Twelve American men went to the moon. The last Apollo astronaut left his mark there in December 1972. Now, half a century later, NASA intends to send humans back to the moon. The new program is called Artemis, after the legendary twin sister of Apollo, and the goal is the following the fingerprint per month will be made by a woman. The astronaut receiving this mission has not been chosen yet.
As you can see, this new push to the moon has been marred by doubts, cost overruns and delays. But I found something else interesting when I visited NASA: the Artemis program is not just called for a woman, it is largely driven by women
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: So there’s no place on launch day I’d like to be, but right here.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson is NASA’s first female launch director.
In a year’s time, he will place the go-to-launch order for the first Artemis monthly rocket in the historic Firing Room One at the Kennedy Space Center, which he first visited more than 30 years ago. college graduate, interviewing for a job.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: It’s the same room from which the Apollo 11 mission was launched. And it’s the same room where we launch the first flight of Artemis missions.
Bill Whitaker: When the young woman first came in here, did you really say, “I want to do this one day?”
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: I absolutely did. My thought was, “How do I sit in this room?
Bill Whitaker: And now you have the “place” in the room.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: I have a pretty nice place in this room. (LAUGHTER)
All Apollo monthly missions were launched on the huge five Saturn missiles, then the most powerful in the world. NASA’s new rocket is even more muscular.
Bill Whitaker: Can you tell me how powerful this new rocket is?
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: The center stage will have hundreds of thousands of gallons of propellant. Over eight million pounds at takeoff.
The most powerful rocket so far is called the Space Launch System or SLS. Developing for a decade, it has not yet flown; and launched the four main engines once, in a test.
Jody Singer: It’s hard to fool gravity.
Jody Singer is another woman for the first time for NASA: being the first woman to run Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, it was her job to build SLS, which is designed to go to the moon and beyond.
Jody Singer: It’s built to go deep. And right now, it’s the only vehicle that can carry Orion and take what it does to be able to go into deep space.
Orion is the capsule that astronauts will ride over the SLS rocket. The first one is ready to go. The lunar landing is still in the “concept” stage, but NASA doesn’t really need it until the third monthly Artemis mission.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: Artemis I is about testing this integrated vehicle, the SLS with Orion. Artemis II is about incorporating the crew and preparing us for Artemis III. Then where will we go to the surface of the moon.
Bill Whitaker: Do you hear yourself and how great does that sound?
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: Sounds great.
Another interesting piece of the Artemis plan is a space station called the Gateway, designed to orbit the moon.
NASA plans to use Elon Musk SpaceX to launch Gateway components on one of its Falcon Heavy missiles.
Falcon Heavy is already flying, the first launch sent Musk’s Tesla Roadster to Mars a few years ago; yes, that really happened. Jody Singer says SpaceX is an illustration of NASA’s partnership with commercial launch providers.
Jody Singer: We work together. And I think that by working together, we will be able to achieve the Artemis program. We both bring great things into this partnership.
When this partnership will actually deliver women and men to the moon is uncertain. Donald Trump has set 2024 as his goal; this was seen by insiders as unrealistic. President Biden did not set a timetable, but his White House gave Artemis the idea from the beginning.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki at the briefing: … another man and a woman a month, which is very interesting.
Bill Whitaker: What does it say about NASA that you are in these positions in what was a sphere totally dominated by men?
Jody Singer: Well, number one, I’d say I’ve come a long way. You know, Charlie and I know we’ve known each other for at least 20 years. We liked it. But we were also, you know, sometimes the only women in the room.
No more. Charlie Blackwell-Thompson says that on launch day, 30% of the engineers in her shooting room will be women.
Bill Whitaker: You were always interested in space, even when you were little, right?
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: I remember the last Apollo missions, the last couple. And I remember the feeling of curiosity and amazement. I could go out and look up at the sky and our astronauts were visiting the moon.
The pool of 18 Artemis astronauts has already been chosen. Nine women, nine men. Of which six are test pilots, four have a doctorate, three are doctors. It is not yet known which of them will fly to the moon, but two are in space right now on the International Space Station.
Bill Whitaker: Why the moon? Why spend your expenses to return for the month? “
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: We are still learning from the samples returned during the Apollo program. There are so many sciences – so many scientific discoveries that can come from returning to the moon.
Scientists are especially tempted by recent evidence that there is a lot of ice near the South Pole of the moon. This is exactly where Artemis is meant to land. Ice means H2O, which means water to sustain life, and hydrogen and oxygen potentially turn into rocket fuel.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: I would point out that the moon is – a demonstration ground, a reference point, for us to learn how to live in deep space when we are only a few days away from home, compared to months or years, for destinations like Mars.
Lori Garver: And it will be wonderful when we come back and, especially, we will be wonderful if, this time, we can stay.
Lori Garver was the number two official at NASA for most of the Obama administration. She wants America to return to the moon, but she thinks the current approach is the wrong way to get there.
Lori Garver: I would not have recommended that the government build a $ 27 billion missile when the private sector builds nearly as large missiles at no cost to the taxpayer.
Talk about missiles like Falcon Heavy, by Elon Musk.
Garver was an early advocate for everyone’s transformation developing new large rockets to private companies such as SpaceX.
Lori Garver: But Congress had another purpose. Their goal was really to expand contracts and jobs in their districts.
At that time – 2010 – the space shuttle was about to be grounded and members of Congress feared that aerospace jobs in their districts would also disappear.
Bill Whitaker: SLS, the space launch system, is mockingly called the Senate launch system. Can you explain to us why he has that nickname?
Lori Garver: In this case, the Senate came to us at NASA and said, “No, we don’t like your plan. And we will make you build it like this ”.
So Boeing, NASA’s main space shuttle contractor and longtime partner, has become the main contractor for SLS.
Lori Garver: The industry said it will do it for $ 6 billion in six years. That was the rocket. $ 20 billion has passed in 11 years.
NASA’s Jody Singer acknowledges delays and cost overruns, but insists it’s the right model.
Jody Singer: The space launch system, I’m proud to say, has a work of over 45 states and over 1,100 vendors. So the Space Launch System is a national vehicle. That means jobs. This means that across the country, for SLS alone, there are over 25,000 people who have jobs.
Lori Garver: It’s ironic, honestly, that NASA, the very symbol of a democratic and capitalist society, has implemented many of its human spaceflight programs in a more socialist way.
Bill Whitaker: More in a socialist way. (Laughter) I think many of the senators whose districts receive these jobs from NASA would stop at this description.
Lori Garver: You will plant potatoes in March. You will build your rocket in my district. That – that is it.
The top-down approach, says Garver, produced a NASA SLS rocket that will cost more than $ 2 billion for each launch, while SpaceX flies its Falcon Heavy for a fraction of that.
The NASA SLS may launch a heavier payload, but it is a missile of use and loss; none of its parts can be reused. In contrast, Spacex space rockets make soft landings after launch so that they can always be used. Two of its first stages have already been launched eight times each!
Bill Whitaker: I’m missing something saying this is the new way, and what about NASA is the old way?
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: Well, I probably wouldn’t characterize it as the “new way” and the “old way.” I would probably characterize it as just different ways. I would say that our rocket was designed based on a proven technology.
Bill Whitaker: So you wouldn’t say it’s “old,” it’s “proven”?
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: I’d say it’s “proven.”
However, SpaceX rockets are proven enough that NASA trusts them to transport its astronauts to the International Space Station.
Those successful missions should not be confused with a completely new rocket called the spacecraft that SpaceX is testing in Texas. Three test flights so far, all three ending in spectacular explosions … the most recent just last week.
Bill Whitaker: So NASA should pivot and start relying on SpaceX and commercial launchers – for the month and beyond?
Lori Garver: Without a doubt. We should have done it before.
Bill Whitaker: Is NASA able to make that change?
Lori Garver: Oh, of course. I mean, NASA is able to do more than them – they realize.
Bill Whitaker: Now, given everything you’ve told me, will NASA Congress allow this change?
Lori Garver: Probably not.
For now, the center stage of the first Artemis mission is in a test stand in Mississippi – the same stand used for Apollo missions. He is waiting for a test, after the technical errors shortened the first one.
There are six American flags per month, one for each Apollo landing. But the newest the flag is Chinese, left last year by a landing robot that collected samples and brought them back to earth. Beijing finally intends to send astronauts.
Bill Whitaker: Aren’t we in a space race with China?
Lori Garver: There is no race to go to the moon. I won it. I won it six times. And I have no doubt we’ll be back with the people before anyone leaves.
And Charlie Blackwell-Thompson will be the woman who will launch them from her place in the firing range.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson: We talk a lot about the moon and I think the moon is phenomenal and I can’t wait to go back. But when we talk about those young people who might be like me when I was younger, looking at the night sky and looking up at the moon, I want them to look at the night sky and not limit themselves to the moon.
Produced by Rome Hartman. Associate producer, Sara Kuzmarov. Broadcasting partner, Emilio Almonte. Edited by Craig Crawford.