Maggie Aderin-Pocock

presensse on the surface of the moon. They want to build a base on that lunar south pole. That's right. And so, Kristen, it's not just Blue Origin and SpaceX that are under pressure here. You know, Axiom are under pressure as well to get that spacesuit ready, because these are critical items that are needed. We don't currently have a spacesuit that is ready for a lunar EVA.

So we need this suit to work. And it's a brilliant upgrade. When you see that old footage of the Apollo astronauts, it's remarkable what they were doing in those suits. But you can tell they're hopping around, it's very cumbersome, sometimes falling over, then really difficult to get back up again. So we need a suit where you can bend at the knees if possible, bend at the waist, you can kneel down, you can pick something up. We need gloves that have got much more fidelity, where you can actually feel the rocks that you're picking up.

The Axiom suit is designed to give all of that flexibility and to give all of that dexterity in your fingers, but it's also designed to be used again and again and again in that really harsh environment of the lunar surface. Lunar regolith is an evil substance.

I mean, the moon has no atmosphere, right Maggie? So for four billion years on Earth, all of our lovely particles of sand have been ground down by wind and by rain, and they're lovely and smooth, and we can lie on the beach and enjoy it. But if you were lying on lunar regolith, you were lying on shards of horrible glass. Yeah.

Yes, yes, silica, glass. And yeah, pretty uncomfortable, I would think. But yes, it makes the spacesuits vulnerable. But if all goes according to plan, when those astronauts climb the ladder and step onto the moon's surface, it will mark the end of a 56-year gap of human exploration of the moon.

But of course, all those upcoming missions need a crew. And at the time of recording, we don't yet know who will be assigned to ride on these history-making journeys. But one man who will be able to pass on his experiences to those crews joins us now. And freshly back from the mission that we've been talking about all series, we're delighted to be welcoming to 13 Minutes Presents Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Hello, Jeremy.

Hienoa olla sinne, Tim. On hienoa, että voit tulla tänne tänään. Kun viimeistellä puhuttiin, olit karanteenissa Houstonissa. Luulen, että olemme kaikki melko järjestäneitä tämän järjestelmän tulevaisuudesta. Jotkut asiat, joita olemme puhuneet, ovat se, kuinka hienosti se meni. Hienoja kiitoksia sinulle ja ryhmälle ja laajemmalle ryhmälle tällaiselle järjestelmälle. Oletko odottanut, että se meni niin hyvin?

As you said, the launch went flawlessly. And of course we were all here on Earth watching with bated breath. But when it came to the translunar injection, there was a possibility that it wasn't going to happen when it did. But when you got that thumbs up, collectively as a group, what did that moment feel like? The fact that you were going to the moon and you were going to the moon for all of us.

That's a long burn, and when it was done, you just had a sense of, okay, now the spacecraft's good. It's been working well for 24 hours. We're going to the moon. That was a unique feeling in my life. That must have been a huge relief to get that burn done and think, that's it, we're on our way. Jeremy, you said about that first day in space, you were feeling good and seeing those views, but we were watching back here, and of course it was crazy what you were just doing in that first moment.

You were going out twice as far as geostationary satellites and then hurtling back in towards the earth, back up to nearly 25,000 miles an hour to get you on the way to the moon. So a crazy first day. When we were talking before the mission,

Jotain, mitä sanoit, joka oli todella mielenkiintoista, oli se, että ei ollut mitään, joka kertoisi sinulle, mitä oli normaalia. Kun menemme space stationiin, jota olemme tehneet niin monta vuotta, Soyersin ja Dragonin kanssa, on joku, joka kertoo sinulle, mitä se tulee olemaan, mitä odotellaan. Mitä sinä kertoisit kruisiin, miten SLS tehtiin lausunnon ja reentriin?

You probably would do it even better on Earth, sitting under a tree in nature, than out there. But you can do it in both places. It's the same human experience, whether you're out there or on Earth. For me, I'm an astronomer, so gazing out into the cosmos just fills my heart with such joy. But I have a question. Were you surprised by the public reaction and the fact that it was so huge? And especially that sort of naming of Carol Crater, sitting there on the cusp of the moon.

Hän ei voinut katsota kameraa, mitä hän katsoi. Hän yritti arvioida, että me näemme sen niin paremmin täällä. Se olisi ollut hieno momentti, kun olit nähnyt solareklipsiä.

Nämä drogit, ne näyttivät olevan jatkuvasti. Meillä oli koko elokuvamme tuolla hetkellä. Suomessa ne olivat vain 20 sekuntia, ja teillä ne olivat vain 60 sekuntia. Minä odotin vain näitä kolme mainaa. Se oli myös hienoa nähdä täältä. Mielestäni kruudella kysyisin, miten sinä edistit missiota.

Oliko koulutus niin hyvä, että teidät kaksi menivät siihen rutiiniin? Tai olitko jäänyt paremmin ja paremmin, kun organisoitit itseäsi ja työskentelit yhdessä ryhmässä? Kyllä, tiedät vastauksen. Olimme paljon paremmin, kun menimme missiin, kun menimme käsittämään elämää kappaleessa.

Toivomme toivottavasti nähdä sinut taas taustalla, Jerevi. Hieno missio taas, kiitos paljon. Oli todella ilo osallistua missioon ja puhua sinulle aiemmin ja nyt. Kiitos paljon, että olit tullut 13 minuutin esiin, mutta uskon, että se on kaikki, mitä meillä on aikaa nyt. Kiitos taas.

And thank you wherever you are so much for listening to 13 Minutes Presents Artemis 2. We have loved having you on the journey and answering all your amazing questions. So please make sure to follow or subscribe to the podcast as we will have exciting new episodes to come and you won't want to miss them.

And that includes a series later this year about the extraordinary story of the Hubble Space Telescope. That's all we've got time for today, so goodbye for now. From me, Maggie O'Darren. And from me, Tim Peake. The producer was Alex Mansfield and the series editor was Martin Smith. And thanks to Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg at Bleeding Fingers Music for our theme music.

13 Minutes Presents Artemis 2 is a BBC Audio Science production for the BBC World Service.

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