Artemis 1 went to the Moon and came back

Artemis 1 is complete. The Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific on December 11th after a 25-day journey around the Moon and back.

No crew. This was an uncrewed test flight. But the capsule carried cameras, and the images it sent back are something I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

Orion flew closer to the Moon than any spacecraft designed for human habitation since Apollo 17 in 1972. It passed within 130 kilometers of the lunar surface, close enough to see individual craters in the photos. Then it swung out to a distance of 432,000 kilometers from Earth, farther than any human-rated spacecraft has ever traveled.

The heat shield survived reentry at 40,000 km/h and 2,760 degrees Celsius. The parachutes deployed. The capsule floated.

It worked.

Fifty years

Gene Cernan climbed into the lunar module ascent stage on December 14, 1972, and left the Moon. His bootprints are still there. In the vacuum, with no wind and no weather, they’ll last for millions of years.

Fifty years between the last departure and the first return mission. I’ve been trying to understand that gap. Half a century where we had the capability to go to the Moon and chose not to. Not because we couldn’t. Because we decided to spend the money and attention elsewhere.

The ESA contributed the Orion service module, which is a nice symbol: going back to the Moon is an international effort this time. But the gap still bothers me. Fifty years is a long time to leave bootprints waiting.

Will it feel the same?

Artemis 2 will carry astronauts around the Moon without landing. Artemis 3 will land. The plan is to put humans on the lunar surface again by 2025 or 2026, although NASA timelines tend to slide.

When it happens, will it feel the same as Apollo?

I don’t think so. Apollo was two superpowers racing. The Moon landing was a geopolitical statement wrapped in a spacesuit. The emotion of Apollo was triumph. We got there first.

Artemis is different. The Cold War is over. The motivation is scientific (studying the lunar south pole), commercial (proving technologies for Mars), and, I think, emotional. We need to see ourselves as a species that goes places. A species that leaves the planet, even if just for a visit.

The feeling of Artemis, when it finally happens, might be less triumph and more relief. We still can. We haven’t forgotten. The bootprints won’t be alone forever.

I’m looking forward to it. Even if it takes longer than NASA says. The capsule works. The heat shield works. The rockets work, more or less. The rest is time and will.

Fifty years. But we’re going back.

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