shuttle, it belongs to the u.s. government. it s still u.s. property. they are figuring out what they want to do with it. they want to do something that honors the life and the legacy of the seven astronauts that were killed on that day, including, of course, kristen mcauliffe, that would have been the first teacher in space. jim? thank you very much. joining me now, retired astronaut, scott kelly. great to see you, as always. best live backdrop in all of television. i tell you that every time. but it s true. there s the space suit behind you, so great. so much to talk about. not just about the challenger discovery, but also about your work to ukraine. your brother, projected as the winner of the arizona senate race. how is the kelly family feeling about all of this? i m sure it s a huge releaf to
coming monday. the unmanned test mission is one giant leap for the plan to put america s back in the moon for the first time in half a century. now to discuss, retired astronaut leland melvin, one exciting time for so many people, can you put this in perspective, and what this might mean? thank you. and it is a really historical moment, the last time so many walked on the moon was 1972, december 14, and now going back to the moon, 8.8 million pounds of thrust, the largest rocket ever made, going around the moon for 42 days and we will have artemis one, the first untrue test mission, artemis 2 and 3, maybe the first person of color and the first woman walking on the martian surface,
looking very good. the weather is spectacular for an 11:17 eastern time launch. the very first time ever four private citizens, astronauts, will launch from pad 35a, go to the international space station and the spacex 9 rocket not just to look out the windows but work alongside the professionals. the four men suited up and walked out to the trip. retired astronaut, ohio businessman, canadian businessman and billionaire israeli. a former fighter pilot. they are adamant these aren t space tourists. 1,000 hours of astronaut training for the science research mission and passed of many of nasa s astronaut tests. a tremendous opportunity and challenge. but i also recognize that it is
you re looking at live pictures at launch site one in west texas. this as the crew aboard blue origin s new shepard rocket gets ready to launch to the edge of space. we should note the launch has been on hold for 16 minutes, more than 16 minutes now, holding at 45 minutes the launch, we re waiting for updates on why that is. as we wait for that information, we re lucky to have with us scott kelly, retired astronaut. great to have you with us this morning. i would love to get your thoughts on what we re seeing and what this means as someone who, you know, as an astronaut, which is there are so few of you who made that journey, walk us through how this crew might be feeling in these moments, especially with this now 17-minute hold. yeah. well, you know, it is interesting, they don t have a long time to sit in the rocket and think about what they re about to do, which might be a