To the stars
Or at least the moon again
FINALLY, some exciting news comes across the wire that isn’t related to covid-19. America is charting a course for the moon, and it’s about time. Past time, actually.
On Dec. 7, 1972, NASA attempted the first night launch of a human spaceflight. The Apollo 17 crew’s mission was to visit the moon, as others had before it. Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt, Ronald Evans and five mice would go on to land on the moon.
The crew landed in the Taurus-Littrow valley and ended up completing three moonwalks. With samples taken and instruments deployed, the crew returned (mice included) on Dec. 19. It was the longest moon landing and the longest time in lunar orbit.
The Apollo 17 would be the last crew to visit the moon—when Richard Nixon’s approval ratings were in the 60s. And generations of Americans have grown up seeing moon landings only in newsreels or the movies.
NASA has new plans, and humanity is making a return trip. Here’s more from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
“NASA has selected three U.S. companies to develop the lunar landers for its Artemis program, one of which will land the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024. Blue Origin of Kent, Wash., Dynetics in Huntsville, Ala., and SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., have been awarded contracts worth more than $900 million. President Donald Trump has set 2024 as a deadline for the U.S. to return to the moon with manned missions.”
This is it, folks, a unifying mission to help remind humanity what it means to come together for a grander goal of reaching the stars. For thousands of years mankind has gazed at the celestial bodies, studying them, wishing upon them. On July 20, 1969, we sent a crew to walk among them. A few years later, we stopped. Now it’s time to return.
Between the pandemic, armed conflicts in the Middle East, outrageous wildfires in Australia and more, this year hasn’t exactly been humanity’s best on record. It’s been abysmal. But one of Homo faber’s most redeeming qualities is the ability to adapt when things are bleak.
The new mission is called Artemis, after the Greek goddess of the hunt, of wilderness, and most importantly, the moon. Artemis is Apollo’s sister. And man has already walked upon the moon. Now it’s time for the first woman to do the same. Mankind does adapt, doesn’t she?
Women like Valentina Tereshkova, Svetlana Savitskaya and Sally Ride have proven womankind can handle the voyage. The same spirit of inspiration and determination embodies both men and women.
The technology is ready. Companies like SpaceX have proven the reliability of most cost-efficient reusable rockets. The thirst for another flight into the land of night has grown. We’re coming, Moon. Mark your lunar calendar for 2024.