Artemis II prepares to launch. Photo captured by NASA
The Artemis II space mission launch took place on April 1 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Commanded by U.S. astronaut Reid Wiseman, the goal of this mission was to test new NASA systems for travel to the moon and back. It was the first NASA mission with a crew since Apollo 17 in 1972, according to NASA.
While NASA plans to expand the Artemis program, Dr. Travis Rector, an astrophysics professor at UAA, said in an interview with The Northern Light that a lack of political motivation and funding exists.
He said that without these two factors, the program is not stable.
The 10-day Artemis II mission was historic, as the crew achieved several milestones. It included U.S. astronauts, Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover and Christina Koch.
Hansen was the first Canadian to travel to the moon, according to the National Air and Space Museum.
Glover was the first Black astronaut on a lunar mission and Koch is the first woman to travel beyond Earth’s orbit and venture into deep space, as reported by The New York Times.
Nationwide attention was captured when Commander Reid Wiseman named a newly observed lunar crater after his late wife, Carroll Taylor Wiseman.
Rector said it was a touching moment.
According to NASA, Artemis II intended to pave the way for Artemis III, which will aim to land astronauts on the Moon. Artemis III plans launch in September 2027.
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