Artemis II a ‘gem of magnificence’ at time of global uncertainty, former International Space Station commander tells LBC
The retired astronaut called the transition from orbit to splashdown “an amazing 30 minutes”
The return of the Orion capsule marks a “lovely, sparkling gem of magnificence” at a time of global uncertainty, former astronaut and International Space Station commander Colonel Chris Hadfield has told LBC News.
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Hadfield praised the four astronauts onboard, saying their journey captured a pivotal moment in human spaceflight as exploration moves towards longer-term settlement through the Artemis programme.
Speaking to Charlotte Lynch ahead of Orion’s re-entry to Earth, he said: “That’s where we are in history. That’s happening right now.
“In amongst all the dismal and regrettable things that we’re doing around the world right now, there’s also a real lovely, sparkling gem of magnificence. And that’s what people should look at.”
Describing the dramatic final stages of the mission, Hadfield said the transition from orbit to splashdown is “an amazing 30 minutes”.
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The best-selling author, whose latest novel Final Orbit centres around the American-Soviet Apollo–Soyuz space mission, said: “It’s an amazing transition, Charlotte, from the effortless, graceful, almost ballet-like weightlessness of living in space to then just encountering the upper wisps of the atmosphere.
“You can see the yellow and the orange and the red of the fire of that incredible heat of re-entry, and assuming the heat shield protects you properly, then you come out the other side.”
He added that after the capsule slows, parachutes deploy before it “belly flop[s] into the ocean” where rescue teams are waiting.
Hadfield also said spaceflight is now at a crossroads, with the focus shifting from what is technologically possible to how that capability should be used in the long term.
He said: “We’re sort of in that stage in spaceflight right now. We’ve got this technology, but we need to figure out how we’re going to use it long term.”
He added that this thinking had informed his work with the King’s Sustainable Markets Initiative, including helping to draft the Astra Carta, aimed at encouraging business leaders to think beyond short-term returns.
Hadfield said the mission showed the optimism and ambition of real-life space travel, in contrast with the bleak way it is often portrayed on screen.
He said: “There’s a big difference between space entertainment and space exploration.
“In the movies, they always make it look so sad and grim and dismal and pointless. And yet the actual experience of space flight is so joyful and celebratory and magnificent.
“It’s the great human arc of challenge and discovery and accomplishment.”