Artemis II is go!

Every July 20th I try to remind people of the most significant event in recorded human history – Neil Armstrong stepped on the surface of the Moon. It happened nearly sixty years ago (at the time of this writing) in 1969. Between then and 1972 more manned missions to the lunar surface happened. That was the last time humans went to another body in this solar system. There have been plenty of robotic missions over the years, but no humans have made the journey.

Until now.

Artemis II is the first manned mission to head back to the Moon since 1972. It is a fly-by mission, meaning the crew will not land on the lunar surface. That is planned for a later Artemis mission. It was successfully launched on April 1, 2026 at 6:35:12 EDT. The mission should last ten days with the crew returning April 10, 2026. The flight is manned by NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

This is a shakedown cruise to test the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion crew capsule. The SLS is a heavy-lift expendable rocket used to get the Orion module into orbit. It is the system developed after the Space Shuttle reusable orbiter program was cancelled. The Orion spacecraft is a partially reusable crewed spacecraft to carry four astronauts into space. The previous limit as been three astronauts.

I am quite excited about this. We live on his tiny rock floating through space and the average person has no concept of just how tiny and insignificant this world is in the Grand Scheme of Things. In just our galaxy alone there are so many other solar systems that if we had something like the Warp Drive out of Star Trek, we would still never likely be able to visit all of them before the Universe dies.

There are so many things out there, wonders we can’t even conceive of yet. Yes, Neil deGrasse Tyson will tell you that there are many things out there and most of them are trying to kill you. Then again, there are plenty of things that will kill you here on Earth. But that’s all part of the challenge. To explore, to find out what’s out there, maybe even who is out there, this is the most worthy endeavor the human race could ever be involved in. I despair that they will never get their act together to accomplish this, but the Artemis II mission is at least a step in the right direction. If nothing else, it helps pave the way for having my remains shot into space after I die. I want to go the same path the Voyager probe (either one) took. That is the only way I’m ever going to get off this planet.

Here’s hoping that the Artemis II mission ignites a fire in the younger generation and gets them interested in space travel again. Nearly sixty years after the first landing on the Moon, I say it is high time for it to happen again.

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