The paralympics get underway in tokyo next week, with the Opening Ceremony on tuesday. Among those making their debut at the games, is the swimmer suzanna hext. But the 32 year old has followed an unusual path into the sport, having first achieved huge success, as an equestrian. Our sports correspondent, andy swiss, has been to meet her. It makes you want to get as much as you can out of life. Harrowing to the olympics, the latest stop on a remarkable porting journey. Latest stop on a remarkable portingjourney. From latest stop on a remarkable porting journey. From her earliest years, she loved riding. In 2012, a horse reared up riding. In 2012, a horse reared up and fell on top of her, leaving her with life changing injuries. I leaving her with life changing inuries. ~ , leaving her with life changing inuries. ~ ,. , injuries. I felt like my whole world fell injuries. I felt like my whole world fell apart. Injuries. I felt like my whole world fell apart. I injuries. I felt like my whole world fell apart. I shattered | world fell apart. I shattered my pelvis, broken my back. I had a head injury, spinal injury, crushed my shoulder. The thing that kept me going was the London 2012 Paralympics was the London 2012 Paralympics was on tv when i was in hospital. When my surgeon said i would never walk again, i would never ride again, i thought, i really can do this. And she returned to the saddle and became a triple European Champion in dressage. In 2019, she was persuaded to try swimming, with extraordinary results. Within months, she had won two medals at the world championships. Won two medals at the world championships. When i am in the ool or championships. When i am in the pool or on championships. When i am in the pool or on a championships. When i am in the pool or on a horse, championships. When i am in the pool or on a horse, it championships. When i am in the pool or on a horse, it is championships. When i am in the pool or on a horse, it is like pool or on a horse, it is like the challenges in daily Life Fade away and its just me and the horse or the water. That Feeling Isjust the horse or the water. That feeling is just phenomenal. The horse or the water. That Feeling Isjust phenomenal. The andemic Feeling Isjust phenomenal. The Pandemic Hasnt made preparations easy, she had to turn her parents living room in a turn her parents living room in a into a gym, and swim in a creek. She wants to be a paralympian in both sports but she says it is only the support of her brother and parents that has got her to tokyo. I of her brother and parents that has got her to tokyo. Has got her to tokyo. I Cant Exlain has got her to tokyo. I Cant Exolain how has got her to tokyo. I cant explain how much has got her to tokyo. I cant explain how much i has got her to tokyo. I cant explain how much i have has got her to tokyo. I Cant L explain how much i have been through with my family to get to this point. I get emotional. But yeah, i couldnt have done it without them. ~. , couldnt have done it without them. , them. What are you hoping you can achieve . Them. What are you hoping you can achieve . Im them. What are you hoping you can achieve . Im not them. What are you hoping you can achieve . Im not going them. What are you hoping you can achieve . Im not going to l can achieve . Im not going to lie, i can achieve . Im not going to lie. I would can achieve . Im not going to lie, i would love can achieve . Im not going to lie, i would love to can achieve . Im not going to lie, i would love to come can achieve . Im not going to| lie, i would love to come away with a medal. Just get to tokyo and give it all i can and ill be happy with that. Now on Bbc News, click. This week, another chance to see our race to space, where we hit the road, built a house and, shh. Whispers . Locked up some astronauts. Jump on in. Thank you. So youre not using the Steering Wheel at all . Youre using a. Oh, wow laughter. Which way are we going . Which way are we going im at nasa in houston where lucienjunkin is taking me for a spin. Using both a Steering Wheel and a joystick, you can point this vehicle in One Direction and drive it in another. You feel the forces in your tailbone. Oh, i can feel the forces in my tailbone and if that seems really confusing, well, it is. But this is drive by wire technology, which means the onboard computer works out which way you want to go, and then calculates what to do with the wheels. All right, so, well just go this way. This isjust one of many experiments into how we might live, work and drive on the moon or mars. Although this vehicle may also pave the way for smarter cars in smarter cities back down here on earth, where i have to say, parking may be one of the coolest things you get to do. No way come on, man. But before we start driving around celestial bodies, we need to get there first. In the days of the moon landings, only two competing countries were locked in battle, driving Space Exploration forward. Now, in the race back to space, the power� s shifting. Chinas Change Li Probe was the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the moon. And europe, India And Japan are all pushing forward with their own space programs. Back in the us, nasa plans to get back to the moon by 2024, but now it has competition from private individuals an idea that would have been laughable 50 years ago. Rival billionaires elon musk, founder of spacex, and Jeff Bezos, who owns blue 0rigin, are racing to populate the moon and mars. But what kind of person would actually be on these spacecraft . The first people to go to mars will be Risk Taking Adventurers accepting that they may have one way tickets or have a small chance of return, and they will be probably financed or sponsored by one of these private companies. At nasa, we discovered a little known department where these Risk Taking Adventurers live. Right now, there are four astronauts inside a spacecraft on a mission to phobos, one of marss two moons. Whispers but theyre actually in there. Yes, in this tiny habitat, volunteers are locked away for 45 days on a simulated mission, with cameras and scientists monitoring their every move. This is nasas human Exploration Research Analog hera for short. Whispers this is so cool. Inside the module, the crew is poked and prodded in different psychological experiments, from Sleep Deprivation to diminished privacy, all to fine tune a critical component that could make or break any future Mission To Mars the humans inside the spacecraft. The primary purpose of hera is to learn about the effects of Isolation And Confinement on people. So a lot of the studies that we do are behavioural or psychological in nature, looking at the type of isolation from people. So youre really only talking to or in contact with the other Crew Members that are in the vehicle with you or Mission Control thats supporting you. Yeah, astronauts on future missions to mars have more to worry about than the toxic soil, the deadly atmosphere and high levels of radiation. They also have to worry about Each Other. And its hard to say which of these would be more likely to result in someones death. And its consistent, low Level Stress over time. Little things start to grate on you because the Stress Kind of heightens how you react to the things around you. So the sound of somebody chewing the cereal next to you might be fine at first. And then 45 days later, you really, really dont like that sound. Even for an astronaut, the psychological demands of a journey to mars will be extraordinary. The spacecraft will only be the size of a small flat, and the Round Trip will take almost three years. Add in four different personalities cooped up together and you may run into some problems. And with a range of characters needed, you never know who you could end up with. The Habitat And Workload are designed to mimic a real mission as closely as possible. And nasas scientists throw in lots of elements to try and ensure that the volunteers forget that theyre actually part of an experiment. If mcc talks to the crew, they ask a question, it takes five minutes to get to the crew, and then they answer, it takes five minutes to get back. So a ten Minute Round Trip for a question and answer. So the whole idea of creating a mission scenario, youre going to phobos and youre, you know, youre going to do an eva, youre going to pilot a small spacecraft to the surface. You know, all that keeps them really excited and engaged in the simulation. The goal here is not just to study the effects of Isolation And Confinement, but also to work out how to put together the perfect team for extreme space travel. Its all about the mix. And thats one of the things that were looking at, is what is that right mix . 0r given the particular mix of people, you know, you have, lets say, one strong personality and three less strong personalities, what would we expect that to play out like . So what kind of roles do you need to have a successful team for a Space Mission . And they were looking notjust at the functional roles, you know, a commander or a medic, an engineer, but theyre also looking at the social roles and found that those were just as, if not more important for those long duration missions, having somebody thats providing Humour Or Entertainment for the crew, thats way more important. And it wontjust be down to humans to decide what the right social mix would be. Masses of data is being generated from these experiments, making successful social interactions quantifiable. One of the research studies thats actually going on is looking at a way to get a little bit ahead of the Personality Problem by developing an algorithm where you can take the Background Information on an individual� S Personality tests, that sort of information, plug it into the system, and based on the characteristics of all the people that youre putting in that team, figure out how theyre going to work together, whether its the right mix of people. Unlike these potential martian voyages, we may think that three years in isolation is a bit bonkers. However, from Jeff Bezos to buzz aldrin, many are dreaming of trips to, and even living on, the red planet. But Lord Martin rees, britains astronomer royal, doesnt actually think that most of us are suited to space. Nowhere in the Solar System anywhere is as comfortable as the top of everest or the south pole. And so thats why i think the idea of Mass Emigration is a bit crazy. We have to bear in mind that space is not a place for human beings, except for adventurers, the kind of people who do go to the south Pole And Top of everest. What do the Hera Crew think about the experiment . Well, we caught up with them, unsurprisingly out in the fresh air, shortly after they left the habitat. You know, were all very similar. If we had one very extroverted person, maybe a strong personality that was slightly different than the group, that might have negatively affected the outcome. If you put four extroverts in there together, theyre going to drive Each Other crazy eventually. Maybe four introverts arent going to be able to come together as a team as much, because theyre more inwardly focused. You want a good blend of people who are adaptable to not only the situation, but to Each Others personalities. You have a Mission To Mars. The goal is so huge that youre extremely motivated. I mean, the aim of the analog is to be one step closer to put humans on mars. I can barely imagine being in such a situation. Your motivation is so huge, i think that even you can overcome anything. This is how the apollo astronauts got about on the moon. Seems pretty racy, even by todays standards, but the next time we go to the moon and mars, our vehicles will look a bit more like this. With six wheels, all of which can turn independently, this is the latest Nasa Prototype of the vehicle that could be crawling over the lunar surface very soon. So were designing the next vehicle, and the next vehicle goes up in 2023. Its pretty aggressive. We love it. Its like apollo. To make the drive as safe as possible. The active suspension keeps equal pressure on each wheel at all times, and that means you can cover some pretty extreme terrain. Oh, my word. Are we about to go down that . We can if you like. I would like. Its not worth it. Its not worth the enjoyment. I have children at home my goodness this vehicle is already being used to test the practicalities of future moon missions. Four astronauts take two vehicles out for two weeks at a time, living and working on board, to work out the amount of Food Theyll Need and the kind of Living Conditions they can expect. By the way, were on a slight incline right now. Laughter. So what i can do is i can actually put my head in this little bubble here and i can investigate the rock, which is a great design feature. All right. Im examining lunar rocks. Its like a glass bottom boat. Progress across the terrain will be slow and steady, because this will be a really harsh environment. And moondust is pretty rough. Yeah, its really sharp. Those are things that we definitely know from apollo. Think of taking a Glass Andjust slamming it down and then crushing it with your feet, and those shards are kind of how it is on the moon since theres no Erosion Or Wind to tumble those little pieces. And thats one of the reasons were pushing to have Suit Ports with the spacesuits on the outside of the vehicle. So at the end of these beds back here, theres a door to the vehicle. So you open the door to the vehicle and youre now staring at the back of your suit, and you climb into the back. So now your suit and your cabin are pressurized. You seal it up and then you close the cabin door, so you can go climb in a spacesuit while i stay in here and we dont have to depressurize the cabin. And that means all of the moondust that collects on the spacesuit never gets into our atmosphere. The whole suit stays on the outside of the vehicle. Thats genius. Mind you, moondust may have its uses as a building material, and Thats Something that lara lewingtons been investigating at the European Space agency in the netherlands. This structure has been 3d printed using a combination of elements that could be found on earth that replicate the qualities of moondust. And that means that things can be tried here before actually being attempted on the surface of the moon. And the hope is that one day creating something like this, inhabitable by humans, could be possible. This moon regolith, or simulant, is hoped to be able to create an inhabitable structure thats temperate and can block radiation. Well, you have actually the powder in a layer, and then you spray with a nozzle the Binder Material. The Binder Material here was an inorganic salt water, and then it comes to a Chemical Reaction like concrete, if you like, and you build more or less a solid structure, Layer By layer. This Substance Isnt quite perfect, though. So at some point, testing on the real, precious moondust needs to happen. But 3d Printing on the moon could go beyond putting a roof over astronauts heads. We can print polymers, metals, ceramic materials. And you could print food. You can print Stem Cells for medical applications. Theres almost no limit of what you could not print. And even more important, what you can do is you can recycle. So you could actually then have a very sustainable operation by reusing stuff we have used for other purposes before. So a robotic version of this 3d Printer could make use not only of substances found on the lunar surface, but also raw materials transported there in as low a volume as possible. Exploration in the past has always been about taking everything you can with you wherever you go. Now, this is possible, but its very expensive. Its very difficult to do. So what were looking at now is, in the longer term, we want to make Exploration Sustainable and permanent. 0xygen, for example, is something that we need on the moon for propulsion, for Rocket Fuel and for breathing. We can get that out of ice at the Lunar Poles and from lunar rocks, which are made of about 40 oxygen. Were also left with metals, and those metals can be used to make equipment, make materials. The moon is also the only place we can go, three days away, to start to understand what it means to live and work away from the earth. So if we want to learn how to use resources locally and in a responsible and clever way to prepare us for going on to mars and elsewhere, the moon is where we have to do it. Of course, this wont happen tomorrow. But technological advancement is starting to push forward the possibilities of learning more about the moon, followed by mars and beyond. That was lara at esa. Back at nasa, ive been meeting one of the semi autonomous robots which may be sent to help build, and then maintain, our Living Quarters in preparation for our arrival. This is valkyrie. The Robot Is. . The Robot Is currently there. Thats where you want it to go. And then you just ask the Robot Plan a path to get there. And using its information about its environment, it plans its footsteps uniquely, figures out where to step safely to get across this debris field. Controlling robots at a distance means that the operator needs the robot to handle the fine detail of its environment. After being told where to go and what to do, valkyrie analyses the terrain and works out for itself where to step and where to put its hands. Also, there are a variety of applications here on earth for putting a robot in a place that really needs the human hands, the human shape. Here goes. Getting in the Pick Up Truck on the moon. David mastin, chief technology officer. The reason i started this company was so that i could go walk on the moon. Youve gotten the new solar lights and rewired those. We did. Mastin is delivering payloads to the surface of the moon. Well buy a big rocket launch, well then have our vehicle navigate the rest of the way to the moon, put it on the surface, and then that soft landing then has your payload right there on the surface. I started this company for a number of reasons. The major reason was the idea that i think we could do better than we had been doing in aerospace. Looking at stuff that id done in the automotive industry, bringing the methodologies that we started developing in the silicon valley. We have a bunch of spare cryogenic valves sitting over there, we just grab one and turn it into a methane tank. Mastin right now is about 15 people fulltime, majority of them engineers, that are both Designing And Installing and turning wrenches and flying, and the majority of the team is based here in mojave. Throw away everything thats just nice to have but not required. Were one of the few companies that was awarded a Master Contract by nasa for delivery of payloads to the surface of the moon. This is all inclusive, its lab to surface. The biggest thing for competition with spacex, blue 0rigin, other billionaires, is to find other niches in the marketplace. You know, stay away from the big, huge launch vehicles, stay away from human landing vehicles for the time being. Until we can get into a much better situation where we could possibly stand toe to toe with a billionaire who doesnt care how many billions he throws at the project. The answer of why go now is that we have reached the Inflection Point where the ecosystem is able to offer us access to the moon at a Price Point that is reasonable to unlock the potential that exists on the moon. Six, five, four. When are we looking to land on the moon . As early as 2022. Whispers and im afraid thats it for our Mini Exploration of space. These folk have a few more days to go yet, i have to say. I hope youve enjoyed the journey. Its been fascinating, hasnt it . And if you have any comments, get in touch were on Social Media on youtube, facebook, instagram and twitter, bbcclick. Thanks for watching and well see you soon. Hello again. Saturday looks to be the wettest dells, Heavy Rain and the odd thunderstorm. Sunday should be brighter with some sunshine, but still one or two showers. A stripe of cloud working in from the west. This is a Weather Front that is going to continue to bring outbreaks of rain. Instead of clearing through quickly, it will stick with us all day on saturday, because there is a Wave Running along it which will hold the front back and stop it from clearing away quickly. Western areas that start soggy, a bit drier further east, cloudy. The wet weather will stagger eastwards with Heavy Thundery bursts mixing in. As things brighton for the south west, wales, northern scotland, we will still see scattered showers and thunderstorms popping up. Quite breezy in wales and the south west, lighter winds elsewhere, temperatures disappointing, 17 21. Saturday night, the rain continues eastwards, but it tends to fizzle away, turning more light and patchy, many places start sunday drive. With a lot of cloud and some missed, a mild and muggy night. Sunday starts with low pressure, High Pressure beginning to build in from the south west. A bit drier on sunday, quite a lot of cloud but it should break to give some spells of sunshine. Showers, especially across scotland. Likely to stay grey and damp across the northern isles. Temperatures are still struggling, up to maybe 22 in the sunniest spots. Next week, the sunniest spots. Next week, the High Pressure establishes itself more strongly. If you are looking for dry and bright weather, the start of next week looks promising. We will see good spells of sunshine. Mostly dry. But no heatwave on the way. Low to mid 20s. In the sunshine it will feel quite pleasant. Welcome to Bbc News im lewis vaughanjones. Our top stories. Despair and danger in afghanistan, as thousands at Kabul Airport beg for Safe Passage away from the taliban a how long have you been here waiting . Until morning. Five oclock. And still am waiting to hear in the last three days, ive been trying to go inside. In they will not let you into the hotel . The embassy told me to come here. Yes. President biden tells the taliban any attack on the afghan Evacuation Mission would be met with force. Nearly a week after the earthquake in haiti victims