What’s going on: The Artemis II crew showed us the moon in a new light, reminded us that awe isn’t dead, and broke our hearts open along the way. Now, this team filled with firsts (the first woman and first person of color on a lunar mission and the first trip around the moon in 53 years) prepares for the hardest part of their mission: reentry. Splashdown is expected at 8 pm ET today off the coast of San Diego, California. For a successful return, it all comes down to the heat shield, the part of the spacecraft that protects both the carrier and the astronauts from temperatures that could reach 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat shield has to work, because there’s no backup plan. It’s a big bet, but one that NASA feels confident about.
Remind me about the mission: Artemis II traveled behind the moon, so far beyond that Earth’s signals (and NASA) couldn’t reach them. For 40 minutes it was just the crew and the sound of the universe. What they saw put everything going on down here into perspective — and don’t even get us started on the Carroll moment. (Too late, already crying.) But the trip was worth more than just the social media memories. A satellite can’t tell you if we can survive deep space or make the kind of observations only a human can. The mission is also stage one of a multi-decade plan to build a permanent lunar station and mine the moon for this medical and technological necessity — before China or Russia do so. Who knows, maybe Jimmy Buffett was right. Some day we might all have beach houses on the moon.
