ORLANDO, Fla. – What was supposed to be an eight-plus-hour journey from California to Florida to witness a historic moment in space exploration turned into something a little more down-to-earth for Brandon Carn.
The art teacher and devoted space enthusiast is from Moreno Valley, about an hour east of Pomona, California, where Artemis II astronaut Victor Glover is from and traveled across the country last week for his spring break vacation, hoping to see the launch of Artemis II, the rocket carrying four astronauts that’ll take humans on a trip around the moon, for the first time in more than 50 years.
“I’ve been very fascinated that America is going back to the moon,” Carn said.
The anticipated launch had been targeting March, so Carn booked a flight to Florida to watch it from near the launch site.
[WATCH: NASA issues update on Artemis 2 rocket following rollback]
“It’s pretty cheap. It’s only about $100 one way to get from California to Florida, so it’s not a bad round-trip deal,” he added.
But days before he was set to check in for the flight, NASA announced another delay — this time due to a fuel leak discovered during testing.
The setback pushed the launch timeline yet again, something Carn said he had been hoping wouldn’t happen, though he admitted the delays have become familiar.
“I’ve been watching since September. I’m like, ‘It’ll be ready in January.’ No, February… no, now March,” he said. “Ready to go in March because I have the week off… and now it’s supposed to happen in April.”
Now he’s got a week of free time in Orlando, and instead of watching a rocket launch, Carn is making the most of his unexpected Florida trip, hanging out with friends and planning to hit the theme parks.
[WATCH: NASA announces major overhaul of Artemis moon program]
We should mention Carn is no stranger to Central Florida, having come for Artemis I and experiencing a similar situation. That time he was able to snag a picture of the rocket from the launch pad, a worthy consolation for the journey, he joked, in addition to the cool people he got to meet on that trip.
Check out Brandon Carn’s art (Instagram), including a utility box painting of Victor Glover that the astronaut said he saw and loved!