One of the astronauts aboard the Artemis II mission, left this saturday a striking expression when making a video call in which he described the journey to the Moon, during a historic trip that marks the return of man to the natural satellite after more than half a century: «It looks like we’re going to crash into Earth,» said.
The expression corresponds to Jeremy Hansenwho said in a video call on Saturday that he had the feeling of «fall from the sky» while His ship continued its complex trajectory towards the Moon. He is traveling together with the other three astronauts of the Artemis II mission, which in the last few hours passed the midpoint between the Earth and the Moon, more than 241,000 kilometers from home.
the astronaut spoke after translunar injectiona propulsion maneuver that takes Orion to fly less than 200 kilometers around the Earth before heading to the Moon.
«I had the feeling that we were falling from the sky to Earth, and I said to Reid: ‘Looks like we’re going to crash into it’«he explained.
The Canadian added that «it’s incredible» and was satisfied for having «dodged» it. «It was so close. It was really phenomenal»he added.
During the first hours aboard the Orion spacecraft, Hansen, a 50-year-old former fighter pilot making his first trip to space, saw «extraordinary things,» the agency reflected. AFP in a chronicle that begins after a nap that some crew members took in the middle of the trip.
«By the time we took a short nap and got up, the Earth was already so far away,» said the astronaut, along with his American colleagues Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman, during a question and answer session organized by the Canadian Space Agency (ASC).
The astronaut, who joined the ASC in 2009 after a career as a fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, He will be the first non-American to fly around the Moon.
Orion’s next stage, scheduled for the fifth day of this ten-day mission, will be enter the lunar sphere of influence, where the Moon’s gravitational pull exceeds that of the Earth, according to NASA.
Jeremy Hansen is eager to see the far side of the Moon up close and observe «an eclipse of the Sun behind the Moon, which is going to be really cool.»
Asked about the advice he would give to the new generations, this father of three urged the youngest to «follow their passions, but also to share their passions with others.»
«To achieve great things like what we are doing in this capsule, traveling to the Moon, flying around the Moon, you need a great team behind you. And that goes for all of us in our lives,» he declared.
With information from AFP
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