Apollo Veterans Cheer Artemis Moon Mission

0:00It's March 30th. This is Global News Today, AI-powered story shaping the world. I'm Cory with the story. Apollo veterans in their 80s and 90s are pumped about NASA's Artemis program, heading back to the moon, but they're frustrated it took over. 50 years. These folks from the original 400,000 strong Apollo team built the tech that landed 12 astronauts from 1969 to 1972. Now with so few left alive, there's no big reunion plan for the Artemis second flight, set to loop the moon with four astronauts as early as April. First, many live near Kennedy Space Center in Florida and plan to watch from their backyards. They remember the raw energy of Apollo when the whole nation was hooked, unlike today's slower vibe. Engineers like 9-year-old Charlie Mars, who worked on command and lunar modules, say they'd push harder if they were in charge to build that. Fashion again, folks like 85-year-old Joanne Morgan, the only woman in launch control

1:00for Apollo 11, still feel cheated after Nixon canceled the last. Three landings due to budgets and risks, she's hanging on to see boots on the lunar soil. Meanwhile, women now lead the charge, with launch director Charlie Blackwell Thompson, and astronaut Christina Koch, who holds the record for longest. Single space flight, by a woman at 328 days. Two NASA boss Jared Isaacman, a 43-year-old billionaire who's flown to space twice on his dime, is speeding things up. He's adding Earth orbit test flights for docking practice, and unveiled a $20 billion blueprint for a moon base with drones and rovers over. The next seven years, all with cool cameras to hype it. The race is on to land before China, in 28, versus their 30-target. Apollo old-timers like Moonwalker Charlie Duke say the thrill will roar back once landing start at the South Pole, drawing millions of eyes, especially from younger folks who missed the original magic.