Retired astronaut Capt. Winston Scott, who flew on Space Shuttle Endeavour and Columbia, told Newsmax on Thursday that NASA's Artemis II mission represents a dramatic leap beyond past moon missions.
Appearing on "Wake Up America," Scott explained how Artemis II will differ significantly from Apollo-era flights that focused on landing astronauts on the lunar surface.
"We say they're going to the moon," he said. "They're going around the moon, but they will not be close to the surface."
Instead, Scott noted, Artemis II astronauts will travel far beyond the moon, reaching distances no human has ever achieved.
"They're going to be 4,000 or 5,000 miles away from the moon on the backside," he said. "So they will actually get to see the moon in its entirety."
Scott contrasted that with Apollo missions, where astronauts entered low lunar orbit before heading to the surface.
"None of our Apollo astronauts got to do that because the Apollo astronauts were going to the surface," he said. "They entered low lunar orbit. So they go to the surface and come back."
Artemis II will not include a landing, instead relying on a gravity-assisted return trajectory.
"These folks are not going to the surface," Scott said. "They're going to use the moon's gravity to bring them back home. They're going to slingshot around the moon."
He emphasized the historic nature of the mission's distance and perspective.
"They're going farther than anyone has gone before," Scott said. "They'll see the moon from a vantage point that no one has seen before with the naked eye."
"There's just so many things that are new and different about this mission," he added. "And again, it's exciting for all of us."
Scott also addressed life in space, particularly how mixed-gender crews function in tight quarters during long missions.
"Our shuttle was the size of a camper, a minivan," he said, recalling his own 16-day shuttle flight. "We had five guys and one woman."
Scott explained that privacy and coordination are essential to maintaining order in such conditions.
"You have to give each other your privacy, but it's amazing how that works," he said.
"The guys would get up in the morning, and we'd bathe and shave, and then we'd go up to the flight deck, [and] let her have the middeck," Scott continued. "She would get up and get herself together."
From there, daily routines resemble life on Earth, even in orbit.
"Then we'd all get together, we'd eat breakfast, we'd clean up," he said. "We have to take out the garbage. Astronauts have to dispose of garbage up there, just like you do."
"Some of the things you do up there are the same things that we do down here," Scott added.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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