We are back with the good stuff tonight, and as we think about those four astronauts now orbiting the Earth and preparing to begin that next-stage journey back to the moon, we wanted to end with a few thoughts about what got us to this moment. It’s the work of ages, of course, of too many minds to count, but what fuels it all, besides all that liquid hydrogen, is really just two simple human virtues.
First, curiosity. You see it in all the kids watching today, hoping to see Artemis, and the kids who came before, hoping to see the Space Shuttle, and the kids before that who stayed up late for Apollo and for Mercury. Curiosity is what makes some of those kids grow up to be astronauts, including the four astronauts up there right now.
But it takes more than curiosity to get to the moon. Over the past 60 years, 17 U.S. astronauts have died in the line of duty. And if you think the four up there right now haven’t considered those risks, listen to what Jeremy Hansen told us just days before liftoff.
“I want everyone to understand that you can lose a crew, and if we do, that shouldn’t shock us. And the most important thing we do next is we stack the next rocket, and we let the next four volunteers get on top of it and go.”
“You stack the next rocket. That is courage, ladies and gentlemen, and curiosity together, and you can’t get to the moon without both.”