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Erin Burnett Outfront
Now: Artemis Crew Heading Back Toward Earth After Lunar Flyby; Trump Threatens To Unleash "Hell" On Iran If No Deal By 8PM Tomorrow. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired April 06, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:00]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And good evening and welcome to this special edition of OUTFRONT. I'm Erin Burnet.
And we are following the breaking news. The Artemis II four-person crew at this very moment is somewhere that no human being has ever been before. And that is an incredible thing.
Look at these live images. This is master control because they -- that's what you're looking at -- because they have had zero contact with the Artemis crew for about 15 minutes now. So, there are four human beings seeing something no one has ever seen before. We know it's happening, but they can't tell us about it right now. And in just moments, they're going to be the closest they will ever be to the moon, roughly about 4,000 miles.
And just to give you an idea of how close that would feel if you were looking up and looking at the moon for them, for the four astronauts on board, the moon will appear to be the size of a basketball. If you were holding it in your arm right here at arm's length, that's how it looks to them. And in just a few moments, they're going to reach their maximum distance from earth, which it's important to be exact is 252,756 miles away, the farthest a human being has ever been from our planet.
And you can see the clock on your screen counting up. And it is usually we do countdowns on cable news, right? Well, we are counting up for a reason because when it gets to about 40 minutes, mission control should be able to communicate with the astronauts again, right? It's about.
So we're watching that very closely as it counts up. You're going to see us getting there in this crucial moment, in this history making mission. And we're going to be joined by some of the world's most important, powerful voices in astrophysics and science. You know so many of these names and faces.
I want to begin, though, at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where Ed Lavandera is.
Ed, because, you know, it is amazing. I just want to -- you know, what we're looking at the screen here is mission control, which is something, you know, people are used to seeing. That's sort of a shot, but we're looking at that because we can't talk to the crew --we can't hear from the crew right now.
They can't, right? We're in a communications blackout. So, tell us what is about to happen.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are traveling. So, remember, like they are slingshotting around the moon and the moon is continuing on its trajectory. And here in a little while, they will see what we first saw back in 1968 at Apollo 8 mission, which is the first crew to go around the moon and capture that famous photo of the earthrise. This crew is about to experience this moment, and they have been on this riveting journey throughout the day today, capturing all of these images, sending back incredible descriptions of what they're seeing on the lunar surface.
But right now, it is just the four of them in that capsule. The thoughts and the conversations all to themselves as they are literally on the far side of the moon. And we are anxiously awaiting for them to come back into communication. We should be important to point out this was all planned. This isn't a problem. They knew that this was going to happen, so it's just a matter of waiting this out for them to continue on their journey.
And once that happens, that begins pretty much the process of them starting to fly home. So, this is the culmination of this extraordinary journey that they are on. And it has just been captivating to listen to throughout the day. And they are seeing things that no human has ever seen. They are seeing and the descriptions that they've given has been stunning.
Talking about how they're noticing brown and green colors on the moon's surface, which have stood out to them. The riveting details about the topography and just how rugged so many parts of the moon that they are seeing here, and all of this incredibly crucial because some of these areas are areas that could be perhaps future landing sites for future Artemis missions.
So right now, they are on their on their own, but not really on their own because there is a large team of scientists and physicists who have charted this path, have done all the calculations, and it's literally physics at work here and trusting that that math and all of that physics that they will continue on this trajectory and that through the power of gravity and the forces of the -- of the atmosphere and -- and the universe, that they will begin on this journey coming back home. And that's what's at play here right now.
BURNETT: All right. Ed, we're going to be checking back in with you. And I like how in the background of it, everybody you can hear mission control, you can hear all of you know, sort of the cacophony there of what's going on as, as we're in this blackout.
All right. Neil deGrasse Tyson, you know, it's interesting when he says it's all about physics right now because it is --
NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, ASTROPHYSICIST: It's physics all the way down.
BURNETT: Physics all the way down. And yet in the midst of physics, there are four human beings who are together alone, looking at something that no human has ever seen before, and that they are the -- they are there -- I mean, it is really incredible to think about what they're seeing right now as were talking about it.
TYSON: Well, so the backside of the moon has been photographed before, so it's not like no one has ever seen it, but to see it in real time and get real time commentary and reaction to hearing colors, what do they say?
BURNETT: Colors? Yeah.
TYSON: Is it orange or whatever that whatever that was this, this would be a geologist playpen to land on the moon and explore just with their own eyes and their own brain.
Just a point that was not made this distance that were quoting to the moon, that the astronauts then figure eight around it. The moons orbit around the earth is not a perfect circle. It's an oval. And so we are going to the moon now while the moon is at its farthest point from the Earth. So for free, you're getting some extra distance out of this mission. And it's called the moon at apogee. This perigee and apogee.
So, they're looping around the moon when the moon is at its farthest. And the figure eight is a nice, big, generous figure eight. So, by the time they're on the other side, they're by far and away the farthest any humans have been from earth.
BURNETT: Which. And that's incredible, right? Again, that's the physics as you describe it.
Michio, it's also they have just passed mission control has confirmed the place where they are going to be the closest that they are coming to the moon, which is just about 4,000 miles away. That's what I was describing, sort of the basketball. If you hold a basketball and look at it, that's how close, which is a stunning thing too, that they have come this close. You know, obviously no one has since the Apollo missions.
MICHIO KAKU, PROFESSOR OF THEORETICAL PHYSICS, CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK: Well, first of all, I'd like to congratulate the engineers, the physicists, the scientists that have made this possible.
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The mission is flawless, except for the broken toilet. Except for that, everything has gone according to --
BURNETT: Which, by the way, the four human beings on board is a really big deal. But, you know, just saying. Yeah.
KAKU: But even with the broken toilet, they make, they make more landmark records. Given the fact that the distance between the earth and the moon is about a quarter of a million miles, they broke that record. It's amazing. So, one by one, they're breaking these records. But you also have to compare this with the Apollo program of the 1960s. You realize that back then, we abandoned the space program after
reaching the moon.
BURNETT: Yeah.
KAKU: Isaac Asimov, the science fiction writer, once said it was like a football game. We took the football, scored a touchdown, and then went home. And that was the end of the manned space program.
Well, it's coming back now with a vengeance. And I assume now it's going to be permanent. And I hope that's the lesson that we are learning now. We're talking about the permanent presence of humans in the universe. And this is new.
So I think that's going to be the mantra for the future that when we explore outer space, it's not to score a touchdown. Its not to have our name in lights. No, its permanent presence in the universe.
BURNETT: Changing the mindset from running a sprint, a sprint to a marathon. Right? We're shifting the way we think about it. I mean, and when you think about this, Timothy, as Neil's talking about physics, you obviously have got a moon here. He was talking about --
TYSON: It's a model of the moon.
BURNETT; A model --
TYSON: Not the moon.
BURNETT: Well, I guess that's actually one of the ones where if I held it out here, that would be -- we could --
TIMOTHY GLOTCH, NASA ARTEMIS LUNAR SURFACE SCIENCE TEAM: A little bit bigger.
BURNETT: Like we're seeing a little bit bigger than a basketball. But you get the point.
But we were talking about the colors.
GLOTCH: Right.
BURNETT: Okay, the moon, when we look up at night with the naked eye and, you know, and I look up at it and I think it's amazing. I can see anything, right? That you can see the craters and they are looking at it so closely and they are seeing color.
GLOTCH: Yes.
BURNETT: All right. And so, talk to me about that.
GLOTCH: Right. So, for the viewers at home, if you look out at the moon on a full moon night, you see dark areas and you see bright areas, the dark areas. I'll use the model here. These are called Mare. These are made out of basaltic volcanic rocks. This is what earth's oceanic crust is made out of. It's a type of lava
that comes out of volcanoes in Hawaii. So, it's dark, but it's relatively fluid. And that's why it covers such a large area here.
The other areas that you see that are highly cratered, that the astronauts are seeing on the far side of the moon, that's called the anorthosite highlands. And those are the bright areas that are the -- some of the oldest terrains on the moon.
Now, it's difficult from earth to see this kind of variation in color, but there actually was an astronomer in the 1600s, Hevelius, who did some of the first observations of the moon, and he noticed an area on the near side called the Aristarchus plateau. That's my favorite area of the moon.
BURNETT: Hevelius?
GLOTCH: Hevelius. And he noticed that Aristarchus looked a little bit redder than everything else, just with his naked eye. So, to me, it's not a huge surprise that the astronauts, being about 4,000 miles away from the moon, are seeing slight variations in color. There are green volcanic minerals. The Apollo astronauts returned glass from a huge volcanic fire fountain eruption that was green, and some other some other astronauts dug up dirt that was kind of orange.
Yeah. So, it's not surprising that they're seeing color variation, but it'll be really interesting to see the reports a little bit later on in detail about what areas appear, different colors to them.
BURNETT: Okay. So, Peggy, you know, on this, they're looking right now as the closest that they've been. And we understand they're between 15 and 16 minutes away from reestablishing contact. But you have been in a communications blackout. I know for you it was 80 minutes when you were on the ISS.
You know, what does it feel like for them? And obviously they knew this was coming, but that they are, you know, in orbit, unable to communicate. But they are seeing things that humans haven't seen before. What do you think these moments are like for them? I guess 15 minutes more that are left.
PEGGY WHITSON, FORMER NASA CHIEF ASTRONAUT: Well, I'm sure they're very excited to share all their thoughts and visions that they saw and trying to describe that to the public because they want to share such an experience with everyone. And they've done actually, I think a great job trying to communicate all of this process as they've been going this far out there.
But in terms of an expected blackout, it's not a huge deal for astronauts because we know what to expect. We know how long it's going to last. If it if it lasted longer than you might start worrying after that. But it's a planned event.
And so, it's -- you know, it's a break from the ground, but you get to focus more on what you're doing right there, right now. BURNETT: And you know where they are, I was fascinating looking at the
mockups of the difference between, you know, this spacecraft and apollo spacecraft. And this is much roomier, Miles. And when we look at a mockup of the Orion, you see for people ten days together.
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It's the size of two minivans, which I am describing that as spacious because relatively it is. Very tight quarters, though they have had to troubleshoot issues as Michio was talking about, the toilet, you know, it's not a nothing when you're in a space like that and you have to deal with that.
All right. So, talk about this space that they're in right now as they are there looking at the moon.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Well, it's cozy, isn't it, Erin. And while a minivan in with gravity is one thing, a minivan with another dimension, which is to say weightlessness, it gives you some cubic space, which you can't take advantage of when you're tethered to gravity like we are. So, they have a little advantage there.
But in watching the pictures from this mission, I am struck with even the differences to the old shuttle missions on the space available for the crew members. Certainly, you know, we have a football-sized international space station. That's a copious amount of space by comparison. But this is a very tight crew that has connected very well. Clearly, they're on a mission to beat all camping missions, for sure.
And yes, it would be nice to go number one in the toilet, the $23 million toilet. But hey, space is hard. And toilets suck. They actually do literally --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Between this and the Gerald Ford, I just, you know, lately.
Okay. So, I think now as I look here, we're just counting here. It looks like somewhere between 12 minutes and about 24 seconds away from reestablishing contact.
Let's go. Yeah, yeah.
TYSON: Yeah, yeah. Peggy, I've heard from some astronauts. Describe that NASA is always yapping at you the whole time so that if you go into a communication blackout, that can occasionally be a welcomed bit of silence from what Houston is trying to always bark out at you. So, it's -- were you just being polite as you spoke about this?
WHITSON: No. I mean, obviously it is a break reprieve from the ground, but we depend on the ground for so much and they're part of the team. And so as long as it's planned, it's not a problem. And then later, you know, we'll work on it. If it -- if it -- if it becomes a problem.
TYSON: Okay. And miles said that it was the size of a football, he meant a football stadium, a football field. I just want to clarify that, it's bigger than a football.
Also, I had one comment about the Maria, the seas. Before we knew that the moon was bone dry and had nothing on it, these look like what an ocean would look like from afar, so they were named seas. The Maria is sea in Latin and so it was just a -- it's just kind of what it looked like. But clearly, it's a volcanic.
BURNETT: Right, right. Lifeless, but not -- but not -- but yet so much going on.
All right, let's get to Tom Foreman because Tom, you know, let's talk about as they're now at the closest point and about to reestablish contact here in the next few moments. What exactly are they seeing such that, you know, you can look at exactly where they are on the route.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, I want to think about what Neil said a little while ago. What they're really seeing is the magic of math and physics, because it's important to remember the moon is moving at the same time. This craft is moving. And I will tell you this, every graphic you have ever seen showing the moon and the earth has one fundamental flaw. It shows the moon much closer to earth than it really is.
If you put this in perspective, the moon would have to be way across the studio over there. It's not this close. Nonetheless, by doing this, yeah, they're being able to see things that are just astonishing up there that we really haven't seen. If you go back to what Apollo showed us, the Apollo mission, when they flew closer, that's when we got some of our looks at this.
We've had robotic looks at this, but they're able to see some things up there that we just really have not seen and give a very different sense of what the other side of the moon is like compared to the side that we normally see. The fact that they arranged to go there when there was light on it. And these are the Apollo 13 pictures will give even more detail about what they're seeing.
One last thing I want to mention. We're talking about the fact that they're in a sound blackout right now. Here's an interesting way of looking at this, to get a sense of how far away they are -- if one of them could simply shout, and if that shout could travel through space, if it traveled at the speed of sound on earth right now, it would take more than 13 days to get here.
They would be back and they would have been showered and had a barbecue and visit with all their neighbors before they heard their own shout come back.
BURNETT: That's incredible.
FOREMAN: So that gives you a sense of how far away they are.
BURNETT: Yeah. When you think about just a sound wave. All right, that that there you go. That's my -- I think the thing I'll be left thinking about. All right. Tom, thank you very much.
Tim, this model that you have of the moon. Okay, so when they are looking out right now, what part are they seeing?
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GLOTCH: Okay, so we're on the near side right here. You notice that it's relatively smooth in this model. Relatively few craters. They passed earlier today around this side of the moon. They observed mare orientale.
BURNETT: So, this -- that big circle that, by the way, is one of the most perfect. You talk about just the amazingness of physics. It was perfection.
GLOTCH: Yes.
BURNETT: And both the inner and the outer circle. That's what we saw earlier today.
GLOTCH: We saw this earlier today. This is the first time the whole impact basin had ever been viewed by itself with human eyes.
We can see it a little bit from Earth. If it's kind of -- it's kind of like right on the edge of what we can see from Earth. But it's the first time we saw this. This is the youngest, most well-preserved multiring impact basin on the moon. And it can tell us about the age of -- the age of different processes on the moon.
Geologists use craters on the moon, kind of like clocks. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Right. We use them to tell time when processes different, different processes happen. So, we got great observations of mare orientale and then we move --
(CROSSTALK)
TYSON: Just to be clear on maria orientale, you know, its young because there are very few other craters on top of it.
GLOTCH: That's exactly right.
TYSON: So --
BURNETT: The pockmark. Yeah.
TYSON: Because the moon gets hit. And so, if you got a big crater with very few other craters in it, that's a recent phenomena.
BURNETT: So, spin it like so just so I can get the camera over here to catch it. Okay, so this is what they're looking at now over here.
GLOTCH: Yes. So, when they passed when they passed past or passed past orientale, they started to see the true far side of the moon, which is riddled with craters. It's completely saturated with craters. That's how we know that it's ancient. And they really started to observe the dichotomy between the near side
and the far side. The near side. Much of the surface is covered with the mare on the far side. It's almost all of this heavily cratered highlands with relatively few mare. And this is one of the major questions in lunar geology that we haven't solved is why is there this huge difference between the near side and the far side?
And we still don't know the answer to that. So right now, they actually are in darkness. They've passed the terminator, which is that boundary between the day and the night. So now they're in blackness. They're ready to come out the other side of the moon. And like they were saying earlier, talk to earth.
BURNETT: In about -- in about eight minutes.
So, Michio, okay, we talk about all these places that we don't know much about, right? And these mysteries, you know, Elon Musk, you know, he had talked a lot about Mars. Now he's saying, "Well, let's do the moon first."
He posted on social media last month or in February. For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the moon, meaning people are going to live there and stay there and theoretically have children there so we can potentially achieve that in less than ten years. He says Mars would take 20 years.
Do you think that that is realistic for the moon? There could be actually a self-sustaining, self-growing colony there?
KAKU: Yes, but it all comes down to one word -- cost. You realize that at the height of the Apollo era in the '60s, the budget of the space program consumed 5 percent of the entire U.S. budget. That was unsustainable. But it was a Cold War.
So, what happened was -- well, the whole thing collapsed as a consequence. It was too expensive. Now, because rockets are reusable, prices have dropped dramatically.
BURNETT: Right.
KAKU: And it's a whole new ball game now.
BURNETT: And there may be rare earths that are worth getting. I guess the two combination -- the two --
KAKU: As a possibility, right? It may be helium three to provide power on the moon. The point is that the demographics and the footing of the bill has changed as a consequence of the new reality. And that's going to open up the heavens because we cannot sustain 5 percent of the federal budget on the space program. That's not possible.
BURNETT: All right. So, let's bring in Bill Wiseman. He's the brother of NASA astronaut Artemis Commander Reid Wiseman, who right now is Bill on the far side of the moon, farther away than anyone has ever traveled before. He's unable to communicate, so he's got another few minutes left here until we hear from your brother and the other crew again.
So, what's going through your mind right now, Bill?
BILL WISEMAN, BROTHER OF ARTEMIS II COMMANDER REID WISEMAN: I'm thrilled for him. He's doing exactly what he wanted to do with his whole life. And I talked to his -- talked to one of his daughters today. He talked to my dad, had exactly that same conversation. And I think we're all -- we're all cheering for these guys.
They're having -- not only are they having a great time, they're doing great stuff for humanity. And we love it.
BURNETT: I know that -- I know his daughters are so proud of him. Obviously, he is a single father and, you know, lost his wife, Carol in 2020. She had had a long battle with cancer. And Ellie and Katie are now 20 and 17, and cheering their dad on.
I know there was a moment on board the Orion earlier today that left them in tears, because one of the astronauts told mission control that they wanted to name a crater on the moon.
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One of the craters that we were just talking about in honor of Carroll, let me just -- okay, sorry. So, I'll read it.
Jeremy Hansen says, "At certain times of the moons journey around earth, we'll be able to see this from earth. And so we lost a loved one. Her name was Carroll, the spouse of read, the mother of Katie and Ellie. And if you want to find this one you look at it and it's a bright spot on the moon and we'd like to call it, Carroll.
Let me just play it. We did just get this soundbite in, so I'll play it for you, Bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY HANSEN, ASTRONAUT: At certain times of the moon's transit around earth, you can. We will be able to see this from earth. And so, we lost a loved one. Her name was Carroll. The spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie.
And if you want to find this one, you look at Glushko and its just to the northwest of that, at the same latitude as Ohm. And it's a -- it's a bright spot on the moon. And we would like to call it Carroll.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And your brother was wiping tears away as Jeremy spoke. And then the whole crew embraced just the four of them there together, obviously for you and for Carroll's children, for your whole family. This was a moment. What did it mean to you?
WISEMAN: Well, first, it was completely unexpected. And so, when I heard Jeremy talking about dedicating a crater to Integrity. I thought that was going to be it. And then, you know, you can hear it in Jeremy's voice. I'm amazed he was able to even get through it because it was so emotional.
I probably talked to over 100 people today after that came out and I think the phrase that everyone kept using was, I'm not crying. You're crying because I think that was what was going on across most of the country, if not most of the world.
It was extremely well done. And I thought it was a fantastic taste, and I was really glad to see the crew hug at the end of that because it was, I think it was exactly what Reid needed. It was exactly what his kids needed.
BURNETT: And there was a moment when he made a heart shape with his hands at the camera. And, you know, we saw him do it last week when Artemis was heading to the launch pad before liftoff. And I know this was something that, you know, was a special symbol between him and his daughters. He had a moment with Ellie before 2014 mission where, you know, that was sort of captured her making that heart sign to her father right there. There it is, from May of that year.
You know, how special is his bond with his children? Who, you know, I know they are his biggest fans and supporters in this huge moment in his life
WISEMAN: And I think that the same goes in reverse. Reid has been incredibly supportive of every single activity that that his children wanted to do. And it's really reflective of the parenting that that our parents gave us, which is support don't control support -- let them, let them discover and do what they want to do.
And I think that heart symbol was really, that was cemented, like you said, it was 12 years ago. We were in Kazakhstan about to -- you know, read was about to go and get separated for the first time from his kids because he really hadn't deployed in the Navy the whole time he was at NASA. And that -- that symbol of a heart in the bus, picture that you have there, that was I think it was one of the pictures of the year in 2014.
And Carroll never wanted her kids to be on media of any kind. And the fact that she permitted that one, I think it just cemented it for everybody. And so I saw Reid and Ellie and Katie do that to each other, you know, for the last 12 years. There you go.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Bill, stay with us, please, because we're about to regain here communications again regained. So, let's listen to mission control as we hear this first contact.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything unexpected they saw. There also including lunar target descriptions, any hardware issues and their emotions and reactions.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Again, we are standing by to acquire signal from the Orion spacecraft.
BURNETT: Now, Miles O'Brien is here with me, too.
Miles, just as we're watching this and this blue keep flashing up and mission control, is this basically they're starting to reestablish and it comes in bit by bit. Can you explain what we're looking at?
[19:25:00]
O'BRIEN: I think it's going to be pretty much an on/off kind of thing, Erin. We will hear from them pretty quickly on through the deep space network. I don't know whether that has something to do with just the national TV signal, but I think we should hear fairly clearly from the get-go, when they make their way around the horn and, and check back in, you know, it'll be interesting to see because they've been trained by scientists to articulate what they've seen. And it will be interesting to see --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After a 40-minute loss of signal during which the crew --
O'BRIEN: I was listening to NASA.
BURNETT: Yeah, let's listen in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- is flying behind the moon, out of contact with anyone on earth.
O'BRIEN: It will be interesting to see what they recorded, including. They were encouraged to, you know how it made them feel to see it.
But you know the moon, we think of the moon as this monochromatic place. But as you know, Harrison Schmitt on Apollo 17 found that famous orange rock, which was volcanic origins, it is, there are more colors than we certainly see from where we sit. But ultimately, I'm very interested to see what the crew thinks about looking back at our home in the in the cosmos.
I talked to several apollo astronauts and to a person. They all spoke about how our goal was the moon, but we ultimately became much more interested and profoundly affected by our own home, by this blue marble we live on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are getting --
BURNETT: Peggy, let's -- here we go. Let's listen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After the loss of signal, Orion has come back around the other side of the moon, and that little crescent that you see is Earth over 252,000 miles away.
BURNETT: All right. You just heard what they said at NASA, narrating, that little fingernail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- flyby continues. But Orion has also technically begun its journey home.
BURNETT: So, Orion has now technically begun its journey home because it is looped around that figure eight that Neil talked about around the moon. These are live images from outside the spacecraft. So, they have reestablished that camera. We haven't yet heard from the crew, but we have reestablished that and --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The crew are getting a few moments to enjoy and take photos of earthrise for themselves. And we expect to contact them shortly. But we do have good signal coming from Orion.
BURNETT: Okay. And there you have it. So, they're giving them a few moments to take pictures of earth rising.
And just to think about that, Neil, earth rising, that little fingernail, most people would associate with, oh, when the moon is at its tiny sliver. But that's actually the earth.
TYSON: Yeah, it's earth.
BURNETT: From the Orion. That's the view. And they're being encouraged to take a few minutes before they talk. We know their signals are back up. We're not talking to them so they can observe it and picture it.
TYSON: Just to be clear, full moon seen from Earth is one fourth the size of full Earth seen from the moon. So, what looks like a tiny little fingernail there will appear much bigger to them emotionally, psychologically, physically than any full moon has ever appeared to anyone here on earth.
BURNETT: It is pretty stunning, Michio, how they're giving them. This is now inside so we can see them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their tasks for lunar flyby did not stop as they went behind the moon and out of contact with us. We anticipate during that time they were attempting to image some impact flashes, short lived flashes on the lunar surface, which would be caused by impact bombardment and potentially even lofted lunar dust.
Right now, of course, they are getting pictures of earthrise.
BURNETT: Earthrise --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This target, they will get a short observation break. It's about an hour long actually.
BURNETT: That they are what they are witnessing earthrise.
KAKU; I think it's a whole new vocabulary, a whole new vocabulary that we have --
BURNETT: Let's listen to them. They're speaking right now here.
CHRISTINA KOCH, ASTRONAUT: Houston, we have you the same. And it is so great to hear from earth again, to Asia, Africa and Oceania, we are looking back at you. We hear you can look up and see the moon right now. We see you, too.
When we burned this burn towards the moon, I said that we do not leave earth, but we use it. And that is true. We will explore, we will build. We will build ships. We will visit again.
We will construct science outposts. We will drive rovers. We will do radio astronomy. We will sound companies. We will bolster industry. We will inspire.
But ultimately, we will always choose earth. We will always choose each other.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Integrity from Earth. Our single system, fragile and interconnected. We copy. Those of us that can are looking back.
BURNETT: So, Peggy, that sounded like Christina Koch, who is the only woman on board.
[19:30:04]
Her last words there --
KOCH: We copy
BURNETT: What she said. Whatever happens, we will always choose earth. Perhaps that gives us a small sense of the magnitude of what they just witnessed emotionally and probably spiritually with what they just saw and the perspective it gives them.
WHITSON: Yeah, it's got to be an incredible perspective. I know even from low earth orbit, it is an incredible perspective to see our planet from above. And this has to be, you know, a thousand fold, 10,000-fold greater experience. I think
TYSON: I would say that's the difference between what many astronauts describe as the overview effect, which they will see from where national borders disappear. But if you're in deep space and earth as a planet is out there alone in space, as Carl Sagan said, with no hint, no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. And that is there. Just as nature intends you to see it with oceans and land and clouds, and so it changes you. As they said, you know, we went to the moon to explore the moon. We looked back and discovered Earth for the first time.
BURNETT: It's almost, Michio, as if that's what she was saying, that there was something quite profound in the words that she chose to use there Christina Koch was. Speaking part of what you're talking about. Theres a new vocabulary for all of us, but also. For the four souls who actually just had this experience.
KAKU: Right. And if you were to summarize this whole discussion tonight in one phrase, one phrase that summarizes the whole thing, I think it is that we're going after permanent presence, that we're not going to go to the moon as a fly by, as an afterthought, permanent presence. We're going to go there to stay, not just to gawk and come back and talk about it to our friends, but to go and stay. And I think permanent presence summarizes the new vocabulary.
BURNETT: We're looking these are this is live now. We do have comms back. So we've heard this is the outside when we were looking a second ago at the inside. NASA is controlling this feed just so everyone knows the inside of the spacecraft. But this is, you know, what do you think about what we heard? Christina Koch, she was the one that that chose to speak of the four.
GLOTCH: It was inspiring, right? I mean, for NASA has what's called the moon to mars architecture, which defines the path to the moon and then eventually maybe back onto mars. And there's three pillars science inspiration and national posture. And for me, they're just knocking the inspiration out of the park. I mean -- it's fascinating to listen to their emotions, even personally. As a planetary geologist who studies other bodies in the solar system, people often ask me, what's your favorite planet? And the answer is earth.
BURNETT: That's what she just said.
GLOTCH: Exactly, right?
BURNETT: Yeah.
GLOTCH: I mean, without the earth, we have nothing. It provides for us. It sustains us, and it makes our exploration of the rest of the solar system possible. And by exploring the moon and by exploring the rest of the solar system, we can learn more about Earth, this fragile planet that we live on.
And so, I really appreciate Christina's words there. And -- I'm speechless now.
BURNETT: It's dark and desolate as it is, right? The miraculousness of this planet.
Ed Lavandera, you've learned a little bit more about what happened in that 40-minute blackout. You're obviously at the Johnson Space Center. You've been there at mission control. What have you learned?
LAVANDERA: Yeah, I just want to kind of offer up just exactly what the astronauts were doing while they were unable to communicate, they continued carrying out their assignments. I believe it was Victor Glover and Christina Koch were the ones in the windows documenting with the cameras and also working off the tablets. They're making sure they capture all those images and that it was Reid and Jeremy who were looking, also looking and doing their own observations.
But I wanted to point out too, is, as we've talked about, how they've split duties and we hear some of the live descriptions, you know, there's also another astronaut that where is, has a headset on and is describing in real time into a laptop what they're seeing and what they're describing and all of that we are not able to hear at this point.
But so, there is another kind of treasure trove of descriptive color of what they have seen that is being preserved and documented. And the scientists here at NASA have been really, really big in urging the astronauts, giving them a crash course in geology and exactly -- well, not a crash course. They've been preparing this for a while. So, but training them on what to look for in the geology and in the
descriptions. They've really wanted to try very hard to capture all of that -- all of that description and getting these astronauts to really describe what they're seeing because they, they believe that the human eye at that distance, even a 4,000 miles, can see a lot of detail that these cameras in 2D are not going to be able to capture. So that's why they're very big in capturing all of that.
[19:35:07]
And just to let you know, as much as we've heard today, I just want to let people know that there is actually even more that another astronaut was continuing to document that is being recorded. And I'm not exactly sure when we're going to hear all of that, but that's another kind of treasure trove of description and scientific work that is being done on this trip as well.
BURNETT: Which is -- which is incredible. I want to go back to Bill Wiseman, the Commander Reid Wiseman brother, but also just to say one thing that Ed said that really just stands out, which is that it is reliance on the human eye to describe all these things as better than cameras and day and age where were told, you know, A.I. can do everything and analyze everything that we are relying on human beings and what they see and what they perceive as the best tool that we have.
That is an incredible thing, I think for all of us just to think about Bill and it is your brother that is -- that is up there and seeing that those are the eyes, he and the crew. I mean, how does it feel to know that now he is back in communications? They're flipping around the images. But a second ago, we did just see a live picture from inside the spacecraft again.
WISEMAN: Well, I can tell you that I know my dad's sighing a bit of relief. I just talked to him and I was glad that he heard some positive words from Christina when they emerged from the blackout period. But the four people they sent up there are some of the most competent individuals on the planet. And it's just -- it's fantastic to see the positivity, the creativity and the dedication that they've all been able to display.
And what an amazing chance for these four individuals just to get this kind of an experience.
BURNETT: And I know your nieces will get a chance to -- they were at mission control today. We had a chance to speak to them then. And I know hopefully will again as soon as they have begun. We now formally know mission control described it as right, the process to come home. Right. They are coming home. They are heading towards reentry.
So, do Ellie and Katie, I guess they're hopeful -- they'll be able to speak to their father pretty soon here?
WISEMAN: Absolutely. I'm sure they'll get to talk to him a couple times. I think they actually had a video conference with him while he was outbound. I'm sure they'll do that on the way back as well. That's great. I know that Ellie's back at College Station now. I talked to her right when she got back after she was at mission control today.
So, I think it will be a little bit of a, you know, life as usual for the next three or four days, and then everybody's going to get the knot in their stomach --
BURNETT: Well, then it's splashdown, right? Then its splashdown. I mean, what do you all what do you all as a family, are you going to be able to be watching that together? Or what are your plans for Friday? And obviously that huge event of return?
WISEMAN: Yeah, as a -- as I would say, as a -- as a navy family, I think we're excited that the Navy is going to be going to take care of picking them up and getting the capsule out of the water and handling the recovery. So, we feel confident in that. But I think we're all going to be getting together virtually and watching that we were all together as a family for the launch week. And with a bunch of teenage children getting everybody together, it's just going to be a bit too hard, but we'll do that virtually.
The great news is COVID gave us that technology to be able to do it well.
BURNETT: Well, that's right. And it's also life -- life as normal with teenagers.
So, Bill, thank you so much. I very much appreciate it.
Here with our panel again, though, Neil, I just want to emphasize what, what really stands out from this in that moment, not just the, the profound impact that it clearly had on the four individuals there with the words that Christina Koch chose to, to describe it as, right? We choose Earth.
But also what Ed's laying out that with all of the technology it takes to do this, with all the technology at our fingertips. And I know everyone says that there's more technology on this phone than there was in all the computers that sent Apollo to the moon, okay?
TYSON: Correct. Yeah, yeah.
BURNETT: And yet, it is the human eye that they are relying on to see more than all of that technology. That's incredible.
TYSON: And that -- that vision affects you emotionally, even spiritually. As you noted, if I may quote Edgar Mitchell from Apollo 14, upon coming back, he was interviewed in "Time Magazine" in 1971. He said, you develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world and a compulsion to do something about it.
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter million miles out and say, look at that, you son of a bitch.
BURNETT: Well, with the profanity that has been thrown around over the past few days, that's nothing. TYSON: I guess that's nothing.
BURNETT: And perhaps everyone can learn a lesson from what you said and from what I think came out in her voice.
All right. All, thank you so very much.
And this incredible moment, our breaking news coverage continues. So next, Senator Mark Kelly, retired NASA astronaut, our guest, there he is. He's at mission control. What does it mean this historic moment?
And by the way, about grabbing those politicians by the scruff of the neck and saying, look at all of it and how valuable this is.
[19:40:05]
We're following the breaking news out of Washington, where President Trump has given Iran 24 hours from now to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, or else
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: And welcome back to this special edition of OUTFRONT, "Mission to the Moon: Artemis II".
Artemis is now officially back in communications with mission control and on its way back to Earth. The reconnection has happened. We have heard from the astronauts just moments after they reached the maximum distance from Earth. As part of this historic mission to the far side of the moon.
OUTFRONT now, Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who is on both Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, also, of course, retired NASA astronaut, U.S. Navy combat pilot, among many other things to your name, Senator.
So, as you've been watching all of this, you're in Houston at Johnson Space Center. You know, we're all seeing this and I think marveling at it and what it might mean. You are seeing this, though, in a way that few are through the eyes of an astronaut.
So, what did you see from watching this history unfold live? And what did you hear in those words from Christina Koch?
SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Well, I heard words of inspiration and hope and excitement for the future of our country and for the future of this program. I mean, this is one of the necessary steps we need to send humans back to the surface of the moon. And this time in like a more permanent way, and try to build an economy on the surface of the moon.
And just to see the four of them enjoying this mission, and by the way, you got to give a ton of credit to all the folks that worked on Orion and SLS, because so far, this has gone remarkably well.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, so far as Michio said, flawlessly, with the exception of the toilet, which I say not even to make a joke because I know that's obviously a serious thing, but so far, in any, you know, way of getting there flawlessly.
You know, we see the astronauts inside Artemis, we -- they're kind of switching the shots. So here they are right now, inside moments ago. Then sometimes they show us the images that were getting from outside the actual spacecraft.
And they have just seen something, Senator, that that no other human has seen before, right in their journey. And they were able to do some of it when literally it was only the four of them. Right? So, they knew that there was that backstop, but they couldn't communicate, right? That there had to have been something incredibly powerful and profound in just that experience itself.
You know, what do you -- what do you think is going through their minds right now? And I guess we got a glimpse of it from Christina Koch's words.
KELLY: Yeah, well, you know, I heard from a number of folks about like the 40 minute that they're going to be in blackout on the other side of the moon, and is that going to make them nervous? And, you know, what does that mean? And are they going to regain communication with the mission control center?
And from their perspective, I mean, we used to have the same thing on the space shuttle for 15 minutes every -- every lap around the planet, over the Indian Ocean. That's actually a nice period of time for them. They don't have to wait. They don't have to be, you know, thinking about the next call for the mission control center from the ground.
As a team, you know, as a crew, they can enjoy those 40 minutes sort of in silence, just the four of them, you know, together and really take in what this experience means.
Erin, you're right. Nobody else has seen this before. They've now traveled further and will soon travel faster than any other humans in history.
BURNETT: It's really -- it is incredible to think about it. And also, you know, just those, those moments when we heard from Christina Koch when she first spoke, right? She was the one that that the four astronauts had speak. And she said her -- her final words really stood out I think to anybody listening.
Let me just play them again for you, Senator.
KELLY: Okay.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: We will inspire. But ultimately, we will always choose Earth. We will always choose each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Something in that moment, and I know I have heard it from other astronauts. I remember Mike Massimino saying it. I don't know if you feel the same way, but hearing it from her in the instant that she felt it. And it's hard to say not knowing her personally and not knowing the communications, whether there was emotion in her voice. It felt like that to me. But obviously, I can't say for sure, but those are just the that she chose those words in that moment.
What did you hear there
KELLY: Well, I heard a little emotion, and I do know her. We did not overlap in the astronaut office. But, you know, I've spent a little bit of time with her since I left, since she joined the crew office. And I did hear the emotion.
And she's -- she's right. We will always choose earth, and we have to. I mean, the earth is an island in our solar system, and there is no place else for us to go. And, you know, this is a common experience for astronauts. You see the planet as this big round, mostly blue ball.
And you realize that, you know, we're not moving to Mars someday.
[19:50:01]
That is not a realistic shouldn't even be a realistic goal. The goal should be to take care of this planet in a way that it's sustainable for all of us. And you do get this strong sense how we are all in this together. And that's what I hear in her words.
BURNETT: And maybe there is no more important moment than the one that we are in now, right? With -- you still have the largest land war in Europe since World War II. You have the threat of annihilating another country in a massive war going on that is causing immense suffering for so many and -- on this planet.
So, on that, that's the framework here as were watching this. This is also happening here on earth. And were about what is it now, 24 minutes and 24 hours, I'm sorry. And ten minutes away from President Trump's latest deadline for Iran to reopen, what would be a tiny sliver of blue on that globe for them, the Strait of Hormuz, including obviously, that that profane and shocking social media post. He did issue other threats towards Iran today, including these in a press conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night. We have a plan because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12:00 tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I want to give you the chance to react to that.
KELLY: Well, it's unpresidential and it's also un-American to speak in those terms. You know, we've got to be better than other countries. And our military is. It's professional, it's capable, it abides by the rule of law. That's who we are.
You know, we're not, you know, we're not the Russians. And we can never be.
And, you know, it -- you know, it saddens me and I think it saddens a lot of Americans to watch our president. And he is, you know, the president of the United States speak in these terms about annihilating another country. We're at war with Iran. I did not agree with what the strategic goal. I actually have not yet seen what the goal here, what he was trying to achieve.
And the U.S. military has done well, tactically, I think the president so far has failed in this strategically. And now, we're in a situation with the Strait of Hormuz closed, 20 percent of the world's oil. It's driving up costs for the American people. This president said he was going to address those things when he ran for this office a second time, and he has failed. He doesn't seem to be paying attention to any of that.
BURNETT: So, he also shared some details. You talk about the U.S. military and the incredible tactical success also in this rescue. We saw of those -- the fighter pilot and the weapons services officer just absolutely, incredible to think about the training and the performance of the U.S. military. President Trump shared more details about the rescue of the missing American pilot and how he was rescued.
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Despite the peril, the officer followed his training and climbed into the treacherous mountain terrain and started climbing toward a higher altitude, something they were trained to do in order to evade capture. He scaled cliff faces, bleeding rather profusely, treated his own wounds and contacted American forces to transmit his location.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Obviously, important to note that there he very carefully stuck with the script that he had in front of him he was reading.
What else are you learning about this incredible rescue?
KELLY: Well, you got to give a ton of credit to the folks involved in this rescue, which were air force power rescue jumpers, PJs, Navy SEALs, Delta Force. This was a big effort. I mean, really a joint force effort to recover these two crewmen, these two airmen.
We don't leave anybody behind like under any circumstance. If you are shot down or you're a soldier on the ground, you're stuck behind enemy lines, you're at risk. You know, the United States military is going to do everything it can to rescue you. And that's what we saw here.
You know, an incredibly capable team. And, and in the case of this weapon systems officer doing what he was trained to do, and I think it's an incredible story of, of just resilience, but also of the professionalism of our military.
[19:55:00]
BURNETT: Yeah, absolutely. All right. Well, Senator, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much for joining us from space center -- Johnson Space Center in Houston. Thank you, Senator Kelly.
And the Artemis II mission is now headed back to earth after accomplishing what humans have never done before. And we are learning some new details now about what's next for the crew here in these next hours, coming back into reentry and splashdown.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: The Artemis II crew on the way back. This is a live image from onboard the spacecraft. They have circled the far side of the moon, and the crew received a special message from Astronaut Charlie Duke.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CHARLIE DUKE, NASA ASTRONAUT WHO LANDED ON THE MOON IN 1972: Hello, Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy, this is Apollo 16 Astronaut Charlie Duke. John Young and I landed on the moon in 1972 in the lunar module we named Orion. I'm glad to see a different kind of Orion helping return humans to the moon, as America charts the course to the lunar surface. Below you on the moon is a photo of my family. I pray it reminds you that we in America and all over the world are cheering you on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Charlie Duke will be our guest tomorrow.
"AC360" starts now.
