April 10, 2026 ⢠24 mins
The NASA astrophysicist talks Artemis, the Moon, and more.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Doctor Amber good Marning, Hey, how are.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
You do it? Great? What an exciting time it.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Is right like?
Speaker 3 (00:08):
This is no I'm telling you, I'm very I was
very excited and and uh the vouch for me. I
got very upset when all the press started talking about
the Artemis flight taking off.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I've been I've.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Been anticipating for months, Amber, months, I've been waiting for this.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Yeah, yeah, it is. It is such a fun time
at NASA right now. It's like this huge agency wide celebration.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
And as y'all know, I'm on the science.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
Side, right I'm an astronomer. I work on space telescope,
so I'm not involved directly in the Artemis mission. But
it is just such an agency wide, like NASA family
celebration right now, and all of us are just so
excited to be a little part of this.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It's it's so much fun. Hey can I can I
ask you this?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
And I assume the answer is yes, and and it'll
come off as a stupid question, but has the has
the mission from NASA's perspective, has the mission been a
huge success so far?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Absolutely? One hundred percent. The crew is doing great, they're happy,
they're healthy, The spacecraft itself is performing really really well.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Everything has gone so so well so far.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, hey, do you get so let me go back
to the launch right when they were when they were
counting everything down and they were getting to that kind
of that ten minute mark where everything starts. Does everybody
at NASA get the same butterflies that everybody watching gets?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Maybe even more so, you know, especially the teams that
are working with the astronauts and with the rockets and
the vehicles.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
You know, those teams at.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
NASA have poured their lives into preparing for this mission
for years, and of course everything is much more high
when there's humans involved, when we are putting humans on
top of a rocket to blast off into space and
so but even beyond that, Yeah, all of us at NASA,
(02:12):
we're we're nervous, we're excited. You know, we had launch
viewing parties all over all the centers at NASA had
launch viewing parties for the employees to come and watch
the launch. It is definitely an exciting, celebratory time at NASO.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
And I don't know if you know the answer to
this or not, but like you talk about, like there's
humans sitting on top of a rocket, and going back
to the launch and then we'll we'll see it again
later today we're we're they're doing speeds of twenty five
thousand miles an hour, which is it seems ridiculous, but
like that's the speed.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
In which in which they're going.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
And I was I was wondering this at the at
the at the launch, and I'll wonder it again. Do
they have any sense, like, if you're sitting in that rocket,
do you have any sense how fast you're going?
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Well, sadly, I've never been to space myself, so I
don't know directly, but absolutely they feel that acceleration. They feel,
you know, many times the force of Earth's normal gravity.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So yeah, they definitely feel it.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
And then one of the other things that we learned
kind of through this was the so I guess a
lot of the the focus was obviously all on the
on the four that went up, but specifically I read
an interview or an interview that Reid Wiseman did, and
he was talking about how he had to have the
conversation with his daughters, his two teenage daughters, about hey,
(03:40):
Dad's going back up into space. Here's if if it
goes wrong, and then it laid kind of out of
you know, here's the will and then obviously we know
that his his wife had passed, which, by the way,
total side note.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
How about the how about the dedication of the crater?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Ugh?
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Yeah, boy, yeah, I was watching that live in my
office at work a few days ago, and yeah, it
was it was tears all around.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I mean it was.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
It was so such a beautiful human moment with the crew.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
It was.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
It was really really really sweet.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Oh but what what I was going to say is,
you know, like from from the outside, we look at
it and go, or maybe most of us look at
it and go, dude, you just you're going out of space,
like that's awesome, and there's all this excitement and you
try to imagine how great it would be.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
But then you start reading, whether it's it's it's.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Read Wiseman talking about it or the other astronauts where
it's like from that day, like, it's really really hard
on the families, and not even just from the Hey,
stuff can go wrong, right, we all know that, but
it really is so hard on the families. It's not
the massive celebration that you think it would be. For
two years leading up to it.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, for sure, for sure, and I it's it's hard
to eat.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Imagine what the astronauts' families are going through with that,
that consideration that it really is. You know, anytime we
put anything into space, it's risky. You know, NASA has
become so good at this putting things into space, including humans,
that you know, I feel like the outside world watches
(05:20):
it and they're like, oh, look, we put another thing
into space. But absolutely, every time we put something into space,
it's hard, it's difficult, and it is risky. And with
humans that you know, that factor just goes up by
so much and so so yeah, it's a very real
human part of these missions that the astronauts families, I'm
(05:41):
sure are you know, are very nervous, and I'm sure
that they you know, they trust what NASA has done
to do everything it can to protect the astronauts and
one hundred percent safety is the first consideration for NASA
across the board. And so you know, we've done everything
we can, but but humans in spaces is you know,
(06:03):
it's risky.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
We've done everything we can.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
To reduce the risk and you know, I believe tonight's
flashdown will be will be wonderful.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
As a as somebody that works there, or well, I mean, listen,
you you always wanted to work at NASA since you
were a kid. The like, what part to you is
and then we'll get to like the next missions and stuff,
But what part to you is more special? That they're
the first human eyes to see, like to see to
see things on the Moon with human eyes for the
(06:32):
first time, or that they went further into space than
any other human is gone.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
I mean, both of those things are remarkable. I think
setting the distance record is absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
You know what what a cool thing to be one.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Of those four humans to say I've been the furthest
away from Earth.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
You know, that's that's incredible. But at the same time,
you know, I wasn't alive during the Apollopicians.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
I wasn't born yet, and seventy five percent of the
Earth's population was not around.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Right for Apollo.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Right, most people on Earth right now did not experience Apollo.
So I feel like it's this sort of broad humanity
celebrating this awesome thing of seeing with our eyes the
far side of the.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Moon and the astronauts in you know, it is it's historic.
It's historic.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
So Amber, can I ask you this then why why
is it? Why? Well, let me back up, let me
back up.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
So this Artemis expedition sets up the next two, and correctly,
if I have this wrong, the next one will I
don't want to say, be the same as this, but
it'll be similar in that they'll fly around, but there's
no landing.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
It's right, it's the.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Second one from now where we're supposed to land on
the Moon.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
That's correct.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
So the next Artemis mission, Artemis three, actually won't be crude.
There won't be astronauts on that one, So it's going
to go up to test some more systems, some of
the landing systems, those sorts of things still super exciting
and critical for getting us to the Moon.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
But then yeah, Artemis four. The plan is for.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
Artemis four sometime about two years from now, in twenty
twenty eight, for them the astronauts to go and actually land.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
On the Moon.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
And you know, we're we're doing preparations now to set
up a permanent lunar base on the south pole of
the Moon.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
So all of that's going to be a busy two
years prepping for that.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
But yeah, if we it all goes to plan, a
couple of years from now, we'll be landing humans on
the Moon again, which is wild to say, it's so exciting,
so much fun.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
So two things, if you set up, if NASA sets
up the base on the on the south pole of
the Moon, does that signal that that will become a
regular mission for NASA.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Absolutely, So the whole goal of the Artemis program is
to or of this near term part is to start
getting back in the routine of sending sending rockets into
space and sending humans back to the Moon regularly, right,
because that's what we did in Apollo. If you look
back at the Apollo timeline, we were sending people to
(09:16):
the Moon, you.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Know, just like one after the other. And so so yeah,
that's the goal is to set up a lunar base.
And then, of.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Course the ultimate goal in all of this is to
lay the foundation to send people to Mars. So that's
that's even looking further into the future, but that's the
goal is to send people to Mars.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Hey, what is the like, I don't I'm guessing it's
not up on a wall somewhere.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
But let's let's let's fast forward and Artemis for we
set up.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
The base, how far and I don't even mean like
after that, when is the next trip and the next
trip in the next trip.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
But when does that what does that line up? If?
Speaker 3 (09:53):
In turn, am I going to be alive when we
send somebody to Mars?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I think, so, h.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Of course we don't have the detailed schedule out yet
because there's so much work to do, sure, you know,
before then, but yeah, if we, you know, continue to
be able to do the work that's required to build
up the systems and to train the astronauts, to build
the spacecraft and all the life support that.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Goes into such a huge.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Huge undertaking of getting people to Mars, then yeah, I
think in our lifetimes.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
We'll see that for sure.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
So I was watching something so Artemis lands at at
just after eight o'clock tonight, and I was watching something
where on the actually I know it was the announcers
on the NASA YouTube channel, and they were talking about
how tonight is the most dangerous part of the mission.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Why is it?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
In my head, I go like, oh, okay, so tonight
they come back like I treated like, oh, everybody's home.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Why is tonight?
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I always look at the launches being the scariest part
or the most dangerous part is why is tonight the
most dangerous part of the mission.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Yeah, because they are traveling so fast when they come
back that that re entry into the Earth's atmosphere has
to be absolutely perfect at the right speed at the
right angle in order for them to splash down safely.
So the spacecraft is traveling at about twenty five thousand
(11:29):
miles an hour when it enters the atmosphere. So just
to give you a sense, at that speed, it would
take a flight from like New York to Tokyo would
take less than twenty minutes.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Oh wow, So that is all right, really fast.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
And so at those speeds when the spacecraft, when Oriyan
enters the atmosphere, the temperature outside the spacecraft heats up
to about five thousand degrees so it gets really hot,
and of course Orion has these incredible heat shields that
will protect it, but it's very, very hot, and it's
actually hot enough that will briefly lose communication with the
(12:06):
astronauts inside during re entry. Is this like super hot
plasma builds up around the spacecraft. So that's in sort
of the final phase right before splashdown. But it's it's
definitely a very very you know, critical part.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Of the mission. And then they'll go out on the
boat and they'll get the astronauts I did hear somebody
talking about like over Obviously they'll get they'll get looked at,
and the doctors will will take over like they always
do and rightfully so, but that the we learned this
on their on their way up, that they're kind of
sick for a couple of days and they'll be sick
for a couple of days once they once they land.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
So space does weird things to the human body being
in you know, zero gravity.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Uh, you know, it messes with you. And this is
the case.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
You know, also for the astronauts that come back from
the International Space Station after they spent some time on
the space station and come back. So yeah, the doctors
that are there to to check them out. That's a
really really important part of getting the astronauts sort of
ready to essentially to live on Earth again. So yeah,
that and the whole recovery process and like getting the doctor,
(13:16):
getting the crew out and getting the doctors to check
them out.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
That's also you know, super super important face of the mission.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
So the whole recovery team has you know, there are
boats in the water. They're open water navy divers. There's
four helicopters that'll be you know, flying around waiting for
splash down, and so you know they're and you know,
the doctors are there. And so once the doctors sort
of get the thumbs up that it's safe to approach
(13:47):
the spacecraft, then they'll the doctors will actually go inside
Oryan and check out the crew and make sure everything's okay,
and then and then once they're good to go, they'll
bring the crew out, take them up in the helicopter,
and then y'all they'll go out to Johnson's Space Center
to sort of undergo the further medical examination and sort
of get them back into the swing of living on Earth.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
What will be the most important thing we learned from
this mission?
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Oh, you know, I think everything about this mission has
been again looking to the future. So a lot of
the work that's gone on during the mission is monitoring
the astronauts' health as they you know, go through this
this really incredibly physically challenging mission. And so of course,
(14:35):
obviously technology has has increased so much since the Apollo days,
and so there there have been several different sort of
medical uh things that they're using to to analyze their
body and their health during this mission.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
That again will set up the crew or set.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Up the the the way that astronauts will handle the
future missions both on the Moon and again going to Mars,
because that Mars trip that's going to be incredibly difficult.
You know, it's a six month trip to get to Mars,
and so getting the setting the stage for learning about
how the human body reacts to being in space super
(15:18):
important for our future trip to Mars.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
You know what's funny is like we talk about you
mentioned how it's six months, and like clearly we covered
like when the rovers went there and stuff, and you're like,
oh my god, that thing is still traveling. When you
think about a human doing it, man, that changes everything.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
It changes everything. And you know a lot of the
studies that have gone on and are continuing to go
on at NASA not only physical health, but you know,
mental health. Think about if you're inside a small vehicle
with three other humans for six months, you know, so
the psychological factors of that are actually it's a real factor.
(15:59):
Like NASA's done experiments where they you know, set.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Up a you know, a sort of.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Vehicle or not a vehicle, but like a habitat here
on Earth, and they isolate people inside it to sort
of test how they interact.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Over a six month period. So that part, that's a
huge part of sending astronauts to Mars.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Hey, so what is the well, a couple of other things.
So they'll make their they'll make their way down, you know,
hopefully everything goes goes well and goes safe. Oh, I
want to go back to things that we learned. Thing
that we learned.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I did hear one of the somebody was interviewing one
of the astronauts and they were talking about the amount
of pictures that they took and how they'll be happy
to not take pictures for a while.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
I'm assuming I'm assuming all of that is to.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Have such high quality pictures of the surface of the Moon.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
Yeah, for sure, and that that also is a really
exciting fun thing that they did. Again, first human slat
eyes on the far side of the Moon in over
half a century. But yeah, while they were in that
period on the far side of the Moon, they were
in direct communication with some of our scientists here at NASA,
our lunar scientists that were helping to instruct them on
(17:15):
observations to take pictures to take, but also you know,
real time observations of what do you see in this
area in this area, And astronauts actually did a lot
of training before the flight to sort of prepare for
what they would see once they got to the far
side of the Moon. And so, yeah, the I think
the lunar science that's going to come out of this
mission also is going to be incredible.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Hey, does anybody get in trouble for the floating Nitella?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
I hope not because that was such a fun moment.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
There's a great moment.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
But they comes all of the oh, it's product placement.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
How much are they paying?
Speaker 4 (17:52):
No, No, it was definitely not product placement. I think
everybody just loves nutella, including Ashkar.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
All right, so last two things. Number one, what are
you working on right now?
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Yeah, so I am still on the science team for
the James Webb Space Telescope and so, oh my gosh,
so great.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
I mean, the telescope's now been in space. It's been
almost five years, which is hard to believes it really.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Yeah, Christmas this year will be our five year launch anniversary.
So it's gone by fast, but the telescope is performing
so well and we've got so much data.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
So so yeah, that part of my work is still
a lot of fun.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
And then at on the astronomy side, because that's where
I am at NASA, we're also preparing to launch the
next big telescope into space this fall. So the Nancy
Grace Roman Space Telescope is being in its final stages
of testing at NASA Goddard here in Maryland right now.
I actually went over last week to see it. It's
(18:53):
you know, sitting up in the big clean room. It's awesome.
It's so cool. So we're launching that telescope into space
this fall, and that telescope is designed to study the
mysterious dark matter and dark energy in the universe, this
stuff that's called dark.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Because we have no idea.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
What it is.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
But so that telescope is going to do that incredible work.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
It's also going to study planets that are orbiting other stars.
So that telescope is going to be super super incredible,
launching that this fall. Yeah, and just staying very busy
on the astrophysics side of things.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
And now it's a fun time right now.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Hey, how great is just focusing back on Artemis for
a second, how great is this for just the NASA
program in the space program.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
It's it's historic.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
I mean, like I said, almost all the world's population
wasn't around to see Apollo, and so to be able
to draw the public in and and show them what
we can do, it's it. It's fantastic for the agency.
And again, even though I don't work directly on Artemis,
it's I am personally just so excited about it.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
And I think I think it shows.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Again that you know, when we humans come together to
do something big and bold and.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Difficult, that we can do it.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
And we've shown that with Artemis, and we're going to
continue to show.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
That as we land astronauts on Mars.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
It's an incredible thing, and NASA does work that I
think is really really important, not just for science and engineering,
but for us as a species.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
But you know the other thing, like we were talking
about after the launch, and I was talking about like
I love it. I loved everything about it. I loved
how nervous and excited I got in the whole thing.
But there's also there's part of it where you watch
the TV and you go, well, well there's something I'll
never do. But Tyler brought up a good point where
it was like, but you could still see that and
be like, like, backup, Bamber, I remember you saying you
(20:55):
were just a little girl living out I can't remember
which state you were from, but some in the middle
of nowhere, and you would be out outside and you
would look up and see the stars and that that's
what got you interested, and you end up at NASA working,
working at NASA because you were just a girl out
in the field staring up at the stars. So even
if you're not going to be an astronaut, the amount
(21:17):
of people that it takes, whether it's it's it's one
of your one of one of one of your microscopes
or one of or or or you're an astronaut or
putting those together, the number of people that it takes
to be on a team to do that, it really
is much bigger than just the four people who are
up on the up on the rocket.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
Absolutely, and and yeah, you're right, I grew up in Arkansas,
so middle of nowhere, yes, And yeah, the dark skies
are what got me interested in astronomy.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
But yeah, I think there are huge.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Teams of people at NASA and you know in industry
that are working to support the astronauts and and all
these other programs that we do at NASA.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
And I think the.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
Really fun part of it all is it it's it's
much broader than that. You know, the the public is
excited about this because it's an exciting thing for us
more broadly.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Than just NASA.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
And so I think we're all a part of this
in a in a real way. It's it's it's NASA
does these things not just for us scientists, but for
all of us, for all of us, all of all
of humanity.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
And how great is it that the the kid on
the kid on CNN who was like, we're going to
the fid Moon, Like, how great is it? And then
he went to he got invited to the Kennedy Space Center.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Yeah, that was so so great.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
I loved that clip. He also is from Arkansas. I
found out just a few days.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Oh of course he is, Oh, this is a plant
like the Natella. I did not plant that kid, but
I just a microphone ends up in his face.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
But that I mean that kid literally could be the
next Amber who was just like he's I mean, obviously
he went out there with his family.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
He was so excited and then in a very natural moment,
the kid, they were like, why are you here?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
And he was like why because we're going to the
f and Moon.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
And now he's I mean, he's standing there next to
like rockets.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I know, I know, it's it's so it's so great.
That was such a such a fun, genuine moment. But
I think all of us, all of us.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Felt like that, you know, all of us that have
even a remote interest in space.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Ember, I've been begging for five years to go to
a launch.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
This kid cusses on TV, which I've done a million times,
and he gets to go.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
You know what, we can get you down to Florida
for the Roman launch in September.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Maybe all right, I'm writing that down. I am writing
that down.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Well, Liskay, maybe don't let me promise that.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Amber. I'm so happy for everybody over there. I know
how hard you got work.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
I know what it means to you, and it is
like you're you're right, it's such an exciting time where
everybody is watching the launch or I just like, you know,
like both of my kids are in college, both of
them texted out of nowhere, like the launch is sick.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
We're watching the launch. I just I love I love
what it does. I love how much it energizes everybody.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Ah me too, I love it. It's so much fun
to be a part of.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
And again it's it's not just for us that now
sit like we're all part of this.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
This is part of our story. It's it's so much fun.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Hey, where are you watching the Where will you watch
Splash down from?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I'm probably gonna watch it from my house with my
husband because it's been a long week and I'm very tired,
so I'm probably not going to go to any parties tonight.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Good for you, Amber is always I appreciate the I
appreciate the insight, I appreciate the time.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Of course, great to talk to y'all. Have a good one.
Doctor Amber good Marning, Hey, how are.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
You do it? Great? What an exciting time it.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Is right like?
Speaker 3 (00:08):
This is no I'm telling you, I'm very I was
very excited and and uh the vouch for me. I
got very upset when all the press started talking about
the Artemis flight taking off.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I've been I've.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Been anticipating for months, Amber, months, I've been waiting for this.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Yeah, yeah, it is. It is such a fun time
at NASA right now. It's like this huge agency wide celebration.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
And as y'all know, I'm on the science.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
Side, right I'm an astronomer. I work on space telescope,
so I'm not involved directly in the Artemis mission. But
it is just such an agency wide, like NASA family
celebration right now, and all of us are just so
excited to be a little part of this.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It's it's so much fun. Hey can I can I
ask you this?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
And I assume the answer is yes, and and it'll
come off as a stupid question, but has the has
the mission from NASA's perspective, has the mission been a
huge success so far?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Absolutely? One hundred percent. The crew is doing great, they're happy,
they're healthy, The spacecraft itself is performing really really well.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Everything has gone so so well so far.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, hey, do you get so let me go back
to the launch right when they were when they were
counting everything down and they were getting to that kind
of that ten minute mark where everything starts. Does everybody
at NASA get the same butterflies that everybody watching gets?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Maybe even more so, you know, especially the teams that
are working with the astronauts and with the rockets and
the vehicles.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
You know, those teams at.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
NASA have poured their lives into preparing for this mission
for years, and of course everything is much more high
when there's humans involved, when we are putting humans on
top of a rocket to blast off into space and
so but even beyond that, Yeah, all of us at NASA,
(02:12):
we're we're nervous, we're excited. You know, we had launch
viewing parties all over all the centers at NASA had
launch viewing parties for the employees to come and watch
the launch. It is definitely an exciting, celebratory time at NASO.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
And I don't know if you know the answer to
this or not, but like you talk about, like there's
humans sitting on top of a rocket, and going back
to the launch and then we'll we'll see it again
later today we're we're they're doing speeds of twenty five
thousand miles an hour, which is it seems ridiculous, but
like that's the speed.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
In which in which they're going.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
And I was I was wondering this at the at
the at the launch, and I'll wonder it again. Do
they have any sense, like, if you're sitting in that rocket,
do you have any sense how fast you're going?
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Well, sadly, I've never been to space myself, so I
don't know directly, but absolutely they feel that acceleration. They feel,
you know, many times the force of Earth's normal gravity.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So yeah, they definitely feel it.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
And then one of the other things that we learned
kind of through this was the so I guess a
lot of the the focus was obviously all on the
on the four that went up, but specifically I read
an interview or an interview that Reid Wiseman did, and
he was talking about how he had to have the
conversation with his daughters, his two teenage daughters, about hey,
(03:40):
Dad's going back up into space. Here's if if it
goes wrong, and then it laid kind of out of
you know, here's the will and then obviously we know
that his his wife had passed, which, by the way,
total side note.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
How about the how about the dedication of the crater?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Ugh?
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Yeah, boy, yeah, I was watching that live in my
office at work a few days ago, and yeah, it
was it was tears all around.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I mean it was.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
It was so such a beautiful human moment with the crew.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
It was.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
It was really really really sweet.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Oh but what what I was going to say is,
you know, like from from the outside, we look at
it and go, or maybe most of us look at
it and go, dude, you just you're going out of space,
like that's awesome, and there's all this excitement and you
try to imagine how great it would be.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
But then you start reading, whether it's it's it's.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Read Wiseman talking about it or the other astronauts where
it's like from that day, like, it's really really hard
on the families, and not even just from the Hey,
stuff can go wrong, right, we all know that, but
it really is so hard on the families. It's not
the massive celebration that you think it would be. For
two years leading up to it.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, for sure, for sure, and I it's it's hard
to eat.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Imagine what the astronauts' families are going through with that,
that consideration that it really is. You know, anytime we
put anything into space, it's risky. You know, NASA has
become so good at this putting things into space, including humans,
that you know, I feel like the outside world watches
(05:20):
it and they're like, oh, look, we put another thing
into space. But absolutely, every time we put something into space,
it's hard, it's difficult, and it is risky. And with
humans that you know, that factor just goes up by
so much and so so yeah, it's a very real
human part of these missions that the astronauts families, I'm
(05:41):
sure are you know, are very nervous, and I'm sure
that they you know, they trust what NASA has done
to do everything it can to protect the astronauts and
one hundred percent safety is the first consideration for NASA
across the board. And so you know, we've done everything
we can, but but humans in spaces is you know,
(06:03):
it's risky.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
We've done everything we can.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
To reduce the risk and you know, I believe tonight's
flashdown will be will be wonderful.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
As a as somebody that works there, or well, I mean, listen,
you you always wanted to work at NASA since you
were a kid. The like, what part to you is
and then we'll get to like the next missions and stuff,
But what part to you is more special? That they're
the first human eyes to see, like to see to
see things on the Moon with human eyes for the
(06:32):
first time, or that they went further into space than
any other human is gone.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
I mean, both of those things are remarkable. I think
setting the distance record is absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
You know what what a cool thing to be one.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Of those four humans to say I've been the furthest
away from Earth.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
You know, that's that's incredible. But at the same time,
you know, I wasn't alive during the Apollopicians.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
I wasn't born yet, and seventy five percent of the
Earth's population was not around.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Right for Apollo.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Right, most people on Earth right now did not experience Apollo.
So I feel like it's this sort of broad humanity
celebrating this awesome thing of seeing with our eyes the
far side of the.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Moon and the astronauts in you know, it is it's historic.
It's historic.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
So Amber, can I ask you this then why why
is it? Why? Well, let me back up, let me
back up.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
So this Artemis expedition sets up the next two, and correctly,
if I have this wrong, the next one will I
don't want to say, be the same as this, but
it'll be similar in that they'll fly around, but there's
no landing.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
It's right, it's the.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Second one from now where we're supposed to land on
the Moon.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
That's correct.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
So the next Artemis mission, Artemis three, actually won't be crude.
There won't be astronauts on that one, So it's going
to go up to test some more systems, some of
the landing systems, those sorts of things still super exciting
and critical for getting us to the Moon.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
But then yeah, Artemis four. The plan is for.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
Artemis four sometime about two years from now, in twenty
twenty eight, for them the astronauts to go and actually land.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
On the Moon.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
And you know, we're we're doing preparations now to set
up a permanent lunar base on the south pole of
the Moon.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
So all of that's going to be a busy two
years prepping for that.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
But yeah, if we it all goes to plan, a
couple of years from now, we'll be landing humans on
the Moon again, which is wild to say, it's so exciting,
so much fun.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
So two things, if you set up, if NASA sets
up the base on the on the south pole of
the Moon, does that signal that that will become a
regular mission for NASA.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Absolutely, So the whole goal of the Artemis program is
to or of this near term part is to start
getting back in the routine of sending sending rockets into
space and sending humans back to the Moon regularly, right,
because that's what we did in Apollo. If you look
back at the Apollo timeline, we were sending people to
(09:16):
the Moon, you.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Know, just like one after the other. And so so yeah,
that's the goal is to set up a lunar base.
And then, of.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Course the ultimate goal in all of this is to
lay the foundation to send people to Mars. So that's
that's even looking further into the future, but that's the
goal is to send people to Mars.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Hey, what is the like, I don't I'm guessing it's
not up on a wall somewhere.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
But let's let's let's fast forward and Artemis for we
set up.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
The base, how far and I don't even mean like
after that, when is the next trip and the next
trip in the next trip.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
But when does that what does that line up? If?
Speaker 3 (09:53):
In turn, am I going to be alive when we
send somebody to Mars?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I think, so, h.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Of course we don't have the detailed schedule out yet
because there's so much work to do, sure, you know,
before then, but yeah, if we, you know, continue to
be able to do the work that's required to build
up the systems and to train the astronauts, to build
the spacecraft and all the life support that.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Goes into such a huge.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Huge undertaking of getting people to Mars, then yeah, I
think in our lifetimes.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
We'll see that for sure.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
So I was watching something so Artemis lands at at
just after eight o'clock tonight, and I was watching something
where on the actually I know it was the announcers
on the NASA YouTube channel, and they were talking about
how tonight is the most dangerous part of the mission.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Why is it?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
In my head, I go like, oh, okay, so tonight
they come back like I treated like, oh, everybody's home.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Why is tonight?
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I always look at the launches being the scariest part
or the most dangerous part is why is tonight the
most dangerous part of the mission.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Yeah, because they are traveling so fast when they come
back that that re entry into the Earth's atmosphere has
to be absolutely perfect at the right speed at the
right angle in order for them to splash down safely.
So the spacecraft is traveling at about twenty five thousand
(11:29):
miles an hour when it enters the atmosphere. So just
to give you a sense, at that speed, it would
take a flight from like New York to Tokyo would
take less than twenty minutes.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Oh wow, So that is all right, really fast.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
And so at those speeds when the spacecraft, when Oriyan
enters the atmosphere, the temperature outside the spacecraft heats up
to about five thousand degrees so it gets really hot,
and of course Orion has these incredible heat shields that
will protect it, but it's very, very hot, and it's
actually hot enough that will briefly lose communication with the
(12:06):
astronauts inside during re entry. Is this like super hot
plasma builds up around the spacecraft. So that's in sort
of the final phase right before splashdown. But it's it's
definitely a very very you know, critical part.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Of the mission. And then they'll go out on the
boat and they'll get the astronauts I did hear somebody
talking about like over Obviously they'll get they'll get looked at,
and the doctors will will take over like they always
do and rightfully so, but that the we learned this
on their on their way up, that they're kind of
sick for a couple of days and they'll be sick
for a couple of days once they once they land.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
So space does weird things to the human body being
in you know, zero gravity.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Uh, you know, it messes with you. And this is
the case.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
You know, also for the astronauts that come back from
the International Space Station after they spent some time on
the space station and come back. So yeah, the doctors
that are there to to check them out. That's a
really really important part of getting the astronauts sort of
ready to essentially to live on Earth again. So yeah,
that and the whole recovery process and like getting the doctor,
(13:16):
getting the crew out and getting the doctors to check
them out.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
That's also you know, super super important face of the mission.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
So the whole recovery team has you know, there are
boats in the water. They're open water navy divers. There's
four helicopters that'll be you know, flying around waiting for
splash down, and so you know they're and you know,
the doctors are there. And so once the doctors sort
of get the thumbs up that it's safe to approach
(13:47):
the spacecraft, then they'll the doctors will actually go inside
Oryan and check out the crew and make sure everything's okay,
and then and then once they're good to go, they'll
bring the crew out, take them up in the helicopter,
and then y'all they'll go out to Johnson's Space Center
to sort of undergo the further medical examination and sort
of get them back into the swing of living on Earth.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
What will be the most important thing we learned from
this mission?
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Oh, you know, I think everything about this mission has
been again looking to the future. So a lot of
the work that's gone on during the mission is monitoring
the astronauts' health as they you know, go through this
this really incredibly physically challenging mission. And so of course,
(14:35):
obviously technology has has increased so much since the Apollo days,
and so there there have been several different sort of
medical uh things that they're using to to analyze their
body and their health during this mission.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
That again will set up the crew or set.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Up the the the way that astronauts will handle the
future missions both on the Moon and again going to Mars,
because that Mars trip that's going to be incredibly difficult.
You know, it's a six month trip to get to Mars,
and so getting the setting the stage for learning about
how the human body reacts to being in space super
(15:18):
important for our future trip to Mars.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
You know what's funny is like we talk about you
mentioned how it's six months, and like clearly we covered
like when the rovers went there and stuff, and you're like,
oh my god, that thing is still traveling. When you
think about a human doing it, man, that changes everything.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
It changes everything. And you know a lot of the
studies that have gone on and are continuing to go
on at NASA not only physical health, but you know,
mental health. Think about if you're inside a small vehicle
with three other humans for six months, you know, so
the psychological factors of that are actually it's a real factor.
(15:59):
Like NASA's done experiments where they you know, set.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Up a you know, a sort of.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Vehicle or not a vehicle, but like a habitat here
on Earth, and they isolate people inside it to sort
of test how they interact.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Over a six month period. So that part, that's a
huge part of sending astronauts to Mars.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Hey, so what is the well, a couple of other things.
So they'll make their they'll make their way down, you know,
hopefully everything goes goes well and goes safe. Oh, I
want to go back to things that we learned. Thing
that we learned.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I did hear one of the somebody was interviewing one
of the astronauts and they were talking about the amount
of pictures that they took and how they'll be happy
to not take pictures for a while.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
I'm assuming I'm assuming all of that is to.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Have such high quality pictures of the surface of the Moon.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
Yeah, for sure, and that that also is a really
exciting fun thing that they did. Again, first human slat
eyes on the far side of the Moon in over
half a century. But yeah, while they were in that
period on the far side of the Moon, they were
in direct communication with some of our scientists here at NASA,
our lunar scientists that were helping to instruct them on
(17:15):
observations to take pictures to take, but also you know,
real time observations of what do you see in this
area in this area, And astronauts actually did a lot
of training before the flight to sort of prepare for
what they would see once they got to the far
side of the Moon. And so, yeah, the I think
the lunar science that's going to come out of this
mission also is going to be incredible.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Hey, does anybody get in trouble for the floating Nitella?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
I hope not because that was such a fun moment.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
There's a great moment.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
But they comes all of the oh, it's product placement.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
How much are they paying?
Speaker 4 (17:52):
No, No, it was definitely not product placement. I think
everybody just loves nutella, including Ashkar.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
All right, so last two things. Number one, what are
you working on right now?
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Yeah, so I am still on the science team for
the James Webb Space Telescope and so, oh my gosh,
so great.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
I mean, the telescope's now been in space. It's been
almost five years, which is hard to believes it really.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Yeah, Christmas this year will be our five year launch anniversary.
So it's gone by fast, but the telescope is performing
so well and we've got so much data.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
So so yeah, that part of my work is still
a lot of fun.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
And then at on the astronomy side, because that's where
I am at NASA, we're also preparing to launch the
next big telescope into space this fall. So the Nancy
Grace Roman Space Telescope is being in its final stages
of testing at NASA Goddard here in Maryland right now.
I actually went over last week to see it. It's
(18:53):
you know, sitting up in the big clean room. It's awesome.
It's so cool. So we're launching that telescope into space
this fall, and that telescope is designed to study the
mysterious dark matter and dark energy in the universe, this
stuff that's called dark.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Because we have no idea.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
What it is.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
But so that telescope is going to do that incredible work.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
It's also going to study planets that are orbiting other stars.
So that telescope is going to be super super incredible,
launching that this fall. Yeah, and just staying very busy
on the astrophysics side of things.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
And now it's a fun time right now.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Hey, how great is just focusing back on Artemis for
a second, how great is this for just the NASA
program in the space program.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
It's it's historic.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
I mean, like I said, almost all the world's population
wasn't around to see Apollo, and so to be able
to draw the public in and and show them what
we can do, it's it. It's fantastic for the agency.
And again, even though I don't work directly on Artemis,
it's I am personally just so excited about it.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
And I think I think it shows.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Again that you know, when we humans come together to
do something big and bold and.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Difficult, that we can do it.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
And we've shown that with Artemis, and we're going to
continue to show.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
That as we land astronauts on Mars.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
It's an incredible thing, and NASA does work that I
think is really really important, not just for science and engineering,
but for us as a species.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
But you know the other thing, like we were talking
about after the launch, and I was talking about like
I love it. I loved everything about it. I loved
how nervous and excited I got in the whole thing.
But there's also there's part of it where you watch
the TV and you go, well, well there's something I'll
never do. But Tyler brought up a good point where
it was like, but you could still see that and
be like, like, backup, Bamber, I remember you saying you
(20:55):
were just a little girl living out I can't remember
which state you were from, but some in the middle
of nowhere, and you would be out outside and you
would look up and see the stars and that that's
what got you interested, and you end up at NASA working,
working at NASA because you were just a girl out
in the field staring up at the stars. So even
if you're not going to be an astronaut, the amount
(21:17):
of people that it takes, whether it's it's it's one
of your one of one of one of your microscopes
or one of or or or you're an astronaut or
putting those together, the number of people that it takes
to be on a team to do that, it really
is much bigger than just the four people who are
up on the up on the rocket.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
Absolutely, and and yeah, you're right, I grew up in Arkansas,
so middle of nowhere, yes, And yeah, the dark skies
are what got me interested in astronomy.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
But yeah, I think there are huge.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Teams of people at NASA and you know in industry
that are working to support the astronauts and and all
these other programs that we do at NASA.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
And I think the.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
Really fun part of it all is it it's it's
much broader than that. You know, the the public is
excited about this because it's an exciting thing for us
more broadly.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Than just NASA.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
And so I think we're all a part of this
in a in a real way. It's it's it's NASA
does these things not just for us scientists, but for
all of us, for all of us, all of all
of humanity.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
And how great is it that the the kid on
the kid on CNN who was like, we're going to
the fid Moon, Like, how great is it? And then
he went to he got invited to the Kennedy Space Center.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Yeah, that was so so great.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
I loved that clip. He also is from Arkansas. I
found out just a few days.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Oh of course he is, Oh, this is a plant
like the Natella. I did not plant that kid, but
I just a microphone ends up in his face.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
But that I mean that kid literally could be the
next Amber who was just like he's I mean, obviously
he went out there with his family.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
He was so excited and then in a very natural moment,
the kid, they were like, why are you here?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
And he was like why because we're going to the
f and Moon.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
And now he's I mean, he's standing there next to
like rockets.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I know, I know, it's it's so it's so great.
That was such a such a fun, genuine moment. But
I think all of us, all of us.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Felt like that, you know, all of us that have
even a remote interest in space.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Ember, I've been begging for five years to go to
a launch.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
This kid cusses on TV, which I've done a million times,
and he gets to go.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
You know what, we can get you down to Florida
for the Roman launch in September.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Maybe all right, I'm writing that down. I am writing
that down.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Well, Liskay, maybe don't let me promise that.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Amber. I'm so happy for everybody over there. I know
how hard you got work.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
I know what it means to you, and it is
like you're you're right, it's such an exciting time where
everybody is watching the launch or I just like, you know,
like both of my kids are in college, both of
them texted out of nowhere, like the launch is sick.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
We're watching the launch. I just I love I love
what it does. I love how much it energizes everybody.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Ah me too, I love it. It's so much fun
to be a part of.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
And again it's it's not just for us that now
sit like we're all part of this.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
This is part of our story. It's it's so much fun.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Hey, where are you watching the Where will you watch
Splash down from?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I'm probably gonna watch it from my house with my
husband because it's been a long week and I'm very tired,
so I'm probably not going to go to any parties tonight.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Good for you, Amber is always I appreciate the I
appreciate the insight, I appreciate the time.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Of course, great to talk to y'all. Have a good one.
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