Louvre jewel heist video aired as NASA Artemis II nears launch
[00:00] Daniel Brooks: From Neural Newscast, I'm Daniel Brooks.
[00:03] Elise Moreau: And I'm Elise Morrow.
[00:04] Daniel Brooks: New tonight.
[00:06] Daniel Brooks: France is seeing the Louvre jewel heist up close, after a TV broadcast air surveillance video of the break-in for the first time.
[00:15] Elise Moreau: The footage is hard to watch. It shows how ordinary the theft looks.
[00:20] Elise Moreau: Two men walk into the Apollo gallery, then they start cutting into cases in plain view.
[00:26] Daniel Brooks: Investigators say the thieves took nine jewelry pieces. Eight crown jewel items worth about $102 million are still missing. Four suspects are in custody.
[00:38] Elise Moreau: The gallery itself is part of the story. The Apollo Gallery is one of the Louvre's most ceremonial rooms. It was built to project royal power and French craft.
[00:50] Daniel Brooks: Now, the video is also fueling a management and labor fight.
[00:54] Daniel Brooks: A security audit cited by Radio France says 35% of rooms in the Danan wing have no camera monitoring.
[01:03] Elise Moreau: Museum leaders stress that staff are not trained to confront thieves.
[01:07] Elise Moreau: Their instructions prioritize evacuating visitors, even if the crime is unfolding nearby.
[01:13] Daniel Brooks: Still, the optics are brutal, and the follow-on effects are real.
[01:18] Daniel Brooks: Unions are pushing for more hiring and maintenance.
[01:21] Daniel Brooks: Repeated strike stoppages have forced closures again.
[01:26] Elise Moreau: Turning now to space, NASA has moved the Artemis-2 rocket to the launch pad in Florida.
[01:32] Elise Moreau: It is a visible sign that a crewed lunar mission is getting close.
[01:36] Daniel Brooks: The Space Launch System rollout to Pad 39B keeps NASA on track for a near-term launch window.
[01:43] Daniel Brooks: The next make-or-break step is the wet-dress rehearsal fueling test.
[01:48] Elise Moreau: This rehearsal matters because it tests the most fragile part of the choreography.
[01:54] Elise Moreau: Engineers have to load super cold liquid hydrogen and oxygen without leaks or temperature issues.
[02:01] Daniel Brooks: NASA dealt with hydrogen leaks during Artemis 1 preparations.
[02:06] Daniel Brooks: Teams say they have applied the same fixes to Artemis 2.
[02:10] Daniel Brooks: If this countdown practice holds, launch readiness looks stronger.
[02:15] Elise Moreau: Meanwhile, space weather is adding another layer to the conversation.
[02:19] Elise Moreau: Forecasters tracked a level 4 out of 5 solar radiation storm.
[02:24] Elise Moreau: It is the strongest in more than 20 years.
[02:27] Elise Moreau: Vivid auroras were reported across parts of Europe.
[02:31] Daniel Brooks: The practical takeaway is resilience.
[02:33] Daniel Brooks: Space storms can stress satellites, aviation routes, and GPS.
[02:38] Daniel Brooks: Astronauts also shift to better shielded areas when radiation risk rises.
[02:44] Daniel Brooks: I'm Daniel Brooks.
[02:46] Elise Moreau: And I'm Elise Moreau.
[02:48] Daniel Brooks: Neural Newscast is AI-assisted, human-reviewed.
[02:51] Daniel Brooks: View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com.
