GoKawiilNASA/Sam Lott
I grew up watching the Apollo moon missions. It was absolutely thrilling -- every liftoff, every step on the lunar surface, every splashdown on the safe return to Earth. Then, suddenly, it was over, and more than 50 years have passed since humans made that epic journey so far from home. Now, the Artemis program has arrived to bring back that sense of awe. Space travel has never been exactly humdrum, but after so many successful space shuttle, Soyuz and SpaceX flights into orbit and long-term residencies at the International Space Station, it has gotten routine.
Artemis II is here to shake things up.
Which got me thinking about where this is taking us. The Apollo program was the culmination of the first wave of space exploration, an epoch of heroic achievement by scientists, engineers and astronauts alike. The Artemis missions mark the start of a whole new era of space exploitation. It won't be long now before we are tapping into the moon's natural resources, before space mining becomes a career option. Elon Musk, rather than Neil Armstrong, could soon be the face of our lunar endeavors. I hope the sense of wonder and adventure stays with us.