Photo: Bryan Caldwell
From his family home in Houston, Texas it takes Bryan Caldwell about eight minutes to ride his scooter to work at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
The Wellington-born research scientist has led earth-based "analogue" missions for the US space agency for six years, helping to prepare astronauts for the conditions of space in simulated isolation.
Currently, there is high anticipation in the air at NASA about the next planned trip to the moon in September 2025, Caldwell said.
"The excitement is not just the idea of going back to the moon - it's the idea of putting the first woman and the first person of colour on the moon as well … I'm really proud to be part of that endeavour," he told Sunday Morning.
Calling Home: Bryan Caldwell in Houston, Texas
Since Artemis 1 successfully orbited the moon without a crew in 2022, excitement has ramped up about the Artemis 2 mission, Caldwell said.
His job is to find out not what would break astronauts on the two to three-year journey but to discover which personality groupings might best endure its physical and psychological challenges.
"We want to understand how to keep our astronauts safe living close to the moon and living on it. That's the big drive at the moment."
Sending astronauts to Mars - "the next step" Caldwell said - is definitely more of a long-term target.
"We have this joke that every time somebody mentions Mars it's going to be another 20 years before we get there."
Although Caldwell himself has now "aged out" of going to space as an astronaut, he'd love to possibly go on a commercial spaceship one day.
"If I got offered a seat to orbit the Earth for three days, I'd be putting my hand up for sure."
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:47 a.m. EST. Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Raised in Upper Hutt, Caldwell his wife Shannon Huse and their two kids now live a 35-minute drive from central Houston.
Their five-bedroom home, just around the corner from Neil Armstrong's place, is in the "Apollo neighbourhood" replicated in the 2018 Armstrong biopic First Man.
With real estate prices much lower than in NZ, it cost under US$230,000 when they moved in, Caldwell said, and previously belonged to "Apollo wife" Harriet Eisele who was married to astronaut Don Eisele.
In their spare time, Caldwell, a former lighting designer, and Shannon, a former theatre critic, like to see live theatre shows and also catch the Houston Astros baseball team.
Although he's not a big fan of American football - "Rugby is so much faster and cooler and more visceral" - the family also head every Friday night to their son's high school football stadium to watch him march and play trumpet.
He and his wife are "not really sports people", Caldwell said, but the halftime show, which features flag-spinning and cheerleading, is still a fascinating sight for the Kiwis.
"It's just so much pageantry and pomp and ceremony."