Artemis II: They're back!

 

A short while ago the four astronauts of Artemis II successfully splashed down in the ocean off the coast of San Diego.  They made it!!

(I had been afraid of this mission.  They were in my prayers a LOT.)

For over a week I have been tuned in whenever I could to NASA's official YouTube feed, usually streaming it to the high-def television set in my living room.  I couldn't help but reflect on how our parents and grandparents (and now even some GREAT-grandparents) huddled around the tiny screen of the family TV to watch blurry black and white images from the Moon during the Apollo program over fifty years ago.  And now we get to watch it in full-size resolution in beautiful color straight from the Moon and across the Internet to our devices.

I've been hanging on everything that the crew of Artemis II did, and when they sent back those amazing pictures from their swing-around the Moon, it was the most beautiful spectacle that's I've seen in a very long time...

It's like we're back to a place where America was much more hopeful, far less cynical.  That era from before I was even born, when we could do amazing things.

Let's pray that feeling lasts awhile.

Read More

Artemis II has launched and is on its way to the Moon!

 

Godspeed Artemis II.

Or as Walter Cronkite would have said:

"Go Baby, GO!!!"

Watching Artemis II launch, I felt like a seven-year-old kid all over again.  It was 45 years ago this month that the Columbia launched on the very first mission for the space shuttle system.  I had wanted to finally watch real astronauts go up into space.  The mission had been delayed a few times already and I didn't want to miss it.  Finally, about ten minutes before time to head out to school at 8:30 in the morning, Columbia ignited and began its ascent.  I couldn't tear my eyes off the screen but Dad said "Okay, it's up.  NOW can we go?!"

I truly hope this will be a successful mission.  I've harbored a lot of concerns about Artemis II.  It would be such a shot in the arm for national morale... and the feelings of the world in general... if those four astronauts return safely.

History happened tonight.  May this be only the beginning of the next adventure of man's journey into the cosmos.

Read More

Dear NASA: Don't launch Artemis II tomorrow

Dear NASA administrators:

I have a member of my family who was part of the team at Kennedy Space Center in 1986.  On January 27th he begged the higher-ups not to launch Challenger.  The space shuttle was clearly not rated for launch in such below-freezing temperatures.

My relative's pleas were ignored.  We know what happened.

I confess that my own mind is not of the caliber of those who are engaged in America's space effort.  My formal training is in history, not aeronautics and engineering.  But I'm still begging you: do not launch the Artemis II mission tomorrow.  In fact, don't launch it at all.

The vehicle has too many issues that are being ignored, just as Challenger's were ignored for sake of the chance to have a successful mission.  The materials - especially the heat shield - are definitely not as sound as the ones that the Apollo craft were composed of.  The life support system is untested.  The rocket has leaked like a sieve so much during fueling that there is no telling what has been overlooked.

Look, few things would make me happier than to see Artemis II return to Earth with its crew of four having gone around the Moon, carrying people there for the first time in over fifty-three years.

I hate to tell you this though, but the NASA of today is not the NASA of the Sixties.  The Apollo program was an unprecedented focused effort to fulfill President Kennedy's goal of landing man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.  Almost the entirety of American industry played a role in making that happen.  There has been no such similar effort in the more than twenty years since Artemis was conceived.

I believe that humans can be returned to the Moon.  And that they can have a long-term presence there.  But such a thing cannot be rushed.  And that is what Artemis has always come across as being: a rush job.  No offense meant to its designers and builders.  And yes, I know that tomorrow is being seen as a day two decades in the making.  But it's still too soon.

So I'm begging y'all, refrain from launching Artemis II tomorrow.  Yes, daring to leap beyond the grasp of Earth is a magnificent endeavor.  But it also must be thoughtful and considerate.  And that isn't what I and others with better minds than mine are seeing is happening with this vessel.

Read More