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Speaker 1: Seven two Drive. Let's focus on this now, the Artemis

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Speaker 1: two mission for astronauts on this particular flight on their

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Speaker 1: way back home, a dramatic lunar fly by, they went

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Speaker 1: to the dark side of the moon. Nope, they didn't

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Speaker 1: just listen to the music, and they went further than

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Speaker 1: a mancraft. As I understand it, they broke the record

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Speaker 1: for human travel which was previously around four hundred thousand kilometers.

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Speaker 1: They went beyond that. So let's find out about this mission,

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Speaker 1: why it's important, and we welcome to seven two Drive.

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Speaker 1: Renee Peter Marsun, who is part of the Space Portfolio

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Speaker 1: Committee at the amd that's the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense

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Speaker 1: Industries Association of South Africa and he's also a local

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Speaker 1: lead on the NASA Space APPS project in South Africa.

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Speaker 1: Renee Peter, welcome, it's good to have you with us

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Speaker 1: on the show.

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Speaker 2: Good to you, John Godot, to your listeners, thank you

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Speaker 2: very much for having me.

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Speaker 1: Is something like this simply a test of technological and

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Speaker 1: aeronautical ability, so they went further on Ottomis two than

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Speaker 1: we've ever been before. Or does it have a significance

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Speaker 1: that goes beyond that?

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Speaker 2: Definitely, there is significance beyond that, John look Ottimus is

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Speaker 2: a major master one in human space expiration. Right, it's

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Speaker 2: a first mission in over fifty years where astronauts traveled

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Speaker 2: beyond logo orbit and fire around the Moon. But what

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Speaker 2: makes it significant is that it's not just symbolic. It's

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Speaker 2: a test mission to prove that we can safely send

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Speaker 2: humans deeper into space. Again, it's also essentially humanity taking

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Speaker 2: its first real step back into deep space, but this

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Speaker 2: time with the intention of staying and building toward future

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Speaker 2: missions and humankind sustainability. Now what that means from a

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Speaker 2: big picture perspective optimist to represents a ship from exploration

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Speaker 2: to expansion. Right, So during the Apollo error, we went

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Speaker 2: to the Moon to prove it as possible. Now we

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Speaker 2: go went back to establish a long term presence. This

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Speaker 2: has profound implications, not just for science, but for how

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Speaker 2: humanity sees the future. It signals that we're no longer

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Speaker 2: confined to Earth, but it also drives technological innovation, from

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Speaker 2: advanced materials to artificial intelligence and life support systems, which

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Speaker 2: often find their way into everyday life. So while it's

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Speaker 2: happening in space, the benefits are very much faulty on Earth.

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Speaker 1: Tell me about the dark side of the Moon. I mean,

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Speaker 1: is is that always by definition that part of the

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Speaker 1: Moon that is furthest away from Earth? Or do we

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Speaker 1: define it differently?

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Speaker 2: No's a good question. So there's actually a common misconception.

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Speaker 2: The dark side of the moon quote unquote isn't permanently dark.

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Speaker 2: What people are referring to is the far side of

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Speaker 2: the Moon, which is we never see from Earth. The

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Speaker 2: reason we only ever see one side is because the

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Speaker 2: Moon is what we refer to as tidally locked to

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Speaker 2: Earth now, meaning and rotate at the same rate that

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Speaker 2: it orbits us. So one side is always facing us.

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Speaker 2: On the other side is the far side. It's hidden

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Speaker 2: from views, hence the term dark side of the Moon.

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Speaker 1: This was a NASA mission in an era of considerable

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Speaker 1: and when I say an era, it's a lengthy one. Now,

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Speaker 1: if you think of the International Space station of countries cooperating,

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Speaker 1: how would you characterize the space race, if indeed there

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Speaker 1: is even a race on at the moment, but international

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Speaker 1: space exploration is it becoming more competitive? Is it driven

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Speaker 1: by private players like SpaceX? What should we glean from this?

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Speaker 1: I mean, will this be knowledge shared across the global

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Speaker 1: space exploration community or is it getting a little bit

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Speaker 1: more proprietorial.

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Speaker 2: Again, Look, that is a very person in question. I'm

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Speaker 2: glad you asked often. It's definitely evolved all right from

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Speaker 2: I think rather than referring to it as a space race,

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Speaker 2: what we're see now is more of a global coalition.

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Speaker 2: You know, NASA is leading Ultimus and similar missions, but

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Speaker 2: there are contributions from from Europe, from Canada, from Japan.

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Speaker 2: In fact, the crew itself represents a diversity in and

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Speaker 2: of itself. So definitely there's more collaboration. Yes, there's more

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Speaker 2: public private partnerships with private companies or private space companies

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Speaker 2: along with government and different space organizations. I think it's

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Speaker 2: also worth mentioning because not many people are aware, particularly

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Speaker 2: in South Africa, that South African National Space Agency actually

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Speaker 2: plays a significant role in the global space ecosystem. They

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Speaker 2: are responsible for space science, that's alt operation and crucially,

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Speaker 2: you know, crucial ground based infrastructure, so facilities, hook tracking

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Speaker 2: and deep space communication. So it really is becoming more

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Speaker 2: of a collaboration and I think it's it's positive. It

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Speaker 2: has positive effects for mankind in and off itself.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much really interesting. Renee Peter Marsoun joining us.

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Speaker 1: He is at the OR is part of the Space

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Speaker 1: Portfolio Committee at the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Industries Association

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Speaker 1: of South Africa also works with NASA as a local

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Speaker 1: Need for South Africa on the Space Apps project. I'm

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Speaker 1: really interested to know, by the way, I mean, when

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Speaker 1: I was a kid, space exploration was the movie. It

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Speaker 1: was pre Star Wars, which would have come probably another

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Speaker 1: eighteen years later. There were a couple of movies that

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Speaker 1: sort of captured, but the movie industry was not capable

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Speaker 1: of producing the kind of movies about out of space

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Speaker 1: that it eventually became capable of doing. So I'm wondering

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Speaker 1: in an era where this is reality, uh and not fantasy.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it was always reality, but I guess the

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Speaker 1: fantasy world was so poorly developed. Do you think you

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Speaker 1: followed it with less interest? Was anyone riveted by Artemis

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Speaker 1: and and the journey and what they found and what

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Speaker 1: they achieved? Or do you think that was something that,

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Speaker 1: like me, belonged more to your younger self and your

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Speaker 1: younger life. Give me a call on that. Oh seven

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Speaker 1: two seven oh two one seven two two minutes now

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Speaker 1: to five