Don’t you love the photographs of the Earth taken by the astronauts on board the spaceship Artemis 2? I know we’ve seen pics of Earth from space before, but there’s something special about seeing them on the same day they’re taken. Artemis 2 has passed the far side of the moon – which we can never see from Earth – reached its turning point 406,773km away and is on its way home.
These astronauts have travelled further than anyone has ever before, breaking the record set in 1970 by Apollo 13. What’s unusual about this space flight is the amount of communication from on board the spaceship via video links. Perhaps the technology wasn’t available in earlier space flights. I liked the video of astronaut Christina Koch turned plumber when the loo on board malfunctioned: “I’m proud to call myself the space plumber,” she said. I’ve always wondered how they dealt with human excreta, because everything floats in a spaceship. Go online to get the details. We’ve also seen their meals, dehydrated and packed in plastic bags. Christina held up a bag of yellow stuff that was apparently shrimp cocktail. She declared it “pretty tasty”. The Artemis 2 astronauts have also been sharing their feelings in the video links in a way we’ve not seen before. Perhaps they’ve been told to do so. NASA needs public support for its massively expensive space programme so I suppose the more communication with the public the better. In one video Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman described the astronauts as “explorers at heart”. “It really bends your mind to experience these unique things,” he said. “It brings you joy as a human and a lot of excitement, and you are humbled. The fact that the four of us get to be out here just brings you to your knees. I know those photos are amazing, but let me assure you, it is another level of amazing up here.” Exciting as it is, the Artemis 2 crew are by no means the first to see the dark side of the moon (remember the Pink Floyd album of the same name?). The first were the crew of the Apollo 8 – Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders – in December 1968. It was Anders who captured the now famous shot “Earthrise”, of the Earth rising over the moon. That photograph apparently had a profound impact on people, and according to the BBC is considered “one of the most influential in history, often credited with sparking the modern environmental movement”. The first photographs of the dark side of the moon were taken in 1959 by the Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft. Later their Luna 9 spacecraft was the first to land on the moon and send back images. So, what is the point of the Artemis 2 mission? Well, it’s part of NASA’s larger programme to return to the moon in increasingly difficult missions, with the goal of establishing a permanent base on the moon. From there NASA will “build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.” We’re really reaching for the stars.
