At 5:35 pm this Wednesday evening a new era in space exploration began! We now have humans in the skies above us that are headed back to the Moon for the first time since 1972. What a day!
The launch was flawless against the backdrop of a gorgeous Florida blue sky. Until now, only white American men have traveled to the moon. Today, that is changing. By the time this 10-day mission is complete, a woman, a person of color, and a Canadian will have ventured to the moon for the first time…..ever. What a remarkable moment in human history!
One thing that needs to be made clear is that these astronauts will not walk on the moon. They won’t even land on it. They will, however, fly around the back side of the moon and then return home. Someone remarked that it’s like they’re looking for a parking place for the next time. haha
The next mission will be Artemis 3 and it will dock with different systems and make sure all of the ducks are in a row for Artemis 4. Artemis 4 will land on the moon. That mission is planned for early 2028.
There are some interesting things about Artemis that wasn’t true for Apollo. Today’s mission, for example, has a toilet! It’s the little things, right? lol Apollo misisons had no toilet (let your imagination run wild. ha!). You really don’t want to know what the Apollo astronauts had to go through with bathroom activities. Today’s mission also contains MUCH better food. They even have mac-n-cheese options and for those of us who are diehard mac-n-cheese fans, that sounds pretty awesome. Incidentally, they choose Galaxy Brownies for dessert. Those brownies don’t create crumbs, making them ideal. Heck, that’s probably about all I’d eat. LOL They also have 30% more space than the Apollo astronauts, even with four astronauts onboard this mission (Apollo only ever had three at at time).
This mission today will venture farther out in space than we’ve ever been. We wish them all the best with that. The most dangerous part of the mission, in my opinion, is over. The take-off is the most nerve-wrecking part. From here on out it’s rather straightforward, with the exception being that part where we head off to the moon after circling earth many times. Then, we slingshot around the back of the moon and then slingshot our way back home. Interestingly, thanks to the gravitiational players involved, they won’t even need any fuel to come back home.
They’ll splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast at the end of the mission.
On Monday, April 6, the astronauts will fly around the back side of the moon. How cool will that be!?
Some of you have probably seen me post about Dr. Luna being accepted as one of 10 scientists to help with this lunar project. It is quite the exciting opportunity and the department that I’m in at TTU, along with all of TTU, are so incredibly blessed to have Dr. Luna. Her expertise in planetary mapping will play a critical role in preparing astronauts for the challenges of the lunar south polar region. More information on that can be found at https://www.tntech.edu/news/releases/25-26/tech-faculty-member-selected-by-nasa-to-support-artemis-moon-mission.php
We wish these astronauts all the best! I can’t wait to see where this all goes next!
When you look up at the moon over the next week, think of how cool it is to know that we’re going back. So very cool, indeed!
In the video below, jump to 1:50 if you want to get to the 10 second countdown. Also, NASA needs to partner with SpaceX on video performance…….. just sayin’. ha
