Why NASA is betting big on Artemis II moon mission

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2026

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of Science Quickly, we break down the successful launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission—the first crewed journey toward the moon in more than 50 years—as space editor Lee Billings explains how the Orion spacecraft will slingshot around the moon, what risks still lie ahead, why this test flight matters for future lunar landings, and how everything from heat‑shield concerns to the spacecraft’s upgraded toilet fits into NASA’s larger plan to build a long‑term presence on the moon. Recommended Reading: Live: NASA’s Artemis II moon mission launches Artemis II’s journey to the moon, day by day NASA’s moon mission day one: a toilet mishap and spacecraft maneuvers NASA’s Artemis II launches on first crewed moon mission of the 21st century E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Jamie Lang and Sophie Haboo have arrived on Disney Plus.
0:04.0	We're having a baby.
0:06.0	We're having a baby.
0:07.0	I've always wanted to be mom.
0:09.0	And we're bringing you on our journey through everything.
0:12.0	I have no idea what we're doing.
0:13.0	Thank you. I have more of an idea.
0:15.0	I think of it like a Tamagocchi.
0:17.0	At the end of all of this...
0:20.0	We're going to have a little baby.
0:21.6	Raising Chelsea, a Hulu original series streaming exclusively on Disney Plus.
0:26.6	18 plus subscription required T's and T supply. For Scientific American Science Quickly, I'm Kendra Pior Lewis in for Rachel Feldman.
0:47.3	And here we go.
0:53.3	10, 9, 8, 7,
0:57.0	RS-25 engines,
1:00.0	8, 4, 3, 2, 1, booster ignition,
1:05.0	and lift off.
1:08.0	The crew of Artemis 2, now bound for the moon. Humanity's next great voyage begins.
1:13.6	On Wednesday evening, after multiple delays, the Artemis II mission to go around the moon was successfully launched.
1:20.6	So after a brief 54-year intermission, NASA is back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon.
1:28.3	That was NASA administrator Jared Isaacman at the post-launched news conference.
1:32.3	Prior to this, NASA had flown nine Apollo missions to the moon, with six successful landings.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Scientific American, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Scientific American and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.