Artemis II Looking Back at Earth. Photo by Reid Wiseman | NASA.
If you are thrilling and chilling to Artemis II — great.
Enjoy it. No fooling.
To me, I’ve seen this movie before, and that movie had a landing on the Moon, not a slingshot around it. Human beings on the Moon!
More amazingly, the lunar module Eagle was able to blast off the lunar surface, returning astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the Columbia command module, which returned them and Michael Collins safely to earth. R.I.P. Neil Armstrong, the last American hero.
“The Eagle has landed” was so much more inspiring than Artemis’ go-around.
And what can compare to “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”?
And then we went to sleep for 50 years.
Space became too expensive. Passe.
Until Artemis II. NASA is using its considerable PR muscle to pump up the volume. It’s creating excitement around something it did – better — 50 years ago.
Big feat? Yes.
Historic? Not to me.
But if you didn’t live through the original, then this is the Big One and I can understand your excitement.
I just can’t share it.
