KDKA — The four astronauts on Artemis II went farther into space than any human has before, and one person from southwestern Pennsylvania can say they took part in the historic mission.

Gary Jordan spent his teenage years in Cranberry Township, growing up loving Star Wars, and while those interests wouldn’t take him to space, they took him to the closest place he could get.

His highlight was a little more than a week ago as Artemis II blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending three Americans and one Canadian on a record-breaking 252,000 miles from Earth.

On the live broadcast, NASA commentator Derrol Nail started with the countdown to liftoff. About 30 seconds later, you could hear a different voice, that of Jordan.

“Houston now controlling the flight of Integrity on the Artemis II mission around the moon,” Jordan said on the broadcast.

Jordan was speaking from mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he’s the manager of communications and public affairs.

For three more hours or so, Jordan was the sole voice who translated for the public the conversations between the astronauts and the CapCom, the person speaking to the crew, helping us all to understand what was happening.

“I was taking deep breaths, you know? I was trying to get really into a focused mode,” Jordan told KDKA.

The Seneca Valley High School graduate said that after a year of special training preparing for contingencies, it became real at the 10-minute mark before the launch, his heart racing, but he tried to put himself into one of those simulations to separate himself from the gravity of the moment.

And about one minute into the flight, he took it all in.

“I kind of looked up and saw the engines firing. I saw the plume of smoke. I saw the roar of the engines, and for just a moment, I kind of pulled myself out from that level of focus … and just (sat) in awe of what was happening. People were traveling, people were about to go to the moon, and we were a part of it, and we were making it happen,” Jordan said.

It’s a memory he’ll never forget.

“It’s definitely an honor. It’s definitely humbling,” Jordan said.

It’s one he will take with him as he sets his eyes on 2028, when the U.S. plans to send astronauts back to the surface of the moon.

“I would love to stick around and do anything I can to push us towards getting there and do it what I think is the best way possible, share with as many people as possible,” Jordan said.

The NFL draft is just two weeks away from coming to Pittsburgh, and with each passing day, more road closures in the city go into place. 

Time is ticking, and work is progressing to make sure the footprint of the draft is good to go, because the city is expected to host hundreds of thousands of people. 

However, looking ahead to next week, it may be difficult to get around town because the next round of road closures will go into place. 

What roads are closed? 

As of Friday morning, Art Rooney Avenue, West General Robinson Street, and Scotland Avenue are closed. 

Beginning on Monday, more will be added to the list as part of phase two of the closure plan. 

The following roads will close:

• Casino Drive from Sproat Way
• North Shore Drive to Chuck Noll Way
• Reedsdale Street to Tony Dorsett Drive
• Chuck Noll Way and Tony Dorsett Drive

Those closures will be in place until April 21. 

If you are planning to drive in that area, there will be clearly marked detour signs to help navigate around the closure and get to your destination. 

Will local businesses be closed on the North Shore?

There will be limitations and closures around some local businesses on the North Shore due to the road closures. 

“We worked really hard to make sure all of the businesses from the casino to businesses on North Shore Drive and PNC Park are all still readily available,” said Jared Bachar, President & CEO of Visit Pittsburgh.

First, the Kamin Science Center will be on partial operation beginning on Monday when the roads close. Acrisure Stadium itself will have limited availability, and Stage AE will be off-limits completely. 

Residents, businesses prepare for NFL draft impact

While there is frustration over closures that will redirect so much traffic, they are necessary. It’s also causing North Side residents to have to adapt. 

“I’m going to do my best not to go out of the house,” said Jackie Fields. “I’ve been going the opposite direction and figuring out which way I have to go now.” 

For the crews working near the stadium, this is the next step in making sure the entire area is ready for the big event. 

“This next phase of road closures helps us get prepared for all of those activities; there’s a lot of build-out of infrastructure, new structures being built, new draft amenities in and around that site,” Bachar said.  

Looking beyond phase two, there are six total phases of road closures that’ll happen from now until the draft. 

With less than 60 days to go until Pittsburgh Pride, the pressure is on to raise crucial funds for the annual event.

“It’s a place for everybody to come together, gather, and be with one another without judgment, without worrying about being ‘othered,’” Lyndsey Sickler told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 Reporter Jordan Cioppa.

Organizers said this year will be no different when the Pittsburgh Pride festival and parade return to the streets of the Steel City June 6-7.

However, the celebrations will come at a cost.

“Just for stages is over $100,000. That’s not including lighting, electric, insurance, security,” said Sickler, who serves on the board for Pittsburgh Pride. “Pride is happening one way or another, but to do it the way we’ve been doing it, we need to make sure that we can pay the insurance, that we can pay the electric, we can pay for the stages, and the artists, and all that stuff, because we pay our artists.”

This year’s fundraising goal is $500,000. So far, organizers said they have raised about $150,000 of that.

“There have been increased amounts of attacks on the LGBTQ community, and we’re seeing that reflected in Pittsburgh Pride this year and Prides all across the country, with corporate sponsors backing out, trying to diminish the amount of support that they’re giving to pride,” said board member Sam Wasserman.

Board members said big names like Sheetz and U.S. Steel supported this year’s event, but past sponsors like Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Walmart have not stepped up.

A Walmart spokesperson responded with the following statement:

“Our focus remains on creating an environment where our associates and customers feel they belong. We’re supportive of associates who want to support Pride month by volunteering in their communities.”

A Tito’s spokesperson told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that the company donates to more than 10,000 nonprofit events yearly.

“Unfortunately, we are not always able to continue sponsoring the same events in perpetuity, as we try to spread love to as many organizations as possible,” the spokesperson added.

Wasserman said they are currently on track to meet half of the fundraising goal if people continue to show support.

“If we were at $250,000 as opposed to [$500,000,] we would have to have discussions about, do we only have one performance stage instead of two?” Wasserman said. “Do we have to shrink our footprint on the park in order to be able to accommodate less costs, less bathrooms, less electricity? Things like that. Less security.”

While Wasserman said $150,000 isn’t quite enough, he added that it’s a good start.

“On the flip side, we’ve seen a lot of Pittsburghers really embrace Mr. Rogers, being a good neighbor, stepping up,” Wasserman said. “We’ve had hundreds of our local small businesses sign up to be vendors already and pay their vendor fees.”

Pittsburgh Pride is recruiting vendors, sponsors, donors, and parade participants. Organizers said they are looking to secure state grant money, too.