By KCAL-News Staff

May 1, 2023 / 3:45 PM / KCAL News

NASA's Artemis II crew is headed to the moon in 2024, but before they lift off, they stopped by KCAL for Java with Jamie.

The team joined us to talk about space exploration, a visit to the Griffith Observatory and why they want this mission to bring hope to humanity.

The astronauts Commander Reid Wiseman, Mission Specialist Christina Hammock Koch, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen are the next generation of explorers and they have been selected to travel to the moon on a 10 day mission in 2024.

"It's important to know it didn't just happen, we cultivated an office years ago and one of NASA's core values now is inclusion and because of challenging decisions years ago our team now represents our office and our countries and our planet," said Victor Glover. "If you just reached in and grabbed four people, the teams would look like this. We're going to get the mission done and excel, but it's also important for kids to be able to see themselves in what we're doing and that inspiration is very important."

"It's not just one person's accomplishment, we made a decision that we are going to explore for all by all and if we're not doing that, we're not answering humanities call to explore," said Christina Hammock Koch, Mission Specialist. "Anyone who wants to work hard, they're welcome on board," Koch continued to say.

Commander Reid Wiseman said "we're not hear because of what anyone of us looks and one of my favorite things of this crew, if you add up the three of our experience...if you take the three of us combined, we only have 5 more days in space."

They also talked about what they think it will be like up in space and the moment they will not be able to see earth.

"It is going to be crazy, there might be a 45 minute period where you can't see home and that's wild," said Commander Wiseman.

There latest mission is an exploration not just for North America, but for the entire planet. 

"Parts of this machine is being built from all over the world, that's on the technical side, and on the inspirational side it will be nice to unite the world for just a few minutes," said Commander Wiseman.

Mission Specialist Christina Hammock Koch added "we explore to learn about ourselves. We learn what's important to us what we need our home planets context in the universe."

They continued to talk about what the mission means to them and how they hope to inspire other around the world.

"This mission is a symbol of what we can do when humans decide to work and come together as people. I love how we can embrace our differences and use them to make each of us stronger on our mission. I hope that can inspire peace between other countries back here on earth," said Pilot Victor Glover.

The group will lift off from Florida, but come back to earth here in southern California and while up in space...they look to SoCal as their north star.

"What's cool about Los Angeles is to see it from space, it's ridiculous what makes it ridiculous, you have the brown of the desert and the white of the mountains and one of the wildest things is seeing the planes coming in with all their trails come to LAX, you wonder what they're doing. That's pretty amazing," said Commander Wiseman.

We're providing wonder to the very people who provide us with so much of that! The group starts training in June and is grateful they've been on such a long press tour getting to know one another. They're hoping all their families can gather on the east coast for lift off and then road trip to California for landing, which would take roughly the same time as their mission!  

The KCAL News Staff is a group of experienced journalists who bring you the content on KCALNews.com and CBSLA.com.

First published on May 1, 2023 / 3:45 PM

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