The last time a human set foot on Earth’s moon was in 1972. Close to four years earlier, in December of 1968, Apollo 8 orbited our only natural satellite. It has not been done since, despite multiple lunar missions of one kind or another – mostly unmanned and not all successful. At just after 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on April 1, Artemis II launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida for an almost ten-day flight that will include an orbit of the moon.
There are many reasons why, to a lot of Americans, this might not seem like an important mission. Media coverage has been sparse – and there is likely a political motive behind that. Artemis II will not even land the four astronauts – three Americans and one Canadian – on the moon’s surface. And this all appeared to many to come out of nowhere. So, is it just some random test flight? NASA’s way of reminding everyone it’s still around? Is it a vanity project for President Donald Trump? What is the big deal?
NASA doesn’t do random. The Artemis program began during Trump’s first term, with the goal of landing on the moon in 2028. In some ways, this is a test flight, though. The crew of Artemis II will very much be laying the groundwork – no pun intended – for two more Artemis missions.
Certainly, NASA has not exactly been in the spotlight over the past two decades. This launch, at least symbolically, marks a sort of renaissance for the space agency.
History Made With Artemis II
History will be made. Artemis II will orbit the Earth first, before the trans-lunar injection burn that will take it around the moon. The crew will orbit at a distance that will take the astronauts, for a brief time, further from the Earth than any human has ever been.
The establishment media has been fairly mute. Conservative podcaster Matt Walsh suggested, not unreasonably, that this mission couldn’t be extensively covered without at least a measure of credit rubbing off on the Trump administration. As former NASA officials have pointed out, the agency operates very much at the whim of the sitting president. One retired NASA technician, speaking on Fox News, suggested the Artemis II launch was made possible by the “consistent” support of recent presidents – presumably he was referring to Trump and Joe Biden – that hadn’t been there previously.
Heaven forbid the left-leaning media might be accused of portraying President Trump in a positive light by enthusing over this remarkable rebirth of America’s space program.
And this could also be seen as the first metaphorical shot fired in the war for lunar colonization that will be fought between the United States and China.
It’s a historic event, a technological achievement (or revival, perhaps), a step toward a potential billion-dollar or multi-billion-dollar commercial enterprise, and an important national security move. Simply ignoring the potential for bases on the moon – first just for robotic vehicles and eventually human-occupied – isn’t something the United States can afford to keep doing. Establishing a presence there is something that is going to be done, sooner or later, and so it would be better if America does it first.
No one, this time around, is going to be taking any small steps, but this still could very well be another giant leap for mankind.
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