By Marc W. Polite
Good morning to all of my readers. As some of you know, I am somewhat of a space enthusiast. I have been following the Artemis 2 mission for the past 10 days. Last night at 8:07 pm, the Artemis crew successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
It is a wonderful thing to witness a successful space mission. NASA, through careful planning and execution, brought four human beings around the moon and back to Earth safely. I would like to make a few observations at this time.
One, this mission shows that space exploration is best left to scientists. We see here a real-life example of experts pooling their collective efforts, whether it be in the mission control room or the team selected to make this inspiring journey. It is a counterexample to private companies headed by technocrats that can’t even manage to launch an uncrewed rocket without it exploding. Let’s defer to the experts, not the tech bros.
Further, this mission shows the importance of funding science properly. Those of us who followed the NASA live feed overheard how intricate the planning and coordination was on this mission. From real-time telemetry data to providing a spot on timeline of expected re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, the necessity of supporting science with dollars is apparent. Hopefully, one of the after effects of this mission will be to cut through some of the anti-science sentiment that has unfortunately taken hold of sizeable segments of the population in this country.
Second, and this is more of a personal take- is who NASA sent into space. Three Americans and one Canadian. Victor Glover, who was the pilot, was the first Black American to travel to the area of the moon. He has three masters degrees, and thousands of flight hours. Christina Koch, is the first woman assigned to a lunar crew. NASA chose diversity, and ignored the wider attacks encouraged on “DEI”, and achieved excellence in the process.
A point I want to make here is this- note how this whole crew is people who were born in the 1970’s. NASA really sent a crew of Gen- X’ers into space. In a time where ageism silently becomes a problem for some, this is an inspiring counterexample. The uncomfortable truth is that age discrimination starts at around 35. When private industry wants to marginalize older workers and supplant them with AI, NASA intentionally chose experienced people for this mission. That did not go unnoticed by sections of the public, including this writer.
A less tangible aspect of this, but necessary nonetheless, is the inspiration aspect. Sending human beings into space inspires people. Whether it is a group of elementary school children watching the launch, or people in their 60s and 70s following the livestream, using the technological developments of the 21st century to do this held the attention of millions. At the risk of sounding ridiculous, I will write here that the Artemis 2 mission is the feel-good story of 2026. For the first time in a while, I was glued to the TV for 10 days over an occurrence that is not a disaster. Most of the news we receive conjures up a sense of existential dread. If it’s not pointless foreign wars or technology being used to snatch away your livelihood, it’s something else negative. This was a moment of reprieve, for a change. One that many of us needed, whether we realized it or not.
M.W.P.