Hello, world: Artemis

Commander Reid Wiseman’s photograph of the Earth is a perspective we haven’t had since Apollo 17’s “Blue Marble” in 1972:

NASA/Commander Reid Wiseman, (original)

On Scientific Progress

NASA/Commander Reid Wiseman, (original)

This view from inside the Orion spacecraft certainly evokes a special feeling. This is the Earth, this is our home – but we’ve (at least my generation) never seen it like this, not out of a spacecraft. In my opinion, it represents the pinnacle of human endeavour, taking flight again after a 50-odd year break.

I certainly hope that this launch creates the same influx of kids into STEM as the Apollo and Saturn launches did decades ago. It’s easy to question the cost and necessity of these things, especially with all that’s happening back home, but I don’t think we can put a price on scientific progress. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, along with everybody else who worked on this program, are pushing us closer towards the Moon than we’ve been in the past 5 decades: that’s certainly a feat of humanity worth admiring.

NASA/Eric Bordelon, (original)