Historic Nasa Moon mission returns safely to Earth

{"text":[[{"start":8.15,"text":"The four Artemis II astronauts have returned to Earth safely from the first flight around the Moon in more than 50 years, intensifying the US race with China to return people to the lunar surface."}],[{"start":23.25,"text":"The Nasa mission splashed down off California’s coast at 5.07pm local time on Friday, concluding a 10-day voyage that took them a record distance into space."}],[{"start":35.84,"text":"The Artemis expedition has yielded captivating images from the Moon’s far side and highlighted the growing terrestrial power struggle to establish a presence on its surface. "}],[{"start":47.730000000000004,"text":"“What a journey,” mission commander Reid Wiseman proclaimed after landing, reporting that all four crew members were “green” — in excellent health. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":57.63,"text":"The spacecraft, named Integrity by the crew, splashed down via parachutes that slowed it to barely 30km/h. It completed what was “to all intents and purposes, a textbook mission”, according to the official Nasa commentary. "}],[{"start":74.48,"text":"“From the pages of Jules Verne to a modern-day mission to the moon, the new chapter of the exploration of our celestial neighbour is complete,” it said. “Integrity’s astronauts, back on Earth.”"}],[{"start":88.93,"text":"Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman hailed the returning “ambassadors from humanity to the stars” as he waited to receive them aboard the ship USS John P. Murtha."}],[{"start":101.76,"text":"“We are back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon, bringing them back safely,” Isaacman said. “This is just the beginning.”"}],[{"start":111.11,"text":"The Artemis quartet travelled more than 400,000km from Earth during their 1mn km flight, breaking a record set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":124.64,"text":"They monitored the expedition’s impact on the human body to inform future and potentially much longer crewed missions to the Moon and perhaps Mars."}],[{"start":135.43,"text":"The crew was led by Wiseman, a former US Navy pilot. It included pilot Victor Glover, the first Black astronaut to fly by the Moon, and Christina Koch, the first woman to do so."}],[{"start":150.27,"text":"The fourth member was Jeremy Hansen of Canada, reflecting the international involvement in a mission that included a European Space Agency service module."}],[{"start":161.01000000000002,"text":"Nasa plans further Artemis missions with the aim of placing astronauts on the Moon in 2028 for the first time since the last Apollo space programme mission in 1972."}],[{"start":174.36,"text":"The US agency has shelved plans to build a space station orbiting the Moon and proposes instead to set up infrastructure on the surface with the aim of establishing continuous human habitation."}],[{"start":187.84,"text":"Isaacman, who took over as Nasa’s administrator in December, has spoken of the “great power competition” over the Moon and how “success or failure will be measured in months, not years”."}],[{"start":199.88,"text":"In 2024, China sent a probe to the surface of the Moon’s far side and returned samples from there to Earth for the first time. It has said it aims to land a crew on the Moon by 2030."}],[{"start":222.06,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1775891090_8830.mp3"}