Jeffrey Hoffman grew up on Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. He was still a boy when the space age began – Sputnik, the first American astronauts, then Apollo. From early on, he knew he wanted to be part of it.

He was. Hoffman went on to fly five Space Shuttle missions, logging more than 1,200 hours in space. And today, he’ll be watching as NASA sends astronauts back around the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.

While Artemis II won't land on the moon – it's the next step in a plan to return humans to the lunar surface, and eventually establish a more permanent presence there.

And with China wanting to put astronauts on the moon before 2030, we're in the midst of a new space race.

Today, former NASA astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, on why humanity is racing to the moon once again.

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Guest: Former NASA Astronaut and professor of Aerospace Engineering at MIT, Dr Jeffrey Hoffman.

Photo: Alex G Perez/AGPfoto/Sipa USA