With the launch of the Artemis II mission at 6:35pm EDT / 3:35pm MST on April 1st, humans are finally returning to the Moon for the first time since 1972 — and this time, we’re making Moonshots a regular affair.
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We needed this.
It’s been a great two weeks for space science. First, we got Project Hail Mary in theatres, which I’ve now seen twice (and planning for a third watch before it exits). PHM is one of the most beautiful and hopeful science-fiction movies in recent memory. It’s fun, exciting, emotional, visually gorgeous, and leaves you drowning in dopamine.
Then, on Wednesday April 1st, we got our generation’s Moon Moment. Four astronauts launched on the world’s most powerful mission-operational rocket, bound for lunar orbit in what will be the farthest distance humans have ever traveled away from Earth, beating out all six successful Apollo landing missions and surpassing the record set by Apollo 13 after an oxygen tank explosion caused a mission abort and sent all three astronauts aboard around the Moon on a high-altitude free return trajectory.
Watching the Artemis II launch left me shaking. I stood on the View Walk in Sedona gazing out at the red rocks with people passing behind me, the countdown clock ticking down little by little, with a brief hold at T-10 minutes to address some minor issues before getting the green light and proceeding with countdown.
As you wait, adrenaline builds up, tensing your arms, restricting your breathing, pushing through a wave of emotions as you prepare to watch our second series of attempts to get humans out to our cosmic neighbor.
At T-10 seconds, I turned to the next group of people walking by me and said, “If you care, we’re launching people to the Moon. This is live.”
I held up my phone, and within seconds, as the engines ignited and SLS lifted from the pad, a group of now 12 people was standing around me, watching the screen, listening to the roar coming out of my speaker, everyone watching in near silence as the exhaust plume lengthened and the orange rocket rose higher into the sky.
Slowly, people started talking. Sharing memories of past launches, talking about shuttles, stories from meeting astronauts at museums, and asking me questions about this particular launch, until the crowd dwindled again.
When I set up my telescope yesterday, I told everyone about Artemis, asked if anyone had watched the launch–and to my surprise, a lot of people did. It was heartening to hear, that people had not only heard, but had paid attention.
We needed this–
–because watching humans travel to the Moon has always been a dream for many in my generation. We have our fabled stories of the Apollo days, the space race, the failures and triumphs. But at the end of the era…the light seemed to vanish.
We needed this–
–because watching space enthusiasts celebrate a truly science-based mission that united multiple countries was a moment in history so long awaited. It stole us away from watching divisions grow as we strip funds from science, education, healthcare, environmental protections, journalism, and more, all to launch a needless war filled with frivolous propaganda, putting out videos that pretend killing real humans is a video game, making Ai videos pretending to dump feces on your own citizens and occupy genocide-stricken land with golden hotels, and ultra-aggressive talk about ignoring social order and international law.
We needed this–
–because it is hopeful. To see that even in the midst of the turmoil, we can still bring people together to achieve a common goal that highlights our human endeavor, our ingenuity, our perseverance, our curiosity to explore and add to the body of knowledge humanity has collected and developed over millennia.
We needed this–
–because scientific thinking and a desire to increase access to education are the underpinnings of stable, thriving societies. Ask yourself why regimes would attack scientists, attack education, suppress data, limit access or entirely eradicate information from stores of knowledge. Why would these people want to isolate their society, demean and insult allies, celebrate death and destruction, and promote violence as strength?
We needed this–
–because rather than those who say they “have no desire to build libraries and museums,” true leaders are the curious among us who base their decisions off the advice of field experts and seek to expand access to those things that make us human both at home and with international partners and projects.
We needed this–
–because we should celebrate our artists, performers and expressionist; raise up our educators and spread the knowledge of our scientists; learn to slow down our thinking, rein in our reactivity, and, quite simply, listen.
Artemis II is our Moon Moment, but it also proves that discovery, unity, and hope are factors in the true strength of a society.
This world is beautiful.
Alex
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