As I write this the Orion spacecraft is on the ninth stage shown in the image below. It will be in the distant retrograde orbit (DRO) on Friday evening. It’s the eighth day of the Artemis 1 mission today. I don’t know why I am so obsessed with it. We have been on the moon before, right? Six missions have landed on the moon since Apollo 11 in 1969. The last mission on the moon was Apollo 17 in 1972. The Apollo program ended because there was nothing left to explore on the moon. After 12 American men have walked on the moon, it became too boring. The public lost interest and the US government decided they can use the money elsewhere.
Here we are again after 50 years, doing the same thing. This time it is called the Artemis program, named after Apollo’s twin sister according to Greek mythology. Artemis is considered the goddess of hunting, vegetation, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, and chastity. The aim of the Artemis program is to explore the moon and Mars. The first mission (Artemis 1), aims to test the uncrewed Orion spacecraft and the space launch system rocket. If the spacecraft orbits the moon and lands (splashes) back safely, I think the next step is to send the crew to the moon again. For a change maybe a woman will step on the moon this time.
By the way, who’s naming all these NASA programs and spacecraft? By all accounts in greek mythology, Artemis intentionally or unintentionally killed her friend/lover Orion. The names don’t make any sense. The whole mission to the moon doesn’t make any sense. The ultimate goal of the Artemis program is to explore Mars. Why not start there? How’s landing on the moon for the 7th time going to help land on Mars? What did we not get in the first 6 times?
Thanks for reading!