America, We Have Lift Off

Floor Speech

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Mr. SOTO. America, we have lift off. In a surge of fire, thunder, and smoke, Artemis I lit the early morning sky and was launched into the cosmos. At 9 million pounds of thrust, Artemis I is the most powerful rocket ever launched from the Earth. I was honored to see this historic flight firsthand early yesterday morning.

Now, after 50 years, America takes its first major step toward going back to the Moon; and we are bringing our many international partners with us, including the EU, Japan, Canada, and other allies.

In Central Florida, we locals beam with pride that Artemis launched from the storied 39B pad from Cape Canaveral.

This first mission was a long time in the making. The Orion spacecraft began to be developed during the Constellation program from 2005-2010.

In 2017, I was proud to vote formally to establish the Artemis program. Over the next 5 years, America got to work, including every State. Many Central Floridians helped build or assemble the Orion capsule, the Space Launch System, the crawler transporter, and other components.

During that 5-year period, NASA and SpaceX also kept busy on another key project, launching the Crew Dragon spacecraft. On May 30, 2020, I saw, firsthand, Astronauts Bob and Doug launch in the Spacecraft Endeavour and dock at the International Space Station. This was the first crewed launch from American soil in 9 years.

Since then, we have seen multiple SpaceX and Blue Origin crewed flights. Travel in low Earth orbit to and from ISS is now a regular occurrence in Central Florida.

With these flights well in hand, NASA turned its efforts toward deep space exploration once again. As the most powerful rocket ever to fly from the Earth, we knew the first Artemis launch would never be easy. But America never gives up.

It turned out that, after two scrubbed launches, the third time was the charm. As I stand here this morning, the Orion spacecraft just had its next burn to set it on a course for a lunar flyby. The closest approach to the Moon will be on November 21, before entering a distant retrograde orbit around the moon on November 25. It will roughly travel 1.3 million miles, farther than any other crew-designed spacecraft that has ever traveled.

It is a test flight, of course, so we will push Orion's capabilities to the maximum to ensure it is safe for future astronauts. Then Orion will return to the Earth in about 25\1/2\ days. After that, NASA will construct extensive evaluations of the returning Orion capsule.

From there, the future of crewed lunar spaceflight will begin to accelerate. In 2024, Artemis II will be the first crewed launch around the Moon in a new craft. In 2025, Artemis III crew will have the first woman and next man land on the Moon. And in 2027, Artemis IV will dock with the Lunar Gateway Space Station and begin our permanent presence on the Moon.

We will seek to discover water, learn from the harsh lunar environment, and advance new technologies. By the 2030s, these experiences and innovations will help us prepare to go to Mars and beyond.

For today, let us take a moment to appreciate and thank the tremendous accomplishments of Administrator Bill Nelson and the amazing people at NASA. Yesterday was a critical milestone in our country's space history. This is a first major step for America to go back to the Moon, and then on to Mars and beyond.

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