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NASA has delayed launch of the Artemis II mission until at least next month after issues came up Monday during pre-launch testing known as the "wet dress rehearsal." The next window for launch opens as early as March 6.
The delay parallels what the U.S. space program routinely experienced during the Apollo program more than 50 years ago — a lot of stops and starts on the path to landing on the moon.
Back in the 1960s, of course, everything was new. Every launch was the first-ever attempt at each stage of getting to the moon and back.
Well, as it turns out, there are parallels there too. When Artemis II sends its four astronauts on a ten-day trip around the moon and back, the mission is designed to execute a series of firsts, including traveling farther than anyone has ever ventured into space. The voyage will also feature the first woman and first African American to travel to the moon.
The mission is also important to Houston. Mission Control, of course, is located at Johnson Space Center, and NASA's astronauts train here.
Considering that significance, and those parallels, it is understandable why a documentary about the first moon missions and humanity's return there with Artemis has been showing for almost a year now at Space Center Houston in Clear Lake. The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks made its U.S. debut there last March.
The film is co-written and narrated by Hanks, who has been a longtime space enthusiast. He starred as astronaut Jim Lovell in the movie Apollo 13 and produced a miniseries about Apollo called From the Earth to the Moon.
When The Moonwalkers debuted here, Houston Matters host Craig Cohen spoke with Hanks about it. Hanks equated going to the moon the first several times with “laying down railroad tracks” with the intent of going back.
On the day of the film’s premeire, producer Michael Hagerty also caught up with Hanks and filmmaker Christopher Riley at Space Center Houston.
In the audio above, they discuss the documentary and what they believe the human race gains from space exploration — including additional trips now in the Artemis era — and Hanks reflects on how he became so enamored with space.
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