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NASA`s Orion Capsule Returns To Earth: CNN 2022 Hero Of The Year: Nelly Cheboi. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired December 13, 2022 - 04:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hey, everyone. Terrific Tuesday to you. I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN 10.
We have a rendezvous with the news. I`m back from Philly, feeling refreshed, ready to crush this week with you.
We start with a rocket ship returned. After a 25-1/2-day mission around the moon, NASA`s historic Artemis I mission made a successful splashdown on
Sunday. The uncrewed test flight was meant to pave the way for future missions, which could take astronauts back to the moon, The Orion
spacecraft pulled off a record-breaking mission including two lunar flybys, one with an 80-miles of the lunar surface, more than 1.4 million miles
traveled in all before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, just west of Baja, California.
After landing, the capsule spent six hours in the ocean with NASA collecting additional data and running some tests before the rescue team
moved it, a fleet of recovery vehicles were waiting nearby. The landing was key to making sure that the Orion spacecraft is ready to fly real
astronauts next time and then eventually to Mars.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And here we go, the lead-up to the Artemis I launch might have been a bumpy ride after a series of delays
due to technical glitches and bad weather, but NASA says once its mega rocket got off the ground it`s being smooth sailing.
MIKE SARAFIN, ARTEMIS MISSION MANAGER: We got to witness the world`s most powerful rocket take the Earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it,
and it was quite a sight.
BLACK: After three and a half weeks in space filled with engine burns, lunar flybys and stunning views of the earth and the moon, NASA`s Orion
spacecraft is home. But before it`s splashed down a critical test, in one of the most nail-biting times of the re-entry process, the Orion capsule
will separate from its service module then complete a skip maneuver off the edge of the Earth`s atmosphere, which will bring it closer to its landing
site and cut down on the G-forces that future astronauts will have to endure.
After that, all eyes are on the heat shield as Orion blazes back to earth at temperatures twice as hot as molten lava.
NASA says the heat shield has been tested more than a thousand times and making sure it can take the heat is one of the primary goals of this
mission. From the outset, the uncrewed Artemis I mission has been a dry run to make sure the spacecraft is safe enough for astronauts to fly on board.
BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: We are stressing it and testing it in ways that we will not do to a rocket that has a human crew on it.
BLACK: If Artemis I is a success, it will be followed by Artemis II, which like the first mission will fly around the moon, but this time with a crew.
That will be followed by Artemis III, which intends to return astronauts to the moon`s surface, including the first woman and person of color.
Later missions will aim even further with the goal of sending astronauts to Mars.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:
The equator runs directly through which of these countries?
Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria or Ethiopia?
All of these countries are close to the equator but only Kenya is crossed by it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: We have introduced you to several of our CNN heroes this year but on Sunday night, Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa announced the CNN Hero of the
Year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: The CNN Hero of the Year is --
KELLY RIPPA AND COOPER: Nelly Cheboi!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Congratulations to Nelly Cheboi. She creates computer labs for school children in her native Kenya. In 2019, Nelly quit her software
engineering job to create her non-profit TechLit Africa.
Since then, she`s provided thousands of students with upcycled computers in a way to connect with the world.
Voters online selected Nelly from a list of CNN`s Top 10 Heroes. As CNN Hero of the Year, she will receive one hundred thousand dollars to expand
her work. Her story is incredible.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NELLY CHEBOI, CNN 2022 HERO OF THE YEAR: I never forget what it was like growing poor. I never forget what it was like my stomach churning because
of hunger at night. I would have to go and scavenge for food at trash bits. We grew up in a tin roof house. It was full of potholes.
I used to look at the different light bouncing from the holes from the roof, and then just imagine what we look like to sustainably fix poverty.
I was a very hardworking student even though I wasn`t in school often, and even though I was the most hardworking person I knew, I still did not know
what a computer was.
I am from Mogotio which is a small village in rural Kenya. And there isn`t much of an economic activity here. I got a full-ride four-year scholarship
in America at Augustana College in 2012.
I got a job as a janitor cleaning bathrooms. I discovered computer science in my junior year of college just out of accident. I needed to take an
introduction to java for my math major and I just fell in love with it. I just knew this was what I wanted to do and also bring it to my community.
Every three years, companies are upgrading their IT. Most of these computers are ending up in landfills. Well, we have kids here, myself
included back in the day, who don`t even know what a computer is.
And so, what we`re doing is that we`re working with institutions, colleges, companies, even individuals and then we bring it to the schools. We
refurbish them. We install our own custom operating system that is geared towards teaching our kids self-efficacy, troubleshooting and Internet
skills. All of you are going to be graphic designers today.
The kids that we are working with are actually from four years old all the way to 12.
And there`s also vectors, it doesn`t matter how much you zoom, it`s still perfect, it`s still a line. We have people coming in and just inspiring the
kids.
They can go from doing a remote class with NASA to music production, video production, coding, personal branding and so on.
Right now, we`re working with 4,000 kids. My hope is that when the first TechLit kids graduate high school, their families and themselves will not
need aid because they can make money online.
That money will support their families. Their money will support themselves.
I can`t even describe just how dehumanizing poverty is. Just getting crushed over and over again. My mom was working really hard and I was still
going to bed hungry. I was still living in a house that was flooding.
But the world is your oyster when you are educated.
The thing that was really fascinating me growing up, not seeing change, not seeing hope, not even seeing progress. I feel like with this kid, I can see
a path like, I can see a way where they can make a living online. And that is really like why we`re doing this work.
My life is bigger than myself. If I have the power to change anything, I have to do it. I have to give it my all. I can keep doing it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: And for today`s 10 out of 10, Mother Nature is up to snow good. Areas in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California were pummeled with up to
three to four feet of snow over the weekend. Snow my goodness. Combine that with strong winds and even hail, and look out, don`t get in that ski lift.
It`s about that time of year I guess whenever all that snow melts, it`ll be thaw-some.
If high fives, hugs and handshakes were snowflakes, I`d be sending you all a blizzard. Thank you for all the love. We`re sending it right back to you.
Shout out to Patrick Henry Middle School in Woodhaven, Michigan. We hope you and everyone watching around the world have a wonderful one.
I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN 10.
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