The first astronauts due to be sent to the moon in more than 50 years have told Sky News that winning the space race with China is “very important to all of us”.
NASA is under pressure from Donald Trump’s administration and US politicians to be first back down to the lunar surface. But China is increasingly confident in its own space programme.
Jeremy Hansen, a Canadian joining three American astronauts for the Artemis mission, told me the crew were well aware of “what’s going on in the world”.
“We understand why there’s this perspective of a race,” he said at a NASA news conference.
“There are very real things happening, and you got to have heads-up play and you got to be thinking a few steps ahead. This all makes sense to us.
“Winning that race is very important to all of us.”
The mission to loop around the moon will launch as soon as February, flight testing the rocket and capsule that will play a key role in landing a crew on the lunar surface in 2027.
It will be the first time that humans have looped around the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
NASA had delayed the launch because a test flight without humans on board in 2022 resulted in significant damage to the heatshield that protects the capsule as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere.
The space agency is now satisfied that engineering upgrades have fixed the problem and the Orion crew capsule is safe to fly.
Mission commander Reid Wiseman said the crew were confident in the technology.
“When I get into Orion, it’s like climbing into my bed,” he said.
“I feel warm and tucked in.”
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Countdown on for moon…
