New NatGeo film 'The Space Race' highlights mission to integrate NASA's space program

HOUSTON, Texas -- A new National Geographic film about NASA's mission to integrate their space program had a screening in Houston on Tuesday, and it came on the heels of a major announcement about the Artemis missions.

Astronauts involved with the project, including some in the Artemis program, were at the screening at Space Center Houston.

NASA officially announced it's delaying the Artemis missions to the Moon.

The Artemis II mission would have put humans in the Moon's orbit this November, but a battery problem with the Orion Space Capsule is delaying the launch until at least 2025.

The Artemis III mission to land astronauts on the moon is also getting pushed back.

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"We're resilient. We work through challenges. We work together. We're trying to be good teammates all the time," Artemis II pilot Victor Glover said.

ABC13 Anchor Erica Simon spoke to Glover at a screening of the new film, "The Space Race."

The NatGeo film chronicles the quest to integrate NASA's space program in orbit -- in the midst of racial injustice back on Earth.

Glover appears in the film, along with Black astronaut Leland Melvin.

Both followed in the footsteps of Ed Dwight, American's first Black astronaut candidate in the early 1960s.

The film's directors say it's a powerful, must-see.

"One of the contributors to our film, former astronaut and former administrator Charlie Bolden said it best, that African-American history is American history, and to not know about it, you do so at your peril," Co-director of "The Space Race," Lisa Cortes, said. "So, I think this is an important documentation and contribution of a real history that everyone should know about."

"The Space Race" premieres Feb. 12 on National Geographic and the next day on Hulu and Disney+.

Disney is the parent company of National Geographic, Hulu, Disney+ and this station.

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