Michael Barbaro

Right.

If we are to be a multi-planet species, Americans would like to be the first.

Ken, what you have just laid out is a tremendous vision for the future, and all of it rests on the shoulders of four astronauts who are going to be blasting off

toward the moon in a few hours on Wednesday there in Florida.

Ken, can you introduce us to these four astronauts who have all this responsibility on their shoulders and describe the logistics of this 10-day mission they're embarking on from their perspective?

Okay, so that is the crew.

Talk to us about their next 10 days as they're going to experience it, the four of them together.

Basically a couple of test flights.

Two minivans.

And I say this as a father that fills basically a minivan.

That's not a lot of space.

So that's fascinating.

These astronauts, because there will be light, will cast their eyes on parts of the moon that no human being has ever seen before in actual daylight.

So Ken, as these astronauts are moving along the far side of the moon, you had said that the moon's gravity was going to be holding them down.

How much power will they have to actually direct the craft that they're in during this period?

So in a sense, they're kind of powerless to do much themselves.

They're at the mercy of the moon's gravitational push and pull.

Right.

So assuming this gravitational slingshot system brings these four astronauts safely home, what happens?

And assuming that the astronauts leave this process in tip-top shape, which we of course hope they do, my sense is that this is going to be a really proud moment for NASA because from everything I've taken from your reporting in the lead-up to Artemis II,