Scientists just made the 1st antimatter 'qubit.' Here's why it could be a big deal
Physicists at CERN — home of the Large Hadron Collider — have for the first time made a qubit from antimatter, holding an antiproton in a state of quantum superposition for almost a minute.
This landmark achievement has been performed by scientists working as part of the BASE collaboration at CERN. BASE is the Baryon Antibaryon Symmetry Experiment, which is designed to measure the magnetic moment of antiprotons – in essence, how strongly they interact with magnetic fields.
However, while qubits are commonly associated with quantum computing, in this case the antiproton qubit will be used to test for differences between ordinary matter and antimatter. It will specifically help probe the question of why we live in a universe so dominated by ordinary matter when matter and antimatter should have been created in equal quantities during the Big Bang.
They're opposites of one another, right?
A proton and antiproton have the same mass but opposite charges, for example. In physics, the mirror-image properties between matter and antimatter is referred to as charge-parity-time (CPT) symmetry. CPT symmetry also says that a particle and its antiparticle should experience the laws of physics in the same way, meaning that they should feel gravity or electromagnetism with the same strength, for example (that first one has actually been tested, and indeed an antiprotons falls at the same rate as a proton).
So, theoretically, when the universe came into existence, there should have been a 50-50 chance of antimatter or regular matter particles being created. But for some reason, that didn't happen. It's very weird. Even the BASE project found that, to a precision of parts per billion, protons and antiprotons do have the same magnetic moment. Alas, more symmetry.
However, the BASE apparatus has enabled physicists to take things one step further.
Antiproton antics
When matter and antimatter come into contact, they annihilate one another in a burst of gamma-ray photons, so BASE has to keep them apart. To do so, it uses something called Penning traps, which can hold charged particles in position thanks to the careful deployment of electric and magnetic fields. BASE has two primary Penning traps. One is called the analysis trap, which measures the precession of the magnetic moment around a magnetic field, and the other is the precision trap, which is able to flip the quantum spin of a particle and measure that particle's oscillation in a magnetic field.
Quantum physics tells us that particles are born in a state of superposition. Take, for instance, the property of quantum spin, which is just one example of the weirdness of the quantum universe. Despite the name, spin does not describe the actual rotation of a particle; rather, it describes a property that mimics the rotation. How do we know that it isn't a real rotation? If it were, then the properties of quantum spin would mean particles would be spinning many times faster than the speed of light — which is impossible.
So, fundamental particles like electrons, protons and antiprotons have quantum spin values, even if they are not really spinning, and these values can be expressed either as a whole number or a fraction. The quantum spin of a proton and antiproton can be 1/2 or –1/2, and it is the quantum spin that generates the particle's magnetic moment.
Because of the magic of quantum superposition, which describes how all the possible quantum states exist synchronously in a particle's quantum wave-function, a proton or antiproton can have a spin of both 1/2 or –1/2 at the same time. That is, at least until they are measured and the quantum wave-function that describes the quantum state of the particle collapses onto one value. That's another bit of weirdness of the quantum world — particles have all possible properties at once until they are observed, like Schrödinger's cat being alive and dead at the same time in a box, until someone opens the box. In fact, any kind of interaction with the outside world causes the wave function to collapse in a process known as decoherence.
Why this happens is a subject of great debate between the various interpretations of quantum physics.
Regardless, by giving an antiproton that is held firmly in the precision trap just the right amount of energy, BASE scientists have been able to hold an antiproton in a state of superposition without decohering for about 50 seconds — a record for antimatter (this has previously been achieved with ordinary matter particles for much longer durations). In doing so, they formed a qubit out of the antiproton.
Keep the qubits away!
A qubit is a quantum version of a byte used in computer processing. A typical, binary byte can have a value of either 1 or 0. A qubit can be both 1 and 0 at the same time (or, have a spin of 1/2 and –1/2 at the same time), and a quantum computer using qubits could therefore, in principle, vastly accelerate information processing times.
However, the antiproton qubit is unlikely to find work in quantum computing because ordinary matter can be used for that more easily without the risk of the antimatter annihilating. Instead, the antiproton qubit could be used to further test for differences between matter and antimatter, and whether CPT symmetry is violated at any stage.
"This represents the first antimatter qubit and opens up the prospect of applying the entire set of coherent spectroscopy methods to single matter and antimatter systems in precision experiments," said BASE spokesperson Stefan Ulmer, of the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute in Japan, in a statement. "Most importantly, it will help BASE to perform antiproton moment measurements in future experiments with 10- to 100-fold improved precision."
Currently, BASE's experiments have to take place at CERN, where the antimatter is created in the Large Hadron Collider. However, the next phase of antimatter research will be BASE-STEP (Symmetry Tests in Experiments with Portable Antiprotons), which is a device that contains a portable Penning trap, allowing researchers to move antiprotons securely away from CERN to laboratories with quieter, purpose-built facilities that can reduce exterior magnetic field fluctuations that might interfere with magnetic moment experiments.
RELATED STORIES
— The Mystery of Antimatter
— How 2024 brought us deeper into the world of particle physics
— Modern-day alchemy! Scientists turn lead into gold at the Large Hadron Collider
"Once it is fully operational, our new offline precision Penning trap system, which will be supplied with antiprotons transported by BASE-STEP, could allow us to achieve spin coherence times maybe even ten times longer than in current experiments, which will be a game-changer for baryonic antimatter research," said RIKEN's Barbara Latacz, who is the lead author of the new study.
The results are described in a paper that was published on July 23 in the journal Nature.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Mary K. Gaillard, Physicist Who Probed the Subatomic Universe, Dies at 86
Mary K. Gaillard was 16 and still known as Mary Ralph when a boy in her neighborhood asked her what she wanted to do with her life. She told him that she wanted to be a physicist. 'A singularly unfeminine profession,' he replied. Decades later, that remark would inspire the title of Dr. Gaillard's memoir, 'A Singularly Unfeminine Profession: One Woman's Journey in Physics' (2015), in which she recounted a career spanning a golden age of particle physics, when the outlines of how nature behaves at subatomic scales were just beginning to emerge. Dr. Gaillard contributed key insights to what is now known as the Standard Model — scientists' best theory about the properties and interactions of elementary particles — while overcoming discrimination as one of the few women in her field and inspiring other female physicists to do the same. Physics was 'her life,' her son Bruno said. 'She was consumed by it.' Known to many as Mary K, sans period, Dr. Gaillard, who died on May 23 at 86, was the first woman hired by the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley, and later became a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. But much of her groundbreaking work occurred earlier, during a long stint as an unpaid visiting scientist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, a laboratory on the Franco-Swiss border. She was 'brilliant at doing calculations,' said John Ellis, a physicist at King's College London, who collaborated with Dr. Gaillard at CERN. 'If she calculated something, you could be sure that it was correct.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
'NASA is under attack.' Space agency employees and lawmakers protest mass layoffs, science cuts amid budget turmoil
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. WASHINGTON — NASA scientists and engineers are demanding Congress help turn down the heat on an agency whose current leadership, they say, is burning down American dominance in space and science. A group of NASA employees, contractors, their families, friends and other supporters gathered across from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on July 20 — the anniversary of humanity's historic first landing on the moon. Nearly 100 showed up Sunday to protest deep budget cuts and mass layoffs within the nation's space agency, and to urge Congress to take expedient action to reverse or minimize further losses. "We are here because NASA is under attack," said one of the protest's organizers, NASA contract employee Marshall Finch. "And we are its defense." Just days earlier, lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space, and Technology published a scathing letter to interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, accusing agency leadership of acting outside its legal authority by enacting extensive cuts before a final budget is passed. Budget cuts Protesters, including the ad hoc organizing group called NASA Needs Help, gathered to sound the alarm over what they view as broad, preemptive overcompliance with President Donald Trump's 2026 budget proposal, which slashes NASA's science portfolio by roughly 50% — a cut that would cancel more than 40 current and upcoming space missions. While the budget proposal continues to make its way through Congress, NASA officials at the very top of agency leadership seem to have already begun implementing cuts, notifying employees and contractors of impending reductions in force (RIFs) and encouraging people to take advantage of the government's Deferred Resignation Program (DRP). "They are telling everybody below them to take the Deferred Resignation Program now. To jump ship," said Finch. "This is going to weaken NASA, and it's going to weaken the United States." Congressional response Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) and Valerie Foushee (D-North Carolina) of the House Science Committee sent a letter to interim Administrator Duffy on July 16 in which they, too, expressed concern that the agency was treating Trump's budget request as enacted law. "It now appears that the agency intends to implement funding cuts that were never enacted by Congress in order to 'align' the agency's present-day budget with the Trump Administration's slash-and-burn proposed budget for the next fiscal year, with seemingly no concern for the devastation that will be caused by mass layoffs, widespread program terminations and the possible closure of critical centers and facilities," the letter stated. "A presidential budget request is just that: a request to Congress," Lofgren and Foushee wrote in the letter. "The notion that any executive branch agency would unilaterally take steps to implement a budget proposal before its budget is enacted by Congress is therefore offensive to our constitutional system. It would be illegal." NASA is opting to keep the political back-and-forth between the agency and lawmakers, for the time being. "NASA will handle legislative matters and letters from elected officials directly with the addressing parties," NASA officials told in an emailed statement on July 23. The space agency disputed one of the lawmakers' claims — specifically, that NASA leadership had directed at-risk programs to cease public communications regarding mission accomplishments. "The statement from House Democrats in their letter to Secretary Duffy, alleging that 'NASA Chief of Staff Brian Hughes appears to have recently ordered scientific missions slated for termination in the FY26 PBR [fiscal year 2026 presidential budget request] to stop issuing press releases celebrating new results and scientific achievements,' is unsubstantiated and untrue," NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens told "This is false and it is not the policy." NASA officials did not comment on other assertions made in the letter. Protesters at the July 20 demonstration, which coincided with the 54th anniversary of NASA's Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, echoed Lofgren and Foushee's concern. They worried that by the time Congress acts, the damage to NASA may be irreversible. Congress is pushing back on the proposed cuts, with the Senate Appropriations Committee advancing a measure to fund NASA at a level comparable to fiscal year 2025, and there is apparent bipartisan support for maintaining the space agency's science programs. But many who showed up at the demonstration worried that lawmakers' actions may come too late. "Congress says they want to save NASA," Finch said. "Let's see them do it now … Let's see them fight." Growing fear Meanwhile, protesters described a rising sense of fear and uncertainty within NASA. Many said they feel demoralized by mounting pressure to leave under the DRP and the abrupt departures of their colleagues who already have. As they watch many of their coworkers resign, protesters worry that critical institutional knowledge is leaving with them. Julie, who, like other protesters interviewed by asked that her full name be omitted, also helped organize the demonstration. She thinks these personnel losses could have deeper implications, and used NASA's Office of the Chief Knowledge Officer as an example. "That was set up after [the] Columbia and Challenger [space shuttle disasters] to make sure that we were passing any lessons learned on to the entire community," Julie explained. "Watching all of this brain drain leave without any kind of backup plan at all, any kind of structure, has been just the most depressing thing. I can kind of see another Challenger, another Columbia happening down the road as a result of this, and it will ultimately be blamed back on us," she told "That knowledge isn't being passed on in any way. So we're going to see the effects of that sooner rather than later," Julie added. She was one of several protest attendees who voiced such sentiments, warning of potential disaster on par with the space shuttle accidents. The droves of departures at NASA have also fueled some of the urgency that motivated many to attend the weekend's demonstration. "It's been the hardest to watch all that knowledge slip away," Julie said. "And that really kind of emboldens people to take a little bit of extra risk to come out with something like this on the weekend." Every protester who spoke at the demonstration, and with on Sunday stressed that their actions and remarks were not representative of NASA or their respective contract employers. Even the planning for the July 20 event was carefully and purposefully done outside employees' working hours, organizers said. "A lot of people here, I think, are pretty scared of any blowback on them at work," another protester, Will, told Will indicated that he previously worked for NASA, or a NASA contractor, but that is no longer the case. The internal climate at the space agency has undergone a dramatic shift this year, with a sense of suspicion guarding people's interactions. "There's a little bit more distrust than there was before, even within the community," Julie said. The majority of protesters in attendance Sunday work at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Goddard is one of two space agency facilities in the D.C. area, the other being NASA Headquarters. NASA Needs Help organizers held their first protest outside the agency's headquarters on June 30. Uneasiness within the space agency is particularly evident at Goddard. Approximately 10,000 employees work at the Maryland facility, either through contractors or for NASA directly. In addition to program and workforce cuts in the White House budget proposal, "passback" documents sent to the space agency in April also suggest shuttering Goddard completely. "Our management, our administration, is doing everything they can to break our will, to make us give up, to make us go do other things," decried one NASA engineer, who asked to remain anonymous, during the protest. "I'm here today because I fear for our astronauts' lives as we lose more and more expertise, and the technical expertise that we need to send them safely on their mission," she said. "Normally, supervisors say, 'Stay, we need you. You're an expert in your field. We want you to stay.' But right now, the civil servants at the top — that is people like Brian Hughes, like Goddard Center [Director] Mackenzie Lystrup, many more names, they are telling everybody below them to take the Deferred Resignation Program now," Finch told demonstrators. NASA leadership After nearly half a year of warnings about impending RIFs, some in management positions are beginning to take their own advice. According to a Politico report, over 2,000 senior leadership staff are expected to resign from the space agency to take advantage of the DRP initiatives. That includes aforementioned Goddard Center Director Mackenzie Lystrup. One day after NASA employees held their protest, Lystrup announced her resignation. Her abrupt departure intensifies concerns about the state of NASA's leadership, which currently seems more disjointed than ever. This could be seen during an Artemis Accords ceremony on Thursday (July 24), at which the ambassador of Senegal and other Senegalese officials added their signatures to the growing list of countries committed to the safe, collaborative exploration of the moon and deep space. Absent from those proceedings was interim NASA Administrator Duffy. Duffy was unexpectedly appointed to the post on July 9 through an announcement by Trump on his Truth Social platform. Duffy, who already serves as Secretary of Transportation, is now wearing both hats. Since his appointment, he has made no public remarks about his NASA role other than a small handful of supportive posts to a newly-created X account focused on his position at the space agency. Prior to 2025, many Artemis Accord signing ceremonies included past NASA Administrators Bill Nelson or Jim Bridenstine. Rather than Duffy, NASA Chief of Staff Brian Hughes oversaw Senegal's signing on Thursday. Also not in apparent attendance were Acting NASA Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche and NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails, both of whom, like Duffy, sit above Hughes in the NASA leadership hierarchy. Duffy did offer a retweet of NASA's post on X about the event. Voyager Declaration Circulating amongst NASA employees in the background leading up to the July 20 demonstration, another letter to Duffy communicated a similar message as that from the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The Voyager Declaration was published July 21 as a formal statement protesting the proposed science cuts and preemptive actions already enacted by NASA leadership. The letter was signed by nearly 300 current and former NASA employees, 150 of whom chose to do so anonymously, "due to the culture of fear of retaliation cultivated by this administration," the letter states. "Major programmatic shifts at NASA must be implemented strategically so that risks are managed carefully," it states. "Instead, the last six months have seen rapid and wasteful changes which have undermined our mission and caused catastrophic impacts on NASA's workforce." Their grievances were listed in the letter (included verbatim): We dissent to changes to NASA's Technical Authority capacities that are driven by anything other than safety and mission assurance. We dissent to the closing out of missions for which Congress has appropriated funding. We dissent to implementing indiscriminate cuts to NASA science and aeronautics research. We dissent to NASA's non-strategic staffing reductions. We dissent to canceling NASA participation in international missions. We dissent to the termination of NASA contracts and grants for reasons unrelated to performance. We dissent to the elimination of programs aimed at developing and supporting NASA's workforce. Public impact Protesters at the July 20 demonstration warned of broader impacts that such substantial cuts could have on the public at large. NASA contract employees Justin and Madeline said they attended the protest to raise awareness about all the contributions to society that have come from NASA research and innovations. "A lot of the stuff we have on Earth, like our cell phones, hurricane coverage, that's all because of NASA. And defunding NASA means defunding all of that and making life worse for everyone," Justin told "And I don't think a lot of people realize that." NASA employee Ben put much of NASA's contributions into perspective by breaking down the numbers: "In 2023-2024, for every dollar that NASA got in tax revenue, NASA generated $3 in economic output in the United States. Our actual budget was $25 billion and we generated $75 billion from that $25 billion. We generated 300,000 jobs across the country … And setting all of that aside, what about things you can't put a price on?" His $75 billion output figure, while a reasonable estimate, is not yet confirmed. NASA has not released full economic impact reports for 2023 or 2024. Ben cited examples of NASA spinoff technology — advances in lasers developed by scientists building the James Webb Space Telescope are helping doctors perform eye surgeries on Earth, and innovations from the Hubble Space Telescope have contributed to mammogram imaging and technology used at hardware stores to match paint colors. "None of this stuff even is accounted for in that three-to-one benefit that NASA generates directly to the economy," Ben said. "Why, pray tell, in the name of efficiency, so called, is NASA the place you want to start slashing funding from?" "There's a lot of inventions that NASA has, if not created, at least catalyzed," Will told "If we zero out so many things, no longer are we going to have the great leap for mankind that Armstrong is so famously talking about." Human cost Julie echoed those sentiments, highlighting not a mission, but a whole department on the chopping block: NASA's Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM). "OSTEM has been zeroed out completely," she said. "That not only has an effect on what we do at NASA in terms of workforce development, but also kids across the entire country won't have access to those programs, won't have access to scholarships that let them go on to grad school and let them learn other things." "A lot of what NASA does is train teachers, so teachers can train students. If that's something that goes away completely, it's going to impact the entire next generation of students." - Julie Another protester, who asked to be identified only as "MC", has worked as a teacher across a wide field of age ranges and learning abilities. "Every place I've ever taught, or every program I've ever supported — everybody needs science," she said. "Every curriculum I've ever developed had science … Science of all kinds is incredibly important. And space — space is where we're going." One protester, who identified herself as the mother of a NASA employee, stressed the value of empowering the next generation. "It's very important that our kids have their dreams and reach those dreams," she said. "If NASA is cut the way it is, STEM education is cut, science is cut, research is cut — we won't have kids who have dreams anymore." George is part of a team responsible for testing spacecraft at Goddard. He attended Sunday's protest alongside his wife and three daughters. "Goddard is looking at basically being shut down, and we have a whole bunch of people that know how to build individual, specific scientific spacecraft," he told "If we lose that [technical knowledge], it's gone." "Where are we going to learn how to do that again?" George added. "Are we going to have to have another Challenger moment to learn how to do that again? Maybe." George's daughters said they wanted to attend the protest to support their father. "It's his job, so obviously that's important to us," his eldest, 15, said. But she's also worried about what the future might look like if science takes a backseat at the space agency. "I think that we should also be concerned about science over the future generations," she said, calling the budget's potential ramifications a "big loss." Job security is on the forefront of many NASA employees and contractors, many of whom have already received notice that their mission is at "high risk" of cancellation. Justin hasn't received such a notice yet, but says the mission he works on studies climate change by measuring ice caps, "so I am assuming a couple things here," he said. That insecurity is already pushing some NASA scientists to look outside the agency. Amid potential layoffs, some are considering not just leaving the space agency, but the United States altogether. A lack of stability in the U.S. science community is opening the door for international recruitment. "Right now, Europe and Asia, every other country in the world, sees what's happening, and they're extending offers," Finch said to the crowd. "The next day, the members of the workforce are gone." Justin is still mulling over his options if his program gets canceled. But he came to a quick alignment with Madeline's stance that she would "probably work for a different country that values science." "That would be the one," Justin said in agreement. Several European institutions have already begun reaching out to scientists and engineers across the U.S. to gauge people's interest in continuing their work abroad. One representative said in an email obtained by that the responses to their initial outreach were "overwhelming (and worrying)." With budget negotiations still ongoing in Congress, protesters are urging lawmakers to act before NASA loses the talent and infrastructure that made its past achievements possible. "I don't want to be a member of the first generation of humans that stops exploring," Finch said. "We are not the ones who will suffer most — it is every generation of humans that will be set back by our abdication."
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Artemis 2 astronauts stress importance of their moon mission as NASA faces budget, workforce cuts: 'We have to move the needle.'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis 2 mission don't hide from the fact that their mission comes at a pivotal time for the space agency. "We do not shy away from the reality that we are in," Artemis 2 mission commander Reid Wiseman told reporters today (July 30) here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Wiseman spoke with media alongside mission pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. The four astronauts are scheduled to launch on NASA's Artemis 2 mission around the moon no earlier than April 2026 after several delays. NASA faces a significant cut to its 2026 budget — a potential loss of up to 24% of its total funding that would cancel more than 40 current and upcoming missions. In addition, nearly 4,000 employees are leaving the agency after opting in to a deferred resignation program, reducing the agency's workforce by more than 20%. Another 500 employees have left this year, and all in all, NASA's workforce is projected to shrink by about 21% by Jan. 9, 2026. And the crew of Artemis 2 have been feeling the losses. "It does hurt to lose friends," Wiseman told reporters today, while also stressing that the crew believes the necessary personnel are still in place to prepare hardware and training for Artemis 2. "We have said goodbye to some really good friends, but at the end of the day, we absolutely have the team across the board right now to finish." But the Artemis 2 commander underscored that his crew remains focused on proving that the investment in space exploration is worth it during a time when more and more flagship NASA programs are on the chopping block and agency employees describe NASA as being "under attack." "How do we get the leaders to care, our elected officials to care?" Wiseman said. "We don't know what a year from now is going to look like, a year and a half from now, but we know exactly what we have to do for the next six months, and we're a part of a team that is focused and knows what we have to do." The Trump White House has proposed ending NASA's Artemis program of planned moon missions after Artemis 3., which is currently scheduled to lift off in mid-2027. Wiseman said today that the proposal only fuels the crew to execute their mission when the time comes. "And so we are clear-eyed on making Artemis 2 a success," Wiseman said. "And that's the best way to get them to care, to invest and to decide and change behaviors, and it also is the best way to ensure that there may be something beyond Artemis 3. And so I think those are tied together." Aside from budgetary and workforce uncertainty, the crew also touched upon the issues the Artemis 2 mission's Orion spacecraft faced on its maiden voyage in late 2022, the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission to lunar orbit. The spacecraft's heat shield experienced unexpected levels of charring upon reentry, causing pieces of it to burn away. Some third-party safety groups flagged the heat shield issues as too risky for a human crew. But Glover says that the agency's own review process has given the crew full confidence in their spacecraft. "A lot of those are outsiders that haven't been in these meetings from day one and met the team and looked them in the eye and shook their hands at the ends of these meetings," Glover said today. "But the other thing is, I don't want to discount the things that they said. Anytime you talk about fire, anytime you talk about entry and heat shields, you talk about parachutes, these are high risk things that sometimes don't have fault tolerance built in. They have to work. "And so I appreciate all of that nudging and poking and prodding that they've caused. They have made us sharpen our pencils and put more due diligence, more vigilance into that process." Koch echoed Glover's confidence, adding that the "appropriate skepticism" is ultimately why the crew feels comfortable with the craft's heat shield. "This should be characterized as a true American success story," Hansen added. "I mean, this country now knows things about heat shield technology it didn't know it didn't know. And that's like, that's the art — that's when you know you're pushing the boundaries." Aside from the lessons learned from the Orion spacecraft's heat shield, Koch said Artemis 1 has taught the crew the importance of vigilance. NASA hailed Artemis 1 as a success, but Koch said that success came with a price. "The huge success of Artemis 1 is actually something we need to think about as a risk or even a threat to Artemis 2, because we have to keep our vigilance up," she said. "So I would say one of the things we learned is that, despite our successes, we have to keep asking hard questions, and we have to keep tracing down things that are acting like we don't expect." Related Stories: — NASA's Artemis program: Everything you need to know — NASA's Artemis 2 mission: Everything you need to know — Meet the 4 astronauts flying on NASA's Artemis 2 moon mission Ultimately, despite the troubles facing the agency and the issues with Orion's heat shield, the crew of Artemis 2 said today that they are focused on proving to the world that NASA and the United States are capable of once again returning humans to the moon, a milestone that could someday put the agency on a path to Mars. Glover described how the Artemis 2 crew will be able to look down upon areas of the moon never seen before by human eyes, a feat that all of humanity can share in. "The weight of that idea really hit me a couple of weeks ago walking out of building nine, where we had a giant inflatable moon, and we were practicing, from the medium-fidelity mockup, taking pictures and making observations. And that just it hit me as I walked out of there, going: 'Wow, we have to move the needle.'" Solve the daily Crossword
