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Never-before-glimpsed views of the moon\u2019s far side. Check. Total solar eclipse gracing the lunar scene. Check. New distance record for humanity. Check.<\/p>\n
With\u00a0NASA\u2019s lunar comeback\u00a0a galactic-sized smash thanks to Artemis II, the world is wondering: What\u2019s next? And how do you top that?<\/p>\n
\u201cTo people all around the world who look up and dream about what is possible, the long wait is over,\u201d NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said as he introduced Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada\u2019s Jeremy Hansen at\u00a0Saturday\u2019s jubilant homecoming celebration.<\/p>\n
Now that the first lunar travelers in more than a half-century are safely back in Houston with their families, NASA has Artemis III in its sights.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next mission\u2019s right around the corner,\u201d entry flight director Rick Henfling observed following the crew\u2019s Pacific splashdown on Friday.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0a mission recently added to the docket\u00a0for next year, Artemis III\u2019s yet-to-be -named astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin are racing to have their company\u2019s lander ready first.<\/p>\n
Musk\u2019s Starship and Bezos\u2019 Blue Moon are vying for the all-important Artemis IV moon landing in 2028. Two astronauts will aim for the south polar region, the preferred location for Isaacman\u2019s envisioned $20 billion to $30 billion moon base. Vast amounts of ice are almost certainly hidden in permanently shadowed craters there \u2014 ice that could provide water and rocket fuel.<\/p>\n
The docking mechanism for Artemis III\u2019s close-to-home trial run is already at Florida\u2019s Kennedy Space Center. The latest model Starship is close to launching on a test flight from South Texas, and a scaled-down version of Blue Moon will attempt a lunar landing later this year.<\/p>\n
NASA promises to announce the Artemis III crew \u201csoon.\u201d Like 1969\u2019s Apollo 9, Artemis III aims to reduce risk for the moon landings that follow.<\/p>\n
Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart loved flying the lunar module in low-Earth orbit \u2014 \u201ca test pilot\u2019s dream.\u201d But there\u2019s no question, he noted, that \u201cthe real astronauts\u201d at least in the public\u2019s mind were the ones who walked on the moon.<\/p>\n
Wiseman and his crew put their passion and feelings on full display as they flew around the moon and back, choking up over lost loved ones as well as those left behind on Earth.<\/p>\n
During the their nearly 10-day journey, they tearfully requested that a fresh, bright lunar crater be named\u00a0after Wiseman\u2019s late wife, Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020. They also openly shared their love for one another and Planet Earth, an exquisite yet delicate oasis in the black void that they said needs better care.<\/p>\n
Artemis II included the first woman, the first person of color and the first non-U.S. citizen to fly to the moon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWonderful communicators, almost poets,\u201d Isaacman said from the recovery ship while awaiting their return.<\/p>\n
Apollo\u2019s manly, all-business moon crews of the 1960s and 1970s certainly did not do group hugs.<\/p>\n
For those old enough to remember Apollo, Artemis \u2014 Apollo\u2019s twin sister in Greek mythology \u2014 couldn\u2019t come fast enough.<\/p>\n
Author Andy Chaikin said he felt like Rip Van Winkle awakening from a nearly 54-year nap. His 1994 biography \u201cA Man on the Moon\u201d led to the HBO miniseries \u201cFrom the Earth to the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s amazing how far we\u2019ve come and how different this experience is from back then,\u201d Chaikin said from Johnson Space Center late last week.<\/p>\n
The hardest part, according to NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, is becoming so close to the crews and their families and then blasting them to the moon. He anxiously monitored Friday\u2019s reentry alongside the astronauts\u2019 spouses and children.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what\u2019s at stake,\u201d Kshatriya confided afterward. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take risk to explore, but you have to make sure you find the right line between being paralyzed by it and being able to manage it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calling it \u201cmission complete\u201d only after being reunited with his two daughters, Wiseman issued a rallying cry to the rows of blue-flight-suited astronauts at Saturday\u2019s celebration.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is time to go and be ready,\u201d he said, pointing at them, \u201cbecause it takes courage. It takes determination, and you all are freaking going and we are going to be standing there supporting you every single step of the way in every possible way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
#Artemis #III #practice #docking #Musks #Starship #Bezos #Blue #Moon #compete #Artemis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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