muscles, atrophy.

00:06:01.220 So when he was there, they had exercise equipment set up

00:06:04.540 so he could do exercises and work on his body.

00:06:07.800 So when they tested him, when they came back to Earth,

00:06:10.500 they found that Chris Hadfield had good muscle mass, good density,

00:06:14.120 good fitness levels, and because of that, they have built a piece of exercise equipment

00:06:18.600 into the capsule for Artemis II. So it looks like a rowing machine built into the wall

00:06:24.280 with handles, and they can do a series of exercises to keep their body strong while

00:06:29.100 they're in space for 10 days. They've made some accommodations that are really cool here.

00:06:32.860 So this, by the way, is an interesting point, because what they're doing is

00:06:36.700 trying to create sustainable life once you're in space. Once you're on the moon,

00:06:41.780 you know how does you know what are we going to do to keep people human beings healthy

00:06:45.880 in an atmosphere in an environment absolutely set that is is not normal to humans uh that that's an

00:06:52.800 evolution that we're trying to make right there and uh it's chris hatfield at the uh at the head

00:06:57.480 of that is is wild because you're right he was the most active astronaut he i often used to say

00:07:02.760 now there is one hyperactive astronaut but it must be killing him to be in that cat that capsule

00:07:07.960 but he kept active the whole time he did he was all about nutrition and all of that while he was

00:07:13.740 in space he kept his mind active his body active and they learned so much you know Canada's Chris

00:07:20.740 Hadfield gave them so much information so much research from his time to help with the evolution

00:07:26.840 to where they are right now and and a lot of the changes a lot of technology that they needed

00:07:31.680 these previous astronauts like Chris Hadfield and the other astronauts like you need this you need

00:07:36.600 that and so when they were doing the design they knew that something simple they have a proper

00:07:41.220 toilet now i was gonna say the astronaut i understand they have real toilets real toilet

00:07:45.660 wow and it seems silly but they the previous apollo missions they didn't have that no and i

00:07:52.140 think that there's a lot of technology it sounds silly but i would imagine a lot of technology has

00:07:57.380 to go into a zero gravity toilet yes you do not want any zero gravity problems no no uh so okay

00:08:06.000 So this fascinated me because the other thing that we saw is how far we've come as humanity in the process of doing this.

00:08:15.880 You know, there are on this mission for the first time headed to the moon out of North America.

00:08:21.100 We have a woman on board.

00:08:24.140 That's, you know, a mark of where we've come in history, a Canadian.

00:08:28.620 So we've combined a mission for the first time going to the moon where two countries are sharing people up there.

00:08:33.620 And I love that that becomes the spirit of this, that, okay, experts from other parts of the world will maybe be invited into this process to help create this permanence.

00:08:45.260 And here's the one thing that you can't question any of the four astronauts, the vetting process, to even get to the selection stage.

00:08:53.920 I didn't even get a callback.

00:08:54.880 So they take the best and brightest students, scientists, pilots, and then they have to go through this rigorous mental and physical and educational training even to get close to the.

00:09:09.740 So when you see these four, they are the four, the elite of the elite on Earth on Earth.

00:09:16.080 Yeah. And both for the Captain Glover, the African-American captain who's going to be piloting the spaceship and everyone else on there on this capsule for Artemis, too.

00:09:26.900 They are. Well, they are the very best.

00:09:28.900 I got some stats. You want to hear them? Yes, please.

00:09:31.080 NASA's space launch system produces eight point eight million pounds of thrust when it takes off.

00:09:38.160 Wow. That's more than Saturn V, the rocket that originally took humans to the moon by almost twice.

00:09:43.660 So getting in and the reason for it, getting into that atmospheric pull requires that they line up with a certain speed and accuracy that they haven't had to do before.

00:09:54.860 The next generation heat shield survival tech.

00:09:58.000 The Orion capsule reenters Earth at thirty nine thousand kilometers per hour and the heat shield can withstand twenty eight hundred Celsius.

00:10:07.120 And real quick, that is, by the way, that's the surface of the sun.

00:10:09.700 And that's crucial because how many times have you seen the movies and they depict re-entry like, oh, my heat shield is failing?

00:10:17.980 Oh, yeah.

00:10:19.540 Because with the way the math works and math and physics, you either hit it the wrong way and you skip off.

00:10:25.100 We hit it the wrong way.

00:10:25.860 You burn up.

00:10:26.500 Well, let's remember that that was a problem aboard the space shuttle, the faithful space shuttle.

00:10:31.120 It was all about the heat panels that I think came off in the process.

00:10:36.560 So this is kind of cool.

00:10:38.480 The mission travels 384,000 kilometers to the moon.

00:10:41.900 As you point out, they're going to do over a million kilometers by the time the journey's over.

00:10:46.420 And they're testing long-duration survival beyond Earth's safety zone.

00:10:50.940 And that's the big part of it, how you feel.

00:10:54.360 Because you're not taking bags of fruit and stuff with everything.

00:10:58.520 It's the food.

00:10:59.300 It's the water.

00:11:00.300 It's the training.

00:11:01.020 It's daily functions going to the bathroom.

00:11:03.460 it's doing scientific experiments because if they are going to put people on the moon on a moon base

00:11:09.000 all this information they're gathering all helps them like hey we got to tweak this add this remove

00:11:14.220 that i love this nasa tweet we're not going back to the moon to plant a flag we're going back to

00:11:18.620 stay and then launch into the cosmos from there see now to me that's the interesting thing about

00:11:23.780 all of this so we know how much power as you mentioned it takes to launch from the kennedy

00:11:29.520 space station in florida the earth's atmosphere into the moon what if they're able to develop and

00:11:36.340 get the equipment and launch from the moon how much better would be to launch from the moon

00:11:41.440 towards mars and maybe that's what they need to get there and back i don't know because i'm not

00:11:46.920 a scientist but it sounds pretty darn smart to me now if anyone's watching and they've ever get a

00:11:52.620 chance um i know you're not supposed to like america now but by god the kennedy space station

00:11:57.380 in florida is unbelievable damn it's my favorite it's so cool so great now the gemini capsule

00:12:03.560 uh they have one where you like it's a a mockable what it was and they have it open you can sit

00:12:09.120 sit in it and yeah my wife is not a big human being and she could barely fit i'm like how's

00:12:15.600 so crazy did these pilots with a space suit their knees would have been up like this they were

00:12:20.720 literally up against themselves for the entire duration i think it's it's unreal you know i had

00:12:26.060 a really great family experience

00:12:28.480 one time at Cape Canaveral,

00:12:30.660 Kennedy Space Center.

00:12:33.700 So

00:12:34.140 in that very capsule you're talking about,

00:12:36.480 there I am enjoying myself,

00:12:38.100 you know, you can flip the switches,

00:12:40.020 you're in outer space, and if you've got an imagination

00:12:41.960 like mine, I mean, really, I was out there.

00:12:44.440 You're talking. Yeah, and I'm screaming at my

00:12:45.860 kid beside me, come on, hold on, we got this!

00:12:49.040 So,

00:12:49.780 all of a sudden, we hear a

00:12:51.640 you gotta go.

00:12:54.200 I was like, what the hell is that?

00:12:56.060 Sir, you've got to go.

00:12:57.580 The park closed a half hour ago.

00:13:01.040 You were there after closing?

00:13:02.340 We were there after closing.

00:13:03.860 And he said, it's okay if you want to stay, but there's a lot of alligators.

00:13:07.320 There is.

00:13:08.040 We moved on.

00:13:08.860 Yeah, there is.

00:13:09.580 There's no joke.

00:13:10.440 But it is fantastic.

00:13:11.680 You get the opportunity.

00:13:12.540 It's the one thing, Mike, in all joking aside, that no matter what country you're from,

00:13:18.660 what your political belief, what language you speak, where you're from,

00:13:21.600 the fascination of space travel and getting people into space unsustained i mean look at

00:13:28.380 all the tv shows and movies that we watch with fascination and all the books we read thinking

00:13:33.340 about do you think we could do that someday and now we're getting closer and closer to

00:13:37.260 a permanent moon base where people come and go and live there for great lengths of time and

00:13:43.500 they're talking about using a small nuclear reactor like they have an aircraft carrier to

00:13:48.600 provide the energy and electricity that they need on the moon base and maybe use the moon base as a

00:13:54.200 platform to launch into deep space on another note i do believe that plays of dark side of

00:14:00.940 the moon are going to increase over the next 10 days by 100 fold uh as we get closer to the

00:14:06.460 countdown why don't we do this we'll take you now to the uh to the launch of uh artemis 2

00:14:12.460 10, 9, 8, 7, RS-25 engines lit, 4, 3, 2, 1, booster ignition, and liftoff.

00:14:28.060 The crew of Artemis II now bound for the moon.

00:14:31.260 Humanity's next great voyage begins.

00:14:33.660 good roll pitch

00:14:39.720 roger roll pitch

00:14:42.700 Houston now controlling the flight of Integrity

00:14:47.480 on the Artemis 2 mission around the boat

00:14:49.380 Integrity AMT high

00:14:55.300 AMT high

00:14:57.680 on time passing 30 seconds to the flights

00:15:01.200 Integrity passes the alternate deco

00:15:03.300 Target Milestone, Mission Control Houston seeing good performance on the 4-man engines, Space Launch System core stage.

00:15:09.300 Integrity 3 miles in altitude, traveling more than 1,200 miles per hour.

00:15:33.300 Mission elapsed time, passing one minute, approaching Max-Q.

00:15:40.300 On, Ponce de Leon.

00:15:43.300 Stan, we have you loud and clear on Ponce de Leon.

00:15:46.300 Have you the same.

00:15:49.300 Communication signal transfer confirmed as Integrity and its crew go supersonic.

00:15:54.300 Approaching 90 seconds into the Artemis II mission.

00:15:57.300 Integrity is 14 miles in altitude, 8 miles down range, traveling more than 2,600 miles per hour.

00:16:02.300 1 minute 50 seconds of mission elapsed time, standing by for main engine throttle down

00:16:23.040 to 85%, ahead of solid rocket booster separation, expected at the 2 minute 9 second mark.

00:16:30.300 We see throttle down, confirmed separation, main engine is throttling up, guidance converged.

00:16:51.300 Integrity, guidance converged, performance nominal, upper stage RCS ready.

00:16:57.300 Top of y'all, Stan.

00:17:08.460 Patriotic means looking up for each other and fixing things together.

00:17:13.280 True patriotism is being in a country you love, surrounded by people you love, and great weather.

00:17:19.040 Being a patriot is being a part of your community and caring for it.

00:17:21.980 It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from, patriotism is the one thing we all share.

00:17:26.720 It's okay to be critical of government and still be a patriot.

00:17:31.460 It's gratitude to your country.

00:17:33.080 Of course I'm a patriot. I'm Canadian. It's my home.

00:17:36.280 Well, actually, true patriot love is the mission.

True Patriot Love - April 05, 2026

The Mission Is Under Way： 50 Years In The Making

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