4/17/26
NASA had begun the Artemis program to further human exploration. The program is meant to provide a presence on the Moon and eventually Mars. Artemis I launched in 2022 and was an uncrewed flight to the Moon. This year, Artemis II launched and had four astronauts onboard but did not land on the Moon. Artemis III, which is set to launch in 2027, will also not land on the Moon, but Artemis IV is set for launch in 2028, will be the first Artemis mission to land on the Moon with humans onboard.
Artemis I lasted 25 days, from November 16th, 2022, to December 11th, 2022. Artemis I also traveled 1.4m miles on its mission. Artemis I had many goals for its mission: test Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, test the Orion heat shield, and test the precision for navigation and recovery of the rocket. It also set a record for the farthest spacecraft designed to carry humans and has traveled with 268,563 miles. Artemis I captured thousands of photos of the Moon, Earth, sunsets, sunrises, and even selfies of the Orion spacecraft.
Artemis II also traveled about 700,000 miles which isn’t as much as Artemis I, but the trip was half the time of the Artemis I trip. Artemis II captured nearly 10,000 photos and they were released on Tuesday. Artemis II had set a new record for the farthest distances that actually traveled, being at 252,756 miles. While reentering Earth’s atmosphere and passing behind the Moon, Artemis II experienced planned blackouts and communication systems with Earth were completely lost for several minutes.
Artemis II arrived in Houston on Saturday after their splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. NASA Commander,= Reid Wiseman had said, “Victor Christina, and Jeremy, we are bonded forever and no one down here is ever going to know what the four of us just went through.” He also commented about the hardship of being away from family and friends, “This was not easy being 200,000-plus miles away from home, […]. Like, before you launch it feels like it’s the greatest dream on Earth, and when you’re out there, you just want to get back to your families and your friends. It’s a special thing to be a human and it’s a special thing to be on planet Earth.”
He explains how amazing this experience was but also how stressful it was knowing that so many people are relying on you.
Jeremy Hansen also commented on the experience and how surreal it was for them, knowing it was as well for others on Earth: “We have a term in our crew that we coined a long time ago, the ‘joy train, […]. And it sounds like you saw a lot of joy up there. There was a lot of joy. We’re not always on the joy train, this crew, there are many times we’re not on the joy train, but we are committed to getting back on the joy train as soon as we can. And that is a useful life skill for any team trying to get something done.” He also talked to President Donald Trump about the mission. Trump praised him and encouraged others as well because of their courage and bravery. Trump had said, “You have a lot of courage, I’m not sure if they’d want to do that. I’m not even sure if ‘the great one’ would want to do that, to be honest with you, but you have a lot of courage doing what you’re doing, a lot of bravery and a lot of genius.” This mission was absolutely revolutionary and the bravery of the crew to expand our understanding of space is unmatched by any other human.
