NASA readies long-delayed moon launch

And Lana will be first in line. But joining us now, in the meantime, is Derrick Pitts. He is a chief astronomer at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Derrick, welcome. First of all, why has the launch of Artemis taken so long? - Thanks for having me this afternoon. It's taken so long because this really is test flight. And in test flight mode, what NASA has to do is they have to make sure that all of the components are working in synchrony so that the mission will be successful. So even when you're starting up, just before launch, if something doesn't seem to be working properly, then the launch can't happen. So NASA wants to make sure that everything is working properly so that the launch will be successful.

Derek before we go any further, I'm hoping you can fill us in on what's behind you. Tell us a little bit about that image, where it came from. And then also, of course, the bigger story, explain to our viewers the purpose of this mission and help them get as excited as I am. - This is one of the first Webb space telescope images that you're seeing behind me. It's called a deep field image with lots and lots of galaxies in the background. But the reason why this mission, the Artemis mission, is so exciting, this first mission, is because if we can show that the rocket is working properly as it should, then it does open a whole new era of space exploration. This is the rocket that's meant to begin to build our resources and build our capabilities to go back to the moon in just a couple of years and put the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the moon. And that then opens the doors for us to begin building up our skills and technology for an eventual trip to Mars, an eventual human trip to Mars. So there's a lot riding on this set of Artemis missions coming up in the next few years.

And then eventually all those galaxies behind you open for exploration too.

Open for space travel. - We'll get there.

Now, Derek, can we expect to see more unpiloted launches from NASA following this mission in particular? Is that what's coming? - Yeah. What actually happens now is that this mission, this uncrewed mission, is meant to prove that the rocket and the Orion capsule will all work together along with the communications and navigation systems because this particular rocket, this particular capsule is going to circumnavigate the moon over a period of about 20 days once it gets there and then come back to Earth. And then the very next mission that's going to happen will be a crewed mission to circumnavigate the moon, not to land on the moon, but just to fly around the moon to prove that all of those systems capable of carrying astronauts safely will work. And then following that comes the actual mission that puts astronauts down on the surface. But that's not going to happen before 2025.

Long time coming.

We'll still be paying attention very, very closely. Derek Pitts, thank you so much.

Thanks Derek. - Thanks for having me.