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| Artemis II crew. |
Too bad some of the fame attached to remarks made on humanity's first landing on the moon, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed," on July 20, 1969, and the even more renowned, "One small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind" was never extended to the enthusiastic, if ungrammatical, burst at the last moon landing, Apollo 17, on Dec. 11, 1972.
"We is here!" cried rookie astronaut Harrison (Jack) Schmitt. "Man, is we here."
Now we are returning to the neighborhood for the first time in nearly 54 years. All exploration is grounded in the time when it occurs, and just as the Apollo program was an artifact of the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, so Artemis II, expected to swing closest to the moon on Monday, can be seen through a lens of 2026 and a nation in turmoil.
A time when actual reality can be lost in the fun house of social media — for instance, we're skimming past, not landing on, the moon. Artemis II will fly about 5,000 miles above the lunar surface; to put that in context, the International Space Station orbits about 250 miles above the earth.
Is the public enthralled by this latest foray into space? Hard to say. Boredom with the assumed wonder of space exploration is a theme almost as old as space exploration itself.
If you remember Ron Howard's excellent movie "Apollo 13," interest in what would have been the third moon landing was tepid until an explosion damaged the ship and forced a dramatic skin-of-their-teeth return. Before the crisis, while Jim Lovell does a live broadcast from space, the guys at Mission Control in Houston sneak glances at the Astros game, and none of the networks chose to carry Lovell's show.
When Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, Chicagoans were almost as amazed by the fact they could watch it live on television.
”We were all there, bound together by the miracle of communication that intertwined all the other miracles of technology that marketed man’s first step on a celestial body,” the Chicago Daily News said in an editorial.
The Chicago Tribune, with characteristic modesty, editorialized that their coverage of the event was an achievement on par with the landing itself.
To me, half the wonder is not the journey but who's doing it. After years of headlines about private space ventures, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX, I reacted to the Artemis II mission with a surprised, "Does NASA still do that kind of thing?"
To add context, Artemis II took off Wednesday night. On Friday, the Trump administration proposed chopping the NASA budget by 23%.
I had two questions. Apollo used a three-man crew. So why does Artemis need four astronauts?
The short answer is the Orion spacecraft is designed to be flown by four astronauts — it has 50% more living space than the Apollo command module — but reading the NASA release announcing the crew, you can't help but suspect there's some Biden-era diversity going on as well:
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Notice how the Muskrat's Starship still can't even get to orbit!
ReplyDeleteAt least NASA has functioning rockets that don't blow up all the time like that overpriced, piece of crap he's built & blows up in Texas.
he followed the Soviet & Russian example of way too many rocket engines. So way too many things to fail.
Remember, while SpaceX does have the very successful Falcon rockets, the Muskrat had nothing to do with their design, actual engineers who knew how to build rockets did that, while the Muskrat made his Texas idiocy as bad as his Swastitruck, the ugliest vehicle & easily one of the most dangerous ever to hit the road. It's electric doors fail in a crash, the secret mechanical door opener is hidden & no one can access the outside door handle to open the doors, because that idiot has them retract to give the Swastitruck an extra 1300 feet of distance it can cover before a recharge of its battery! It makes East Germany's Trabant look like a masterpiece of design, safety, low pollution & efficiency!
He get billions from the government to that on top of that!
Maybe the Muskrat can persuade Bossman Trump to take a little trip around Mars. How cool would that be, eh Donny?
DeleteThen he could declare war from space and should any country with nuclear weaponry, decide to use them while Trump's away, thus provoking every nation so equipped to use theirs, King Donald would be the only survivor. Double cool! As well as ironic and iconic.
tate
So, in 1972, our 7th grade science teacher told our class that what we saw that day on tv was fake. That blew a hole in my 12 year old brain... 😳
ReplyDeleteThere are plans to continue sending rockets and people to the moon. A space station that would orbit the moon and a base on the moon.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child in the 60s I found it all very exciting. Now not so much.
There is either something very valuable on the moon or we are going to need somewhere else to live (Mars) and the moon will be a Basecamp.
Maybe this is all about the continued militarization of space , or it's just vanity .
I used to have faith in NASA. Now I just hope the astronauts make it back safely.
My 85 year old husband who had very little interest in space when he was younger, was enthralled with Artemis II. With all the terrible goings on with our government he said watching it just lifted him up.
DeleteRight there with you, Franco. When Apollo 11 made its voyage, I was not yet a teenager, and was very interested in and excited by the mission. Even back then, there were plenty of people who thought the money spent on it should have been used for more terrestrial concerns.
DeleteI didn't agree with them then, but as a wizened oldster these days, I do. My attitude is slightly assuaged by awareness of the diversity of this crew. Like our genial host, I'm kinda surprised this has proceeded as it has and not been scotched due to MAGA's bitter crusade against DEI.
The folks like Elon who think the Earth is so fucked up that the logical solution is to go live on Mars are delusional. Uh, maybe we should use all the talent, money and ingenuity that it would take to put humans on Mars for just ONE DAY to try to make the infinitely more accommodating home planet better instead of worse going forward.
And if even NS wasn't too aware of Artemis, that makes me feel MUCH better. I bought Edith Hamilton's "Mythology" decades ago, in the mistaken belief that I would become a more well-rounded person by reading it and getting more familiar with that stuff. I never did read it, nor become a more well-rounded person, alas. Amazon chides me on the book's significance: "For nearly 80 years, readers have chosen 'Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes' above all other books to discover the enchanting world of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology."
Perhaps I should pick it up today. As soon as I finish reading today's installment of "Frank and Ernest." "Yeah, that's the ticket!", as The Pathological Liar from "Saturday Night Live" would say in the late '80s.
Going to Mars is an absurd pipe dream. Just surviving the trip would be difficult, as it would take 18 months to just over two years. It would also needs enormous amounts of food, water & oxygen shipped there, dozens of rockets, each carrying what a 40 foot cargo container holds. Then survival on the surface is highly doubtful, due to the radiation, as Mars has little atmosphere to filter that out & bringing along lead shielding would also be extremely difficult.
DeleteMore than likely, the first people to actually land on Mars would die within a month, possibly sooner.
Unless someone invents a better way than chemical rockets to go there, going to Mars won't be a thing for the next 100 years, minimum.
Note that even the Muskrat no longer talks about it, now he's all in on the Moon.
Good column, NS.
ReplyDeleteWaaaay back in 2000-something, I decided that I wanted a garden shed at the bottom of our yard. Nothing fancy, but I wanted one with potential for... I dunno what, but at minimum it should have a workbench in there, and a workbench should have power outlets, so the shed needed electricity.
ReplyDeleteThat was my moon mission: not building the shed itself (I would soon be paying a gentleman to build ours, and he did a fine job in two days), but making it habitable. I didn't know exactly what our future would bring, but having a shed with electricity held potential, way more useful than a shed without. (Lights! Heat! Music! Power tools!) Thus I figured out how to add circuits to our breaker box, drill a hole for running electricity out of the basement, choose the proper underground conduit and so on, and dig a trench out to where the shed would be.
Oh, boy... the trench. Local regulations said it had to be a foot deep, with conduit actually secured to the bottom of it, and they would be inspecting it too. I soon discovered that of all the steps involved, digging that trench by hand, using tools inherited from my father-in-law, was the most physically exhausting thing I had done in years. After several days of alternating between diggery and rest, I had my city-approved trench completed, I had reached the moon, and the shed was triumphantly finished off. 15 amps for lighting; 20 amps for work.
I'm not much for puttering around outside, or gardening in general, but when I'm down at the back of the yard and step into the shed for something, I like being able to just flip on the lights, and to remember that I did that part myself, and made it possible for future homeowners here to do more with what I started. Whatever that turns out to be.
It is incredible how pathetic so many people are these days.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIn Greek mythology, Artemis, the goddess of the moon, hunting, and nature, was often called "Cynthia" to honor her birthplace. The name symbolizes the moon, femininity, and divine power. Cynthia literally means "woman from Cynthus," referring to Mount Cynthus on the island of Delos, the mythical birthplace of Artemis and her twin brother Apollo.
Cynthia was not used as a given name until the Renaissance, when poets and writers revived classical names in literature. In English-speaking countries, it became more common in the 19th century and reached peak popularity in the U.S. during the 1950s and 1960s, often ranking among the top ten names for girls. Cynthia has many variations and diminutives, including Cyndi, Cyndy, Cindie, and Cindee. Others begin with an S.
My wife has always preferred the most common...Cindy. Her college roommate and best friend calls her Moon Child. She is mildly interested in the Artemis mission.
And here I thought I was doing a deep dive into Artemis, between Edith Hamilton, Richard Buxton and Ovid. But I never caught a whiff of "Cynthia." Well done, Grizz.
DeleteYour welcome, Mister S. My wife...Cindy...pointed me in the right direction.
DeleteThe Roman name for Artemis was Diana.
From which also comes "diva."
Latin (and Italian) for "goddess."
Wives tend to do that. But you do realize I point out the Diana part in my column.
DeleteDidn’t even remember that you mentioned Diana--the Roman name for Artemis, goddess of the hunt--until a second read-through.
DeleteOh, please...stay by me...Diana. Sorry, Mister S. Pass the Prevagen over here...
Like Franco, I worry about the astronauts' welfare. After the cuts and firings in the administration, I was afraid the Artemis II launch would end up like some of the recent private launches, but with human lives at stake. I watched the launch last Wed evening but didn't relax until the boosters detached.
ReplyDeleteThe timing of the launch worked out beautifully, unlike the space walk in 1969. My memory could be faulty, but I recall multiple delays and interminable waiting long past my bedtime, while viewing staticky and erratic video of not much happening. Until, of course, Neil Armstrong finally stepped out of the capsule.
I hope lots of young people got to see it and be inspired. I very much want this space mission to be a success and to showcase the US positively, which would be a nice change.
The White House recently hosted their annual Easter Egg hunt in the Rose Garden. Because Mr Trump tore up the lawn, fake grass was installed specifically for the event. That feels like a metaphor of what is being done on a larger scale to our public lands.
You couldn't see Armstrong step out of the capsule. When he was finally out, he had to pull on something to get that tv camera out of it's storage area, it was on a hinged mount & then we got to see him go down the ladder & step onto the moon.
DeleteAh, Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong. Just 10 when it happened but what a thrill.
DeleteWalter Cronkite had misty eyes when he saw that.
DeleteI remember the first moon landing and was very excited to see Artemis lift-off. It was the first time since trump took office I was excited and proud about this country. But of course trump ruined it with his usual antics in short order.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the on going mission. They hope to put a man on the moon in 2028. The eventual goal is to go to Mars. I should add that what I am saying hear comes from some one from NASA. He was on the Tony Kornheiser podcast. They want to attempt living on the moon and what they would need to go eventuallly to mars. It will be more complicated going to Mars. As someone else commented they will have to bring a lot of stuff. There is more. It was about a 15 minute conversation. If you want to listen Once again it is the Tony Kornheiser show. The intervies starts around the 40 minute mark. For a lo us older people I doubt we will see anyone going to Mars for a while. I get that some think this is nuts not to mention expensive. But better spending money exploration than giving another trillion to the military.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information about the name Artemis. That set me off wondering why the character name Artemus Gordon on WWWest. I googled it and learned that it is a masculine take-off from Artemis, created by in the 1800s by the first stand up comedian, named Charles (Charlie?) Farrar Browne, pen name Artemus Ward, apparently a major influence on Mark Twain. Looking through the list of recurring characters on that show- Robespierre, Voltaire, Quixote,- it became clear that the screen writer/s loved classical literature, something I never would have noticed when I watched the show in the mid sixties. Even better than the Rockie and Bullwinkle show!
ReplyDeleteThat was a wonderful show, Mr. Eisenberg. One of my favorites back in the day, with a fine theme song, and clever idea of having freeze-frames assemble at the end of each segment. Wonderful western action, with lots of scenes taking place on trains. Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) and his disguises. Archenemy Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless (Michael Dunn). Etc.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqlQJqyJE3k