If you are like me, you think space is neat.
As a child, I devoured documentaries about Apollo. Everyone knows, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” (Neil Armstrong wrote that. What a badass), but to be honest, I have always been much more moved by the thing Neil said before that, “OK, I’m going to step off the LEM now … .”
Apparently, Apollo was an Olympian god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing and archery. A brilliant shot — not just “a hit,” a “bullseye,” but, like, the kind that makes you healthy?
And also, apparently, Artemis was his sister. A goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, the wild and childbirth. Very cool.
If you are like me, you can’t get over Artemis II. We threw a “van-sized” capsule with four people in it not just at the moon but beyond it, and then we plucked them out of the Pacific where they landed nine days later.
According to one NASA administrator, the entry range for Artemis II (the circle on the Earth representing the projected space where Artemis II will land after we threw it at the moon) was 1,957 miles — and the crew landed within a mile of their target. That is a 0.4 percent deviation — from the moon. Bullseye. Poetry.
There is footage from a Navy diver who enters the capsule in the Pacific, just off the coast of San Diego. The door opens, everyone inside the capsule and outside of it cheers, and we get to climb inside and see the four bright orange space explorers sitting there waiting to be taken home. All smiles.
The Apollo missions have so many memorable moments. We take a “small step” and “we have a problem.” We learned long ago that in going to the moon what we discovered was Earth. Each other.
But one thing keeps hitting me with this new moonshot. It’s the hugging. It’s the moon joy. It’s the emphasis on all. The collaborative effort that is required for “Integrity.” The Apollo crew had The Right Stuff, that’s for certain, but they weren’t big on hugs. The Artemis crew not only has the right stuff, they hug.
At a time where jocular cruelty reigns, the people going to the moon chose hugs. Victor Glover, the Artemis II pilot, quotes an adage (often attributed as an African proverb), “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” And so, we went to the moon — together.
There are so many great photos from Artemis II. Earthset. The solar eclipse. The cameras held by people continue to surpass those aimed by a probe. But one photo really sticks with me. It’s from the feed right after they name Carroll crater — they all hug. A big group hug, in zero G. I don’t think Apollo ever did that.
Christina Koch says we are, all of us on Earth, a crew. But to be honest, looking around at how things are right now, I’m skeptical. I want to believe her. Even if only out of necessity. If “… we have a problem …,” the good news is we are still together. And together we can go far.
So, “Let’s go.”
Aaron Donaldson (he/him) has been a collegiate educator and speech and debate coach for more than 20 years. He has lectured in the Department of Communication at Cal Poly Humboldt since 2015 and lives in Arcata with his family and two filthy dogs.
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