NASA administrator on Artemis II mission

(CBS, KYMA) - NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman spoke with Ed O'Keefe on Face the Nation Sunday to provide an update on the Artemis II mission.

The Artemis II rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida Wednesday.

The rocket is carrying four astronauts around the moon and back as part of a 10-day mission, where they will splashdown off the coast of San Diego upon re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

This is a necessary step toward returning astronauts back to the lunar surface, and this will also be the first lunar launch since 1972.

According to O'Keefe, the four astronauts on board are roughly halfway through the mission, prompting him to ask Isaacman what is the most critical moment of the next 24 to 48 hours, to which Isaacman said:

"The primary objective right now for this phase of the mission is continuing to gather data from the ECLSS system, the life support system on the Orion spacecraft. This is the first time we've ever had humans on board the Orion spacecraft. We want to gather as much data as we possibly can for that. Of course, there's various science experiments, there's lunar observations, but learning as much as we can about Orion is critically important, because Artemis III is a year away. That's where we're going to test the same spacecraft with our lunar landers, followed up in 2028 by Artemis IV, where we're going to use this spacecraft transfer crew to the landers and put American astronauts back on the surface of the moon."

O'Keefe followed up by saying NASA hired SpaceX and Blue Origin to build lunar landers in order to deliver astronauts to the surface of the moon, leading him to ask Isaacman what NASA is doing to ensure at least one of the two companies is going to be ready for the future Artemis missions, and Isaacman said:

"We're doing a lot of things different over the last couple months, right? I mean, President Trump gave me a national space policy that called for America's return to the moon with frequency, to establish an enduring presence, to build the moon base and do other exciting things, like nuclear power and propulsion. And we got $10 billion worth of resources out of the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill,' the working family tax cut act. Now we are actually going to work. We are taking NASA subject matter experts, and we are embedding them across the supply chain, every prime contractor, subcontractor, every component on the critical path, from the rocket itself to the landers to the suits that astronauts will need to wear on the surface of the moon. And we are driving outcomes, we are not going to be passive anymore. We're not going to let budgets, you know, get over-budget or behind schedule, not when there's so much at stake when it comes to America's return to the moon. So we are driving outcomes, and that certainly includes the lunar landers."

To watch more of O'Keefe's interview with Isaacman, click here.