The commander of humanity’s first lunar mission in half a century has a special invitation from SpaceX in his pocket.
Reid Wiseman, NASA astronaut leading four Artemis 2 crew members told Space.com in a Dec. 18 exclusive. SpaceX He wants to talk to his crew about this. starship. This is no coincidence, considering SpaceX is developing Starship. Artemis 3It plans to send humans to the moon for the first time since 1972.
It is not yet known when and how these will come together. Artemis 2 expected to fly around moon If the programs continue, it can’t happen before 2024. Artemis 3 is scheduled for demonstration in 2025 or 2026, but that assumes SpaceX’s Starship passes enough testing to meet NASA’s stringent safety requirements for human-rated spacecraft.
Wiseman spoke to Space.com not only about SpaceX, but also what his crew plans to take with them on the mission, the help he’s providing, and how his team is dealing with developmental uncertainty. The NASA pilot who went to the moon (and back) with it Victor Glover (will be the first black person to leave low Earth orbit), NASA mission specialist Christina Koch (first woman) and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen (First non-American).
Relating to: According to the GAO report, it is unlikely that NASA’s Artemis 3 astronaut will land on the moon before 2027
We are about a year away from the launch of Artemis 2. Can you talk about your main objectives for the mission and what you’re currently focused on as a crew and team?
Reid Wiseman, Artemis 2 commander: It’s pretty simple for us. We really want to enable Orion and Space Launch System For our astronaut friends who will land on the moon and work around the moon. That’s why we come to work every day.
This happened in a class we were just in: We’re not just looking at how we can make this better for Artemis 2. “How do we position this for Artemis 3, 4 and 5?” we think. Victor Glover today – we were talking about: “Hey, this [Artemis 2] It’s only a nine-day mission.” We were in survival class but we said, “We won’t be so unconditional [after the mission].” And Victor said: “Hey, wait a minute. “We need to consider the maximum mission duration because this will apply to all Artemis missions.”
So we’ve done a great job of – I think – really looking at, what does this vehicle need in the future for our crewmates when they go to the moon and land? How can we squeeze Orion and SLS so that it’s almost an essential mission while our peers are training for moonwalk missions? [they think]”Okay, we know Orion, so we don’t have to worry about that [spacecraft]. Let’s focus on HLS instead [human landing system spacecraft] or let’s focus on new suit designs.” Actually, this is our main goal.
The training was amazing, really well prepared lessons. It comes in small waves. We’ve been really busy the last few weeks and then we have some free time. Then you’re too busy again.
Can you talk about the excitement and responsibilities of all teams for Artemis 2?
Wise man: This completely blew me away, and not just from a professional standpoint, but also from an outreach standpoint, traveling the world. Seeing where the European Service Module is being built with Airbus in Bremen, Germany. These people are very excited to have people in their vehicles. Or go to the Cape [Canaveral area] With Lockheed and Orion. I even got a call from SpaceX’s chief engineer two weeks ago. He said: ‘Next time you come to the Cape [Canaveral, nearby NASA’s Kennedy Space Center), come by and talk to us. We’re doing Starship, and Dragon, and we just want to hear what is going on with the Artemis 2 crew.”
I had to take a step back. They launched two Starships [in 2023]and i bought it another rolls onto the pillow. They want us to come here and talk to them because they are motivated. And of course, there are the teams we train with, especially at NASA. That’s the career of most of these people. Their careers are spent preparing for our work on the Moon. So being a crew member, walking towards launch is much more meaningful than it is for us. We’re really trying to embrace that. Very strong.
Are there any surprises in education?
Wise man: My surprise may be a bit cliché. As a team that would fly this vehicle for the first time, we thought that there would be many unknowns. We will continue our way with a truly challenging training curriculum. But what I neglected was that we had just been trained by the flight controllers. Artemis 1 [an uncrewed mission around the moon in 2022] very successful. So we go into these classes and they’re just polished. They know everything there is to know about this vehicle. They just finished flying it and around the moon. They know their systems. There it is, just wired. I was very impressed. They really know what’s going on.
Your crew emphasized that Artemis 2 was largely a developmental mission. So you have decades of spaceflight experience at NASA, and even the entire crew, to carry out this mission. However, many of the procedures and training opportunities are created while you train. So how is everyone doing on the launch timeline?
How would NASA deal with the ripple effects on planning for subsequent Artemis missions if this mission was delayed?
Wise man: As you know, as a team, we do not really engage in the programmatic “We should set off in November 2024”. It has political consequences. It has operational consequences. What we really care about is when this vehicle is ready, and when NASA says it’s ready to fly, we’ll be ready to fly it. This is our critical turning point. But as the meeting continues, I think we will face some slippage. Definitely. So we’ll see how this goes.
But I think everything I’ve seen so far is progressing very logically. In a very methodical way. And when the Orion program or SLS encountered an obstacle, we stopped the appropriate period. We’re really analyzing the question: “Do we need to fix this? Do we have an operational workaround? Do we have a hardware workaround?” And then we continue.
I think everything has a culture of safety, and that’s what I see. The mission assurance culture is extremely healthy right now. When this vehicle is ready, we are proceeding very regularly and at great speed to fly.
Have you and your team discussed the personal items you will take to the moon yet?
Wise man: Our weight is pretty limited but we all have our little things. I won’t speak for the rest of the team, but throughout my life I’ve realized how important tradition is to me. Things I did with my kids or things my parents did when me and my brother were growing up. So I will take something as a personal symbol for myself that references my personal family tradition.
When I flew the Soyuz in 2014 [to the International Space Station], on my knee pad was a little black and white picture of my kids printed on a piece of paper, because mass is everything. So you don’t buy anything extra that you don’t need to buy. I printed this directly onto my kneeboard and I’m going to do something very similar to this.
But to be honest, I didn’t think about it when we were first appointed, but I’m working with Victor, Christina and Jeremy. I want to be involved in this experience with them. They are very special people. So I can’t wait to watch them work as we orbit the moon.
How did you, as a crew, interact with NASA personnel and contractors while visiting facilities and training locations?
Wise man: We go absolutely everywhere. What we need to remind ourselves is that everywhere we go, people know who we are. It’s amazing to see how excited people are. So they are very hot. we went Marshall Space Flight CenterIt’s one of our own NASA headquarters, and we stood for an hour as people took photo after photo. I walk towards the crew. We are simply a human representation of what these people have worked for for over a decade. It’s so powerful.
As a band, you do a lot of other types of shows. For example, you were next to Apollo 13 movie actor Tom Hanks; In the movies, of course, he’s a lunar astronaut. You were also at the F1 car racing event and many more. Can you talk about what this experience was like for you and your team?
Wise man: It’s absolutely surreal because we’re in places that most people don’t get the chance to experience. Tom Hanks had an important place in my childhood with “Apollo 13” and “Forrest Gump”. It was really nice to meet these people and interact a bit. But you know, if you had given us our wishes, we would be in fifth grade trying to motivate kids to study STEM. [science, technology, engineering and math].
But this is important. We need all elements of outreach to get the message out as far and wide as possible that this is worth doing. Human discovery is important to bring our world together. When we work together, we can tackle big problems. This is the message we want to give. It’s been great to have people like Tom Hanks involved and get involved in F1 (entering a few markets we don’t usually get to).
It was fun diving into the parallels between Formula 1’s Mission Control and spaceflight. I took a lot from Formula 1, the way they communicate, the way they structure and organize the things that are important to the drivers and then the different things that are important to the engineering teams.
Is there anything else you want to talk about?
Wise man: I really want to thank all of you for what you do at Space.com. We’ve learned so many wonderful things from you, and I appreciate the research you’ve done and what you’ve put forward. [at the events]. I think this is really important.
I love Artemis’ public-private partnership. I don’t think we did a good enough job highlighting how this went. CLPS [commercial lunar payload services program, or robotic missions in support of Artemis] They will soon launch robotic missions to the moon. And what SpaceX is doing now Blue Origin comes with HLS design. When you live in it and marinate in it, it’s truly amazing. It’s a great time to be a part of this program. So we really appreciate the public’s support.
This interview has been edited and condensed.