What Artemis II saw on the moon

Here & Now Anytime

NPR

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4.1 • 953 Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2026

⏱️ 17 minutes

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Summary

The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission is heading back to Earth after completing a loop around the moon. Jacob Bleacher, NASA’s chief exploration scientist, shares more details of the historic lunar flyby.

Then, with the crew expected to return on Friday, former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman reacts to new pictures of the moon and explains how Artemis II could influence the future of space missions.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:06.2	We will construct science outposts.
0:08.7	We will drive rovers.
0:10.4	We will do radio astronomy.
0:12.2	We will found companies.
0:14.1	We will boast our industry.
0:15.9	We will inspire.
0:17.4	But ultimately, we will always choose Earth.
0:22.9	We will always choose each other.
0:29.9	Cosmic thoughts from astronaut Christina Cook during her trip around the moon. It's Tuesday, April 7th, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBUR.
0:44.8	I'm Chris Bentley.
0:48.6	Out of all the billions of people who've ever lived, just a few hundred have ever gazed back down at our planet
0:56.7	from space. Almost all of them did so from Earth's orbit. Until this month, only the 24 astronauts
1:04.3	on the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 70s had ever inched out of that orbit. And now that number
1:10.7	is 28. Today on the show, a little ground
1:14.6	control chatter about NASA's Artemis II mission, which is on its way back to Earth after soaring
1:20.5	more than 252,000 miles into space and looping around the far side of the moon.
1:32.9	Its crew traveled farther from Earth than any humans ever before them and brought back scientific data in addition to an inspiring sense of awe.
1:38.0	Here's crew member Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.
1:41.7	You know, right away you are humbled.
1:43.5	The fact that four of us get to be out here just brings you to your knees, the thought that
1:49.4	we get this experience, we're doing our best to show it.
	...

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