continue with their demands for
regime change.
CNN, istanbul.
>> We are looking at live
pictures now of the artemis 1
moon rocket which is now a go
for launch, and Florida's
Kennedy space center.
Despite some delays earlier due
to technical glitches, they had
to address an ethernet issue
tighter radar system, also
another liquid hydrogen leak.
This is the third attempt to
launch this rocket, most
powerful one nasa has ever
built.
The first artemis mission will
be an unmanned test, flight the
ultimate goal is to bring
astronauts to the moon, and
someday sent humans to Mars.
For more on this, I'm joined by
CNN's spacing defense
correspondent Kristen fisher
and retired astronaut Leroy
trial.
Thank you so much for being
with us.
So, Kristen, you can just see
it over your shoulder there,
lit up, we are waiting for the
countdown here as it is going
on here so let me start with
you, Kristen, it has been touch
and go to get to this point
right now.
>> Kim, this is it.
These are the final few minutes
of this countdown, most likely.
Two minutes and 41 seconds on
the clock, and we are about to
see something that has never
been seen before.
The most powerful rocket ever
built is about to lift off from
the Kennedy space center, bound
for the moon, and Kim, this
comes after so much stress from
nasa.
This rocket had to be rolled
back because of hurricane Ian,
then it got hit by hurricane
Nicole, category one hurricane,
while this rocket was at the
pad, just five days ago, and
now here we are.
It was a very clean countdown
during the beginning of fueling,
then at the and we ran into two
issues, another hydrogen leak
they had to send out a team
called the red crew to people,
three people to actually go up
to the launchpad while the
rocket was fully fueled,
basically a sitting bomb, and
they have to tighten some votes,
fix, it got the hydrogen leak,
fixed and had a problem with
believe it or, not an ethernet
connector with the U.S. Space
force.
The range, reflectivity
termination, absolutely
critical for the launch.
They have fixed it just in time,
and now, Kim, look at the clock,
a minute and 30 seconds left.
What we are about to see, if
all goes according to plan,
that inside mission control
they have just gotten all
systems go for launch.
So unless something just
absolutely crazy happens, the
thing is about to light and
lift off.
It will head for the moon, it
is going to go on a 26-day
mission, it will circle the
moon and then land back, splash
down sometime around mid
December in the pacific ocean.
If all goes well, it will
return American astronauts to
the moon for the first time
since the Apollo program, and
for the very first women and
first person of color ever on
the lunar surface.
So there is so much at stake
here tonight, Kim, you also
have to think about the
geopolitical implications, the
U.S. And nasa now in a space
race, according to the north
administrator who are just
interviewed earlier tonight he
is confident that his team is
ready to go.
They have been preparing
literally for more than a
decade since the retirement of
the space shuttle program for
this moment.
So, Kim, I'm just going to hype
down for a minute, because I
think we should all take a deep,
breath and get goose pond
together as we watch the final
15 seconds of this countdown.
Let's listen in.
>> And here we go.
Hydrogen burn off initiated.
Seven, six, five, four, three,
two, one, boosters in ignition.
And lift off of artemis 1.
We rise together.
Back to the moon, and beyond.
>> And an encore, stage two
rocket, boosters vehicle at 120
miles per hour.
Good control.
All good calls so far.
30 seconds into the flight.
First milestone will be the
vehicle to pass the --
at one minute nine seconds into
launch, this is the greatest
period of force on the rocket.
It is now chilling 607 miles
per hour.
You are looking at 8.8 billion
pounds of thrust here.
Mission control.
Four core stage engines,
throttling down.
Now one minute 21 seconds into
the flight traveling at --
miles per hour.
The four core stage mentions
are back at maximum thrust.
The next major milestone will
be for the solid rocket
boosters to cut off a jets in
at about two minutes 11 seconds
into the flight, so a 30
seconds from now.
Again, quite here in mission
control Houston as teams
continue monitoring, the flight
of artemis 1.
We are now 16 miles down race
from the launchpad I Kennedy
space center traveling over
2800 miles per hour.
Standing by for solid rocket
booster jettison and shortly
thereafter.
>> Confirmation that the solid
rocket boosters have, separated
these boosters.
>> And you can hear the cheers
there from nasa, as we see
artemis one lifting off, Leroy,
the words from nasa, we rise
together back to the moon, and
beyond.
What do those words and the
pictures you are seeing now,
what do they mean for you?
>> Can you hear me, Leroy?
>> Yes.
Sorry.
I did not know that was for me.
This is a very exciting moment.
The launch of a new vehicle,
this is the beginning of the
hopefully effort to return
humans to the moon, and so an
exciting evening for everyone.
>> Yeah, but, one, you know, we
saw lots of problems, and so
what we are seeing now the
artemis 1, it is economists,
there's no one in their, but
the next one artemis two will
be crude with astronauts, so
how worried should we be about
all of these hydrogen leaks we
have been seeing?
>> Hydrogenics are something
that have been going on since
we've been using these types of
cryogenic propellants, of
course over the 30 year life of
a space shuttle program, we had
our share of hydrogen problems
with oxygen leaks, but you know,
you have been able to surmount
that for the program, part of
what you're seeing now is a
vehicle that has many
components that are either
directly from or derived from
the space shuttle program, that
also people who have or are
dealing with this for the first
time so there's been quite a
gap between the end of the
shuttle program and this launch
tonight.
But, you can see that the teams
are coming up to speed, and
they are able to now deal with
the same problems we had in the
shuttle program, and so I'm
confident that these folks will
be able to continue to get it
done.
>> Now, Kristen, the space
launch system it is never flown
before, so talk to me about
what they are testing on it,
and what they will be testing
on the Orion spacecraft as well?
>> Sure.
Kim, this, is yeah, it is the
first test flight of this
rocket, so there is a few
things that they are looking
at.
One of them, that they actually
work?
So far, so good, all systems
phenomenal and the rocket has
now passed max Q, that is the
moment when the rocket is under
the most stressed during
launch.
So so far, it has passed that
test, there are many more in
store.
One of the other big things
that they will be looking at is,
is the Orion capsule which fits
on top of this rocket, is it
safe to actually put people
inside, so one of the biggest
things they're looking for is
on the way back to Earth, how
is that heat shield?
How does that heat shield
perform?
It is those incredibly high
temperatures that, Kim, can I
just say for all of you
watching this, it is something
else to see this thing, and
actually feel it lift off in
person here.
I mean, it was so loud, it felt
the vibrations shake your
chest.
This is more powerful than the
Saturn five rocket which took
all the Apollo astronauts to
the moon, the most powerful
rocket in operation right now,
and just huge cheers from all
the media, there's tons of
astronauts gathered over here
watching this thing go, many of
them know that they could be
named to this artemis two crew,
and I spoke with a nice
administrator Phil Nelson
earlier this morning, and he
said that if artemis 1, if this
mission is a success then they
are going to name the
all-important crew of artemis
two likely in just a few
months.
So a lot of very excited
astronauts, here because just
think about, this Kim, they
have not had a nasa made rocket
for them to fly on since the
space shuttle which retired way
back in 2011.
It has been more than a decade,
so up until now they have been
totally reliant upon, you know,
spacex rockets, Russian rockets
to get them up into space.
This is the first time that