Reach for the Moon
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.3K Ratings
🗓️ 2 April 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Nasa has said it's back in the business of sending astronauts to the Moon, after the Artemis II mission successfully blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It said there had been a temporary loss of communications but all was now well, and the four astronauts on board were safe, secure and in great spirits. The spacecraft is expected to circle the far side of the Moon and eventually return to Earth. In other news, in a TV address President Trump has said the US is close to meeting its objectives in the war against Iran. And police in the Chinese city of Wuhan are investigating a malfunction which led to at least 100 self-driving cars stopping in the middle of the road.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.6 | This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.4 | I'm Alex Ritson, and in the early hours of Thursday, the 2nd of April, these are our main stories. |
| 0:18.1 | NASA's Artemis 2 mission successfully blasts off for its historic trip into |
| 0:22.7 | deep space and around the moon. Donald Trump tries to convince America's TV viewers that the US is |
| 0:28.9 | close to, as he puts it, finishing the job in Iran. Also in this podcast. One thing we should be worried about is that because these things operate as fleets, |
| 0:42.6 | that presents an additional risk, a cyber security risk. |
| 0:46.5 | Traffic chaos in the Chinese city of Wuhan as more than 100 self-driving robotaxes suddenly stop. |
| 1:03.2 | At Cape Canaveral in Florida at 6.35pm local time on Wednesday, |
| 1:07.4 | there was a roar that reverberated far beyond the launch pad. And here we go. |
| 1:09.8 | 10, 9, 8, 7, RS 25 engines, lit. Four, three, two, one, booster ignition, |
| 1:20.8 | and lift off. The crew of Artemis 2 now bound for the moon. Humanity's next great voyage begins. |
| 1:30.3 | And so, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Cook from the United States, |
| 1:34.9 | and Canadian Jeremy Hansen blasted off on an historic mission, |
| 1:39.4 | which will see them travel further from Earth than any human before, 406,000 kilometres. |
| 1:47.0 | It's the first time NASA, the US Space Agency, has sent anyone around the moon in more than 50 years. |
| 1:53.1 | NASA's Artemis program has been years in the making, struggled with repeated setbacks and huge financial overruns. |
| 1:59.9 | Its estimated cost over the last 14 years |
| 2:02.5 | has been at least $93 billion. But for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, |
| 2:10.0 | it was worth it. Three minutes, 50 seconds into the flight of Artemis II, Wiseman, Glover, |
| 2:14.6 | Cook and Hansen crossed the boundary to space with good comchecks. |
| 2:17.8 | Outstanding stand, we see the same, and we have a beautiful moon rise. We're headed right at it. |
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