MINNEAPOLIS — America's bold return to the moon begins with the first test mission of NASA's new Artemis space program, however, it's unclear when the rocket will take flight.
Saturday's launch — the second launch attempt this week — was called off because of a dangerous fuel leak. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said repair work could bump the launch into October.
Earlier this week, we checked with NASA's third-highest ranking official, Minnesota native and former astronaut Robert Cabana, to ask him what Artemis could mean to the future of space exploration and society at large.
"I've had an opportunity to do a lot of different things, but I can't imagine not being part of our nation's space program as this point in time," Cabana told KARE Friday.
He said the Artemis program's long-term goal is to have astronauts live on the moon, which will lay the groundwork for setting up a human station on Mars in the coming decades.
"Unlike Apollo, we’re going back to the moon this time in a sustainable way. We’re staying for longer periods of time. We’re going to have pressurized rovers, habitats. We’re gonna learn how to live and operate on the moon utilizing the moon’s resources."
He's excited to see how the Orion space craft performs in space, on a 38-day mission that will orbit the Moon with technology that wasn't available back in the Apollo moonshot days. The test run will use a highly sophisticated mannequin equipped with technology that can sense what humans would experience on the flight.
"Criticality is going to be checking out that new heat shield, that's on the Orion spacecraft, coming back in at lunar re-entry velocity of over 24,000 miles per hour," he said. "We want to make sure it performs properly before we put a crew on board."
Cabana grew up in south Minneapolis and graduated from Washburn High School in 1967. That was his springboard to the U.S. Naval Academy, the Marines, the Navy and eventually four trips to space as a NASA space shuttle astronaut.
"What I learned growing up in Minnesota, working on my grandparents' farm, going to school in the Minneapolis Public School system, it prepared me for life," Cabana remarked.
He continued to rise through the ranks of NASA to become the director of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and now holds the post of associate director of the entire space program. He said it has taken hard work and persistence.
"It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you apply yourself. And if you don’t get something on the first try, don’t give up. I didn’t get into flight training, test pilot school, or the astronaut program on the first try but they were all goals that I set for myself and when I achieved it, I set a new goal."
According to the NASA interactive map of deep space exploration system suppliers, as of 2019 there were 67 different Minnesota companies supplying different components for this effort. One of them is PaR Systems, a Shoreview engineering company owned by Tom Pohlad.
Another Minnesota connection is Dr. Kjell Lindgren, a NASA flight surgeon who did his medical residency at Hennepin County Medical Center before becoming an astronaut and working on the International Space Station. Dr. Lindgren is now part of the Artemis astronaut team, making him a prime candidate for one of the future manned missions.
And then there's a beloved character created by Minnesota's Charles Schultz. A Snoopy doll will be on the Artemis test flight as zero gravity indicator.
"Snoopy is very special to all the astronauts," Cabana explained.
"There's a silver Snoopy pin that Astronauts award to individuals they feel have made a significant contribution to safety in our nation's space program. And it’s less than one percent of the workforce that gets one of these Snoopy pins."
In the early days of the Apollo program, Schultz gave NASA permission to use Snoopy as a safety awareness mascot. By then astronauts were already calling the inner communications harness the "Snoopy cap" because it looked like what the comic strip and cartoon pooch wore in his World War One Flying Ace fantasies.
And just as the Apollo launches inspired Cabana to pursue a career in space, he believes the Artemis program will motivate young Americans to join NASA's ambitious endeavor.
"In the Artemis program, we're going to put the first woman on the Moon, the first person of color. Everyone will be able to see themselves as an astronaut, living and working on the moon as part of our program," he said.
Can Cabana see himself in space again?
"I am ready to go," he said with a chuckle.
"John Glenn was 77 when he flew his last space flight, so I've got a few good years left and I can still pass the physical. But now I think there's a lot younger, talented folks. It's their turn now."
And, while Cabana lives and works in Florida, he's still a Minnesotan at heart. He roots for the Twins and still uses his vintage CCM hockey skates when he goes ice skating with his granddaughter.