[music playing]
CARL AZUZ: Hi.
I'm Carl Azuz.
We're happy to see you this Monday,
and we hope you had a great weekend.
For the United States, it was a weekend of remembrance.
On the 20th anniversary of the September
11 terrorist attacks, which we covered in depth on Friday's
show, ceremonies, prayer services,
tributes, moments of silence.
Events like these were held all across the country.
Relatives of 9/11 victims reflected on their loved ones.
Survivors shared their stories of the harrowing day.
Communities displayed flags in honor of the lives lost.
It was a national observance of a tragedy
that changed the country.
And like the attacks themselves, it brought together Americans
from all walks of life.
POLO SANDOVAL: At dawn, the unfurling
of a flag over the side of the Pentagon hit
by a jetliner 20 years ago signaled the beginning
of a day of tributes.
[chanting]
[bagpipes]
It's one of three sites where Americans gathered
in somber remembrance, honoring each one
of the 2,977 people killed in the terrorist attacks
on September 11.
At the footprints where the Twin Towers proudly stood over lower
Manhattan, President Biden and the first lady
were joined by the Obamas and a sea of 9/11 families
to memorialize those lost two decades ago.
At 8:46 AM, the first of six moments of silence
marking the instant the first hijacked airliner
struck the North Tower.
Mike Low's daughter, Sara, was a flight attendant on that plane.
MIKE LOW: As we recite the names of those we lost,
my memory goes back to that terrible day
when it felt like an evil specter
had descended on our world.
But it was also a time when many people acted
above and beyond the ordinary.
POLO SANDOVAL: The tributes continued
throughout the morning, with the nation
pausing five more times--
the moment each twin tower fell, when the Pentagon was attacked,
and the moment United Flight 93 crashed into a field
in Pennsylvania.
KAMALA HARRIS: It is truly an honor to be with all of you
at this field of honor.
POLO SANDOVAL: Along with Vice President Kamala Harris,
President George W Bush, who served
as commander in chief in 2001, helped
lead a memorial at that site.
GEORGE W. BUSH: The 33 passengers and seven crew
of Flight 93 could have been any group
of citizens selected by fate.
In a sense, they stood in for us all.
The terrorists soon discovered that a random group
of Americans is an exceptional group of people.
POLO SANDOVAL: And at the Pentagon,
General Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs,
honored the victims of the attacks and the service members
who died in the subsequent war in Afghanistan.
MARK MILLEY: Never forget those who
were murdered by terrorists.
Never forget those who rushed to save their lives
and gave theirs in exchange.
Never forget the sons and the daughters,
the brothers and sisters, and the mothers
and fathers who gave their tomorrows for our todays.
POLO SANDOVAL: The sky over lower
Manhattan lights up again with the annual tribute in light.
It's a reminder of the nation's resilience
and an iconic symbol honoring those killed and the nation's
unbreakable spirit.
Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.
CARL AZUZ: 10 second trivia.
Who conducted the first spacewalk
which took place in 1965?
Alan Shepard, Yuri Gagarin, Ed White, or Alexei Leonov.
Well, Ed White was the first American to do it.
The first-ever spacewalk was made by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei
Leonov.
According to space.com, Leonov originally
thought he'd be a professional artist,
but his success in the Soviet Air Force led to his selection
for cosmonaut training.
And when he first stepped outside in space
on March 18, 1965, his government was supportive.
His family was not.
His father yelled at what he thought
was Leonov's misbehavior and said he should be punished,
and his daughter cried and said, please
tell Daddy to get back inside.
Leonov said he faced a number of life-threatening challenges
doing that, but he did get back to Earth safely.
Less than three months later, astronaut Ed White
made America's first spacewalk.
And four years after that, the space race between the US
and the Soviet Union culminated in the American moon landing.
International space programs have come a long way
since the 1960s, but spacewalks are still considered risky,
even though NASA says they've been a crucial part
of the construction and maintenance
of the International Space Station,
the most expensive object people have ever built.
As an example of that maintenance,
two astronauts-- one from Europe and one from Japan--
took a walk outside the ISS on Sunday.
Both have completed several spacewalks before.
Their mission this time around was to set up support equipment
for a new solar power unit, which will be installed
on a future space trip.
If you've ever wondered what it's
like to work outside when outside means orbiting
the Earth, here is your answer.
JOHN OLIVAS: The airlock hatch came open.
Immediately inside the airlock itself,
it was bathed in this beautiful color blue.
It was the light reflecting off the ocean below.
And I saw the planet Earth, and just my feet,
just dangling there.
And I thought to myself, you know,
this is absolutely beautiful.
I can't believe that I'm here.
And then I said, OK.
We got work to do.
- OK.
Then at this point, on the [inaudible],,
go toward your feet between the modules.
And then once you have that fused tether in place,
before you BRG to the handrail--
JOHN OLIVAS: Process associated with actually
going out the door begins months beforehand.
- Ready for you to do your next step.
JOHN OLIVAS: OK, [inaudible] picture.
Understanding the choreography of what's
going to take place over an eight hour period.
What are the technical challenges
for that particular activity.
OK, [inaudible].
- You can DRT.
JOHN OLIVAS: You are your own self-contained vessel.
You have your own oxygen system, your own power supply,
your own communication system.
You have, obviously, all the tools
that you brought with you.
You have the ability to reject the heat
that you're building up as you're
working inside the spacesuit.
So you have to kind of manage all
that as your own little independent spacecraft
out there.
- OK, you're going to put a regular [inaudible] there.
JOHN OLIVAS: And because we can rely heavily on our training,
that allows us to not be overwhelmed with the things
that you just can't emulate here on the ground.
At the end of our first spacewalk,
I stopped on the truss just for a second, and it was nighttime.
And I look down below, and I could--
I knew exactly where I was.
I was over the Indian Ocean, because I could see the lights
along the coastline, which is such an incredible feeling,
to just be able to see that, to take that in, and be
able to be in that moment.
[music playing]
CARL AZUZ: Not ready to come back down to Earth just yet.
We're having a look at a new type of hot air balloon
that would take well-paying customers to the edge of space,
or at least higher than 99% of the Earth's atmosphere.
If space perspective flights get off the ground
as planned in 2024, they'll rise 100,000 feet
above our planet's surface.
Technically, space is defined as starting quite a bit higher
than that, but the balloon flight
would still allow passengers to see the darkness of space.
It would be a relatively relaxing rise for as
many as eight people at a time.
Flights would last six hours, and there
will be a bathroom on board.
If you want to get on board, the company
is selling tickets in advance, but they're $125,000 each,
which would leave a lot of space in your wallet,
if you know what I'm saying.
But if you need a lift, you have a ballooning budget,
and you don't mind being accused of looking down on people,
this could put your head well above the clouds
for a flight of fancy that defies
and then depends on gravity.
De Anza High School, we see you watching
from Richmond, California.
Thank you for subscribing and leaving a comment
on our YouTube channel.
And of course, that is the only way to get
a school mentioned on CNN 10.
I'm Carl Azuz, and I'm grateful to have you watching.
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