Retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is giving insight into how a crew is prepping to head to the moon, saying that "everything worth doing in life has risk."
This comes as NASA makes its final preparations for its Artemis II mission, which could launch as early as April 1. It'll be the agency's first-crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.
The crew includes Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA. There's also Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.
"If you're going to do things that are right on the edge of human experience, sometimes they have extreme risk."Retired Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Chris Hadfield
NASA Administrator Jaren Isaacman has also recently introduced IGNITION. This is an initiative on America's long-awaited return to the moon's surface. One major change includes a $20 billion lunar base — instead of constructing a space station to orbit the moon. It will also develop a nuclear-powered spacecraft to deploy to Mars before the end of 2028.
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"This is the moment we reject the status quo, challenge what is broken, embrace what worked on July 20, 1969, and reject what stands in the way of extraordinary outcomes," Isaacman said while introducing the initiative. "NASA is leading the greatest adventure in human history, and it's only just begun. It's time to start believing again."
But as the crew preps for their history-making journey, retired Canadian Space astronaut Chris Hadfield talked to "The Florida Roundup" about what it's like to be launched into space, what the crew might be navigating, his personal connection to one of the members and more.
Hadfield became the first Canadian in 1995 to walk in space and has flown in three missions, according to his website bio. He had two missions on the Space Shuttle and a long-duration stay at the International Space Station — launching on a Russian Soyuz capsule. He's also an author and musician who became widely recognized for his video singing "Space Oddity" by David Bowie.
'Not fraught' by Artemis delays
When asked what might be going through the crew members' minds as they get closer to the anticipated launch date, Hadfield said it's important to remember that these astronauts have been training extensively for years for this moment.
In addition, the Artemis II mission has faced delays due to technical issues, but Hadfield suggested that the crew knows how to go with the flow.
"If they had allowed themselves to count on a certain launch date in order to get comfortable with the idea, it would have driven them crazy," Hadfield told host Brendan Byrne. "So instead, this is just another day. This is just, hey, we're getting closer. We might launch this time. We didn't launch last time."
He said they have to have gratification deferred, otherwise you risk your emotions getting "whipsawed all over the place."
So, if the vehicle is ready and the weather is good, they'll be on their way to the moon. But if not, Hadfield said, "they're not fraught with it."
"It's just hey, we got a bunch more chances to get ready and when the rocket finally does behave, we're going to be the crew that's going to take it to the moon and back," he said.
A 'risky' mission
But this is far from a routine mission, as this first time humans will be in the Orion spacecraft atop the SLS rocket. However, Hadfield said that anything worth doing has its risks.
"If you're going to do things that are right on the edge of human experience, sometimes they have extreme risk," Hadfield said. "Flying a rocket that no one has ever flown before is extreme risk and danger. If the rocket works properly, then they're on board a spaceship that has never been flown by people before."
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He added that once they light the big engine and take off, you're committed. And it'll take 3½ to four days to get to the moon and another 3½ to four to arrive back.
"So as soon as you fire that engine on that unproven spaceship, you can't turn around and come back. You're committed to at least another week — no matter what else goes wrong," Hadfield said. "So there is huge risk that crew of four is taking."
He added that it's why training takes decades.
"While we don't just choose random people off the street, these are four extremely accomplished human beings who are as ready as any four people could be — no matter what happens, in order to have the greatest chance of success, it's a big risk they're taking on behalf of us all to try and start becoming interplanetary," Hadfield said.
There are two big moments he'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief during this mission. The first is when they successfully accelerate into the Earth's orbit.
"That'll be a very tense 9 minutes of a lot of things happening," Hadfield described to Byrne. "They basically go from lying on their back on a beach in Florida, like any tourist to be going 17.5 thousand miles an hour above the atmosphere."
He described it as a "wild, crazy, dangerous, action-filled 9 minutes."
Hadfield's connection to astronaut Jeremy Hansen
But Hadfield isn't just viewing this experience from the outside-looking-in. He's known one of the astronauts, Jeremy Hansen, for years. Hadfield said they first met when Hansen was just a teenager.
"I selected him as an astronaut, and he supported me during my third space flight," Hadfield recalled. "He took care of my family, so I talk to Jeremy regularly. He's super competent and ready and excited."
"If you are not awed by the absolutely newfound human ability to leave the Earth, travel to the moon — which you can all look up at in the night sky — and lay the groundwork for us starting to settle on another planet, I think you're kind of missing one of the great adventures in life."Retired Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Chris Hadfield
Hadfield said Hansen's kids are all university age and that his wife is a doctor. He added that this is a "huge event" for their family.
"They'll be gathered together on the roof of the launch building, hugging each other and watching that high rocket light an enormous event in their personal lives," Hadfield said.
But overall, Hadfield described this exploration as an "amazing moment in history."
"If you are not awed by the absolutely newfound human ability to leave the Earth, travel to the moon — which you can all look up at in the night sky — and lay the groundwork for us starting to settle on another planet, I think you're kind of missing one of the great adventures in life," Hadfield said. "Humanity has been around for half a million years, and this is the first time in the entire history of our species — in the history of life on Earth, that we have been able to do something like this. It's all happened within one lifetime, and now we're transitioning from exploration to settlement on the moon."
This article was compiled from interviews conducted by Brendan Byrne for "The Florida Roundup."
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