Stranded whale frees itself again off German coast and disappears

As Belgium grapples with chronic prison overcrowding, a local charity in Brussels has found an immersive way to highlight the problem -- giving educational tours of a recently abandoned jail.

Until it was officially shuttered in 2022, the dilapidated Forest prison housed inmates in cramped cells behind its red brick walls in the Belgian capital.

Leading a group of AFP journalists along the empty corridors now spattered with pigeon droppings, Manuel Lambert, head of a charity called 9-square-metres, laid bare the issues.

His organisation takes its name from the standard cell size in Belgium, usually meant for two detainees but where three often have to squeeze together day and night.

Lambert says that as the system has been stretched to breaking point, conditions have worsened and efforts to reintegrate prisoners into society have been neglected.

"These questions are being ignored," he warned.

"It was essential for us to have a place to address them, to make this former prison an educational tool," explained Lambert, who has a list of around 3,000 people waiting to make a visit.

Belgium is among a number of European countries facing endemic prison overcrowding.

For months, there have been more than 13,000 inmates in Belgium's 39 prisons, which have a capacity of approximately 11,000 places.

To ease pressures, the government proposed a series of emergency measures in March, including using electronic tags for those given sentences of fewer than 18 months. Those measures still need to go before parliament. 

- 'Complete mess' -

Opened in 1910, Forest prison was built with four wings splayed out in a star around a central watchtower, meant to echo the "Panopticon" style promoted by English 18th-century philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

By the end of its use, it had become a symbol of the crumbling facilities that saw Belgium condemned repeatedly at the European Court of Human Rights for "inhuman or degrading treatment". 

In 2017, an inmate at the prison was awarded damages by the court after lodging a complaint that he was forced to share his cell with two others and only had access to showers twice a week. 

As he led the tour, Lambert recounted how detainees in some cells that lacked proper toilets would have to empty out their buckets of waste at a "dump" each morning. 

Joining the visit was a former detainee, there to film an educational video, who gave his name as Johnny T. 

He had spent seven years behind bars, including in Forest, and remembered the daily "ritual" of carrying out the buckets.

"That's how it was here as recently as 2022, and other prisons in Belgium face the same problem," said the man in his 30s. 

"Prison is frankly a complete mess! I say to the younger generation -- don't listen to the older lot who want to steer you down this path."

Currently, due to overcrowding across the prison system, 663 inmates in Belgium are sleeping on mattresses on the floor, the prison service says. 

Of these, 156 are in the new Brussels prison in Haren.

The state-of-the-art facility, to which the inmates of Forest were transferred three and a half years ago ands which was supposed, in theory, to accommodate them in far better conditions. 

mad/del/ec/gil 

Iranian and American forces raced each other Saturday to recover a crew member of the first US fighter jet to go down inside Iran since the start of the war.

Tehran said it had shot down the F-15 warplane, while US media reported United States special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other still missing.

Iran's military also said it downed a US A-10 ground attack aircraft in the Gulf, with US media saying the pilot was rescued.

The war erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei, triggering retaliation that spread the conflict throughout the Middle East, convulsing the global economy and impacting millions of people worldwide.

US Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the loss of the F-15, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "The president has been briefed."

President Donald Trump told NBC the F-15 loss would not affect negotiations with Iran, saying: "No, not at all. No, it's war."

- 'Valuable reward' -

A spokesperson for the Iranian military's central operational command said "an American hostile fighter jet in central Iranian airspace was struck and destroyed by the IRGC Aerospace Force's advanced air defence system".

"The jet was completely obliterated, and further searches are ongoing."

An Iranian television reporter on a local official channel said anyone who captured a crew member alive would "receive a valuable reward".

The US military has announced the loss of several aircraft during Iran operations, including a tanker that crashed in Iraq and three F-15s shot down by Kuwaiti friendly fire.

Retired US brigadier general Houston Cantwell, who has 400 hours of combat flight experience, said a pilot's training would likely kick in before he or she parachutes to the ground.

"My priority would be, first of all, concealment, because I don't want to be captured," he told AFP.

Mohammad Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, mocked the Trump administration.

He wrote on X: "After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from 'regime change' to 'Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?'

"Wow. What incredible progress. Absolute geniuses."

- Fresh strikes -

Fresh strikes were aimed at Israel, Iran and Lebanon.

On Saturday several blasts were heard coming from Tehran's north, an AFP journalist said.

Strikes by all sides have increasingly targeted economic and industrial sites, raising fears of wider disruption to global energy supplies.

In the area around a bridge west of Tehran that was targeted by the United States, an AFP reporter saw a villa and residential buildings with blown-out windows, but no military installations.

According to the martyrs foundation of Alborz province, cited by the official IRNA agency, the attack killed 13 civilians and wounded dozens.

Writing in the US journal Foreign Affairs, Iran's former foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Tehran should make a deal with Washington to end the war by offering to curb its nuclear programme and reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for sanctions relief.

Iran has virtually blocked the key waterway since the war began, where one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas normally passes.

Iranian military spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari warned that Iran would increase its own attacks on energy sites in the region in response to threats from Trump of attacks on infrastructure.

A drone attack on a refinery owned by Kuwait's national oil company on Friday sparked fires, while a separate Iranian attack damaged a power and desalination complex.

Gulf states once seen as safe havens are now under threat, accused by Iran of serving as launchpads for US strikes.

Dubai's media office said authorities there responded to "a minor incident caused by debris from an aerial interception" that fell on a building around the marina area.

No injuries were reported, it said.

- Beirut explosions -

The Israeli military said Friday it had struck more than 3,500 targets across Lebanon in the month since fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah began.

It added that it would attack two bridges in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa region "in order to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and military equipment".

Lebanese state media later reported that Israel destroyed one bridge in the region, and local media said that a second bridge was also hit.

The Israeli military said it had begun striking "Hezbollah infrastructure" in Beirut.

An AFP journalist heard two loud explosions in the capital within half an hour early Saturday and saw smoke billowing from one of them.

Lebanon's health ministry said Thursday that 1,345 people had been killed -- and 4,040 wounded -- since the start of the war.

Hezbollah has not announced its losses.

bur-pst/abs

Jaylen Brown scored 26 points and Jayson Tatum added 23 as the Boston Celtics thrashed the Milwaukee Bucks 133-101 on Friday to maintain their grip on third place in the NBA Eastern Conference.

Tatum added 11 rebounds, nine assists and three steals before he and Brown sat out the fourth quarter with the game in hand against the reeling Bucks.

Two nights after their 53-point first quarter against Miami, the Celtics got off to another hot start.

Eight of their 17 three-pointers came in their 43-point first period and they led 75-55 by half-time.

The Celtics, who have won five of their last six games, maintained their two-and-a-half game lead over the New York Knicks for second place in the East.

The Knicks, who have struggled of late against quality teams, had no problem in a 136-96 thrashing of the Chicago Bulls, who have been eliminated from playoff contention.

OG Anunoby scored a game-high 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Jalen Brunson and Mitchell Robinson added 17 points apiece, Brunson chipping in 11 rebounds as well.

Anunoby connected on nine of 15 shots from the field, including seven of 10 from three-point range. Robinson, starting in place of injured center Karl-Anthony Towns, made all seven of his shots.

The Atlanta Hawks, fifth in the East, cruised past the Brooklyn Nets 141-107 and the Philadelphia 76ers maintained their hold on sixth place in the East -- and the final direct entry berth to the playoffs -- with a 115-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Paul George scored 23 points, Tyrese Maxey chipped in 21 and Joel Embiid returned from a one-game absence due to illness and scored 19 points with 13 rebounds and seven assists.

- Flagg scores 51 -

With five games left in the regular season the Sixers remained a fraction ahead of the seventh-placed Toronto Raptors, who beat the Memphis Grizzlies 128-96 to stay atop the tightly bunched group jockeying for play-in position.

The eighth-placed Charlotte Hornets beat the Indiana Pacers 129-108, and the Orlando Magic, half a game back and clinging to ninth place ahead of the Miami Heat, withstood a spectacular 51-point performance from Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg in a 138-127 victory over the Mavericks.

Flagg, 19, became the first teenager to record a 50-point game in the NBA. He joined Michael Jordan as the only rookies to post multiple games of 45 or more points in their rookie seasons.

"He should be Rookie of the Year," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said of Flagg, who scored 24 points in the fourth quarter.

Dallas trailed by 19 entering the final frame and were down by 21 when Kidd was ejected minutes into the period for arguing a non-call when he thought Flagg had been fouled.

Flagg himself had received a technical for appealing for a call and teammate Naji Marshall was ejected moments later, Flagg seeming only more determined after their departures.

"The things that he's done, he's in rare air," Kidd said of Flagg's standout first season amid the Mavs' disappointing results.

Despite Flagg's fireworks, the Magic's balanced attack was enough to carry the day. Wendell Carter Jr. scored 28 points and Desmond Bane added 27 as six Orlando players scored in double figures.

"It was fun," Flagg said. "It's always fun getting into that type of mode. The basket feels big and your teammates are looking out for you, helping you out.

"But I love to win. That was my main focus and it's hard for me to fully enjoy myself when we're down by 20, down 10, down 15 for the majority of the game."

bb/pst

Sri Lanka is struggling to prevent a repeat of its spectacular economic collapse four years ago, as the prolonged Middle East war compounds the fallout from a deadly

in November.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has rationed fuel, raised its price by a third and increased electricity costs by up to 40 percent since the war began disrupting global energy supplies.

Panic buying fuel in Sri Lanka has brought back memories of 2022, when the economy tanked, with inflation hitting 70 percent after Colombo defaulted on its $46 billion external debt.

The accompanying protests toppled the once-powerful president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was accused of mismanagement and corruption.

But the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) that led the "Aragalaya", or struggle, that ousted Rajapaksa has warned that Dissanayake's administration may be facing an implosion.

"We believe that a response to this economic crisis will come politically," FSP politburo member Duminda Nagamuwa told AFP.

"Because of the strength of the (government's) mandate, this economic shock is still being absorbed by the people without exploding politically," he said.

Dissanayake's leftist JVP, or the People's Liberation Front, won a two-thirds majority at the November 2024 parliamentary elections after his own victory two months earlier in the presidential poll.

-- 'Into an abyss' --

A vendor at Colombo's Pettah night market, Wasantha Jayalath, 55, said he voted for Dissanayake in 2024 hoping for better times, but felt the situation was getting worse.

"We voted... thinking that a good, self-sufficient era would dawn for our country," Jayalath told AFP. "There is no such situation; instead, what we realise is that the country is going further into an abyss."

A trader at the capital's main wholesale market, Priyantha Sudharshana Silva, 53, is not blaming the administration for the crisis.

"Protesting won't help because the country is already in a difficult position," Silva told AFP. "We believe that moving forward, even with these difficulties, is a significant achievement."

-- State of emergency --

Human rights lawyer Bhavani Fonseka said protests have been subdued because people are preoccupied with the day-to-day challenge of securing supplies.

Fuel rationing has shortened queues, but on Thursday, the government began limiting water supply hours to conserve reserves and save pumping costs.

"Compared to what we had in 2022... you're not seeing that level of protest," Fonseka told AFP. "Sri Lanka was just coming out of another disaster -- Cyclone Ditwah -- and the government imposed a state of emergency to deal with that."

Fonseka said the wide powers that emergency laws give the authorities to arrest and detain suspects could be used to stifle any popular protests, raising serious concerns for rights activists.

"We are in a situation where... laws that are in place, and the way they are being used, raise the question of whether rights could be further eroded in the coming weeks and months," she said. 

-- Deadly cyclone --

Cyclone Ditwah, the worst disaster since the 2004 Asian tsunami, killed 641 people and affected almost the entire country late last year. 

The cyclone, which triggered floods and mudslides, caused an estimated $4.1 billion in damage, according to the World Bank.

The money will be used to rebuild devastated homes, roads, bridges and railways, as well as for cash handouts to help people regain lost livelihoods.

Colombo also secured $206 million in emergency financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December to deal with the aftermath of the disaster.

An IMF delegation is currently in Sri Lanka to review its four-year $2.9 billion bailout loan before releasing a $700 million instalment.

Sri Lankan authorities have said they may ask the IMF to modify the loan's austerity conditions, given the country's worsening economic circumstances due to external factors.

aj/lkd/lga

A week of near-comebacks finally paid off for Mizzou baseball.

The Tigers took the lead in the ninth to defeat No. 24 Kentucky 5-4 in the series-opener in Lexington, Kentucky. This was just the second Southeastern Conference win for Mizzou, the last one also opening the series on the road against then-No. 22 Tennessee.

"Obviously, we had some moments in there where it got a little tense and we dug a little hole for ourselves," Missouri coach Kerrick Jackson said. "We picked each other up and we were able to stay (ahead)."

Rebounding from the worst start he's had this season, right-hander Josh McDevitt spun quite a gem on the mound against the Wildcats. He went five innings and allowed just one earned run. He struck out seven and gave up just four free bases in that time. 

Kentucky tagged a run off of McDevitt on a sacrifice fly in the second, that was the sole earned run for the Wildcats. Hudson Brown laid down a lead-off double and then advanced to third on a groundout, putting him position to score.

His score on the sacrifice also pushed Kentucky to its only lead of the night. 

Mizzou came back in the next inning with a three-run third. The scoring began for the Tigers with Kam Durnin, who got on base with a single, scoring on a wild pitch. Three consecutive singles from Jase Woita, Pierre Seals and Blaize Ward came with two outs and brought in two more runs.

Durnin added another single in the fourth and brought in the final run for the Tigers before the Wildcats fought back. 

It was after Mizzou's four-run burst across two innings that Kentucky began it's comeback. Mizzou's right fielder, Seals, committed an error on the first play of bottom of the fourth inning, resulting in the next two runs for Kentucky, both crossing the plate on singles and going in the scorebook as unearned under McDevitt. It made the score 4-3. 

It wasn't until McDevitt left the mound that the Wildcats added the game-tying run. Reliever Dane Bjorn walked his only batter and then was pulled for righty Keyler Gonzalez, who brought the runner in on a single. Kentucky recorded three unanswered runs. 

It took until the ninth inning for the winner to be settled. Just three batters needed.

Mateo Serna struck out to lead off the inning, but Keegan Knutson doubled and then Donovan Jordan singled to put Mizzou ahead for the final time. 

Trey Lawrence was the pitcher out of the bullpen that carried the Tigers to the win. He tossed three innings, held the Wildcats offense to just one hit and stuck out five of his 13 batters faced.

"You have got to tip your hat to Trey Lawrence," Jackson said. "There's a guy that comes out of there and has a little bit of struggles, but understood how good his stuff was and was able to get us out of that situation."

The Tigers (18-13, 2-8 SEC) will look to take the series at 1 p.m. Saturday in Lexington, Kentucky. Lefty Brady Kehlenbrink will have the ball to start for Mizzou. 

Lauren Coughlin fired an impressive three-under par 69 in tough conditions on Friday to build a five-stroke lead midway through the LPGA Aramco Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Coughlin had six birdies and three bogeys as she matched the low round of the day at Shadow Creek, where her eight-under par total of 136 put her five clear of Ireland's Leona Maguire and South Korean Kim Hyo-joo.

Coughlin, who finished runner-up to Madelene Sagstrom when the tournament was a match play event last year, said she played "really, really good" in "really difficult" conditions.

"The wind was kind of swirling at times and a lot of crosswinds," she said. "Very difficult. The greens firmed up as they do in the afternoon, especially with the wind.

"But, yeah, really, really solid round. Had a lot of fun out there. Looking forward to the weekend."

Maguire had four birdies and three bogeys in her one-under 71 and was joined on three-under 141 by Kim, who is coming off back-to-back LPGA victories at the Founders Cup and Ford Championship.

Kim had a double bogey and three bogeys but nabbed the last of her four birdies at the par-five 18th to complete a one-over 73.

"Going out, we knew it was going to be tough," Maguire said. "Obviously a lot windier, different wind than we got all week as well, which made some holes play quite a bit longer.

"We knew we were going to get the firmer end of the greens this afternoon, so just a case of staying extremely patient."

Despite the testing conditions, Maguire welcomed the test posed by Shadow Creek.

"It's a fantastic golf course," she said. "It's one of the best courses we play all year."

As a dual member of the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour she was relishing this week's co-sanctioned event, which is part of the Saudi-backed Global Series and features a total purse of $4 million with a $600,000 winner's prize.

"This is a huge event for both tours," Maguire said. "Outside of the majors this is one of the biggest there is and a huge opportunity for everyone early in the year to do well."

The field features all of the top 20 in the world rankings.

World number two Nelly Korda headlined a trio sharing fourth on two-under 142.

Korda carded a two-over 74 and was tied with Denmark's Nana Koerstz Madsen and overnight co-leader Miyu Yamashita of Japan.

Koerstz Madsen carded a two-under 70 while Yamashita, the reigning Women's British Open champion and last year's LPGA Rookie of the Year, posted a three-over 75.

bb/jgc

Mizzou track & field's Valentina Barrios broke the meet record at the Battle on the Bayou, throwing a first place earning mark of 183 feet, 1 inch Friday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 

The outdoor national champion and Mizzou record holder now ranks fifth nationally with her effort. The Tigers now boast two top five javelin throwers, as Skylar Ciccolini holds second with her efforts at the Yellow Jacket Invitational. In Baton Rouge, Ciccolini took fourth overall with a mark of 165-10. 

In the men's hammer throw, NCAA All-American Sam Innes recorded a throw of 230-10, good for fourth. The Battle alum bested his previous No. 2 program mark, becoming the second Tiger to ever clear 70 meters in the event. Innes' display places him at seventh in the nation.

Dillon Leacock breached the podium, placing third in the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 50.93 seconds. His effort ranks third in Mizzou history, and he propelled to 21st in the nation. 

Suzy Lecoutre highlighted the distance team, taking fifth in her first career 1,500 in 4:30.68. Lasse Funck paced the men's team in the 1,500, bringing home seventh in 3:45.17.

The Tigers continue contention in the Battle on the Bayou beginning at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Cougars cut through five records at CMU Invite

Columbia College track & field broke five program records across two days of competition at the CMU Invite on Thursday and Friday in Fayette. Sophomores Garrett Donald and Montgomery Keck led the historic campaign, each breaking records in individual and relay events.

Donald broke a pair of program benchmarks in one day, first clocking a 46.83 in the 400 to hit the NAIA "A" standard, then following up with a 21.00 in the 200 to eclipse the NAIA "B" standard.

Keck set her own record in the 100 hurdles after soaring to a 14.68. She also propelled the women's 4x100 squad consisting of Keck, Rachel Hargis, Marianna Tomc and Caleigh Huot to a record time of 49.44.

On the men's end, the 4x400 team of Donald, Jace Carr, Conner Diaz and Bernard Bailey crossed the line in 3:20.96 to tear down yet another program record.

The Cougars look ahead to the Mule Relays beginning April 9 in Warrensburg.

Cougars sweep Hannibal-LaGrange double header

Columbia College baseball swept Hannibal-Lagrange 8-5 and 18-1 in a double header Friday in Columbia. Senior Tyler Renn became the Cougars' all-time home run leader after smashing his 52nd career homer to break the program record previously held by Brayden McGinnis (51).

Kolten Payne worked six innings on the mound and Eric Fields closed it out to earn his fifth win of the season (5-0) in the first game. In the second, Parker Anderson was stellar on the mound through five innings, allowing only one unearned run while striking out five.

The Cougars' offense erupted in Game 2, sending 16 runs across the plate in the opening five frames, including nine in the fourth.

CC closes out the series at 9 a.m. Saturday in Columbia.

CC softball sweeps Stephens in crosstown double header

Columbia College softball swept rival Stephens on Friday in Columbia with a pair of 3-2 wins, improving to 17-11 overall and 7-3 in conference play.

In game one, Ella Schouten struck out 15 in a complete-game performance. The Cougars took the lead in the seventh when Sophia Angel scored on an error after leading off with a triple. Stephens had tied the game in the sixth on a two-run single by Landry Bales.

In game two, Kennedy Jensen allowed one earned run over five innings before Micaiah Cordell closed with two scoreless innings for the save. A two-run double from Kylee Page in the second inning helped Columbia secure the sweep.

CC next faces Hannibal-LaGrange at 1 p.m. Saturday in Hannibal, while Stephens stays home to play Cottey College at 2 p.m. Monday in Columbia.

Mizzou graduate guard Jayden Stone was named to the NABC All-Star game roster Wednesday, in addition to the dunk contest as part of the Final Four Friday happenings. However, Stone wasn't listed on the West's roster and was removed from the dunk contest listing as of Friday.

When approached, Mizzou representatives had no comment about why Stone didn't participate. 

Mizzou-target Coleman announces commitment to Illinois

Incoming freshman Quentin Coleman out of Principia committed to play basketball for Illinois for the 2026-27 season, despite the Tigers' efforts.

Coleman was a highly touted prospect for Mizzou. The guard was scheduled to visit Columbia later in the month, but as of Friday, Coleman will join the Fighting Illini next season.

In the MSHSAA Class 3 championship, Coleman put up 50 points on 18-of-21 shooting, the second-most points in Show-Me Showdown history, behind only Jim Krebs’ 61 in 1953.

They're sipping smoothies, snapping phone pics, dealing with crashed email and fixing broken toilets: astronauts, they're just like us.

The four crewmembers zipping through space toward the Moon are carrying out a mission unlike any before it, but they're also still muddling on through life's mundanities -- all while they float around together in a square footage equivalent to two minivans.

Mission specialist Christina Koch, the first woman to venture into deep space, said preparing for the 10-day journey was akin to planning for a camping trip.

"It represents togetherness and something a little out of the ordinary," she said in a video released by NASA.

Orion wares include 58 tortillas, 43 cups of coffee, barbecued beef brisket and five types of hot sauce.

And one toilet... which had a problem.

It's the first time astronauts venturing into deep space have had a real toilet onboard: the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s provided crewmembers with waste collection bags that were ultimately left on the lunar surface.

Much to the astronauts' relief, Koch remedied the issue with the toilet aboard Orion -- "I'm proud to call myself the space plumber," she said during a Q&A session late Thursday with US media.

"I like to say that it is probably the most important piece of equipment on board," she said. "So we were all breathing a sigh of relief when it turned out to be just fine."

- Sleeping 'like a bat' -

The toilet is in a small cubicle that's quite loud; the astronauts need to wear ear protection when they use it.

But it's "the one place that we can go during the mission where we can actually feel like we're alone for a moment," Canadian Jeremy Hansen said during a demonstration video released by the Canadian Space Agency prior to blast-off.  

The Artemis astronauts also quickly encountered email trouble: mission commander Reid Wiseman said he was experiencing issues with Microsoft Outlook.

"I also see that I have two Microsoft Outlooks, and neither one of those are working," he said on NASA's livestream.

Who among us?

Members of the Houston-headquartered Mission Control fixed the problem -- where would we be without our IT experts?

The astronauts must adhere to a sleep routine to ensure they're rested for the mission that will see them slingshot around the Moon and conduct a battery of test maneuvers, equipment checks and scientific observations.

They have sleeping bags that tether to the wall to keep them from floating around the capsule.

"Christina has been sleeping heads down in the middle of the vehicle, kind of like a bat suspended from our docking tunnel," Wiseman explained, describing their preferred spots for shut-eye.

"It's more comfortable than you would think," he added.

- Childlike joy -

But there are no rest days for the weightless: the astronauts have 30 minutes of exercise built in to their schedules.

They use a "flywheel exercise device," similar to a yo-yo, that can allow for aerobics like rowing as well as provide resistance to perform moves like weighted squats and deadlifts.

It's paramount that astronauts work out: the microgravity environment takes stress off bones and muscles, which can lead to significant loss without precautions.

NASA also recently updated their policy to allow smartphones on its flights: "We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world," the US space agency's administrator Jared Isaacman wrote on X in February.

And while their mission demands extreme precision, there is still room for childlike levity.

Hansen took questions from media while wedged in horizontally and described the joy of floating: "It just makes me feel like a little kid."

For Victor Glover -- the first person of color to fly around the Moon -- a lot of that raw delight arrived at takeoff.

"It was a ride where you're trying to be professional," he said.

"But the kid inside of you wants to break out and just hoot and holler."

mdo/mlm

As four astronauts whiz toward a flyby of the Moon, looking out for them are mission control experts using cutting-edge technology and lessons learned from the Apollo program 50 years ago.

At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, a team of engineers and technicians watched over 100-odd computer screens Friday as the Artemis astronauts in the Orion capsule headed for their rendezvous with Earth's natural satellite on day three of their high-stakes mission.

The nerve center of the operation is the White Flight Control Room, where flight directors Judd Frieling and Rick Henfling oversee everything as the space travelers prepare to slingshot around the Moon on Monday using its gravitational pull, before heading home.

Nearby is the computer screen of the CAPCOM, or capsule communicator, the person responsible for all direct communication with the astronauts.

This time, the CAPCOM is Stan Love, a seasoned former astronaut who sends instructions, flight updates and decisions from the flight directors to the four astronauts: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, all from the United States, and the Canadian Jeremy Hansen.

"The team in mission control is very well trained, and experts in their systems that they're watching over on the spacecraft," NASA spokesperson Kylie Clem said, with the busy control room visible behind her.

"They work for a period of years to earn and graduate essentially into this role and working in the front room," Clem added.

- History -

Of course, Houston is no stranger to space history.

On July 20, 1969, mission control received a message that reassured millions of Americans: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." 

It was of course the voice of Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the Moon, with the Apollo 11 mission. 

He would later utter what has become one of history's most famous quotes: 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

It was here, too, that NASA heard the anxious and oft-misquoted words "Ah, Houston, we've had a problem," spoken by astronaut Jim Lovell on April 13, 1970, during the Apollo 13 mission. 

An oxygen tank had exploded in their spacecraft, forcing them to abort their lunar landing plans.

"All of our mission control rooms are all in this building," said Clem.

"There are different wings that have been modified over the years, but it's in the same building essentially as the historic Apollo mission control room, the International Space Station flight control room, and this room that we're in now."

-'Physics doesn't change'-

The Artemis 2 mission is the first crewed one to the Moon -- the astronauts will not land, only fly by it -- since the last Apollo flight in 1972. 

Since then, of course, the technology has changed dramatically.

NASA Orion Program Manager Howard Hu said that among other things this involves much greater computing capability, which lets the crew interact more with the spacecraft's systems.

He said another is sensor capability -- "the ability for us to know exactly where we are in space."

Hu also said the precision with which NASA can now do rendezvous and docking, for instance, "is a huge step in technology."

And while the Apollo capsules had room for three astronauts, the Orion craft carries four, as equipment was made to be more compact without a loss of functionality. 

The Apollo vessels were cone-shaped to maximize stability as the craft sped back to Earth through the atmosphere. Orion kept this feature.

"But physics doesn't change. The teardrop shape is very efficient from the aerodynamics perspective," said Hu.

"The Apollo giants were just very good technical engineering experts," he said.

"So we learned a lot from them in terms of the things they learned and we leveraged off of that."

mav/dw/sst