You donât have to be an avid space fanatic to be familiar with terms like âHouston, we have a problemâ and âOne small step for man, one giant leap for mankindâ.
Humanityâs forays into the black beyond thus far have been the stuff of legend, the nuts and bolts of the narratives prettied up and offered to the masses through countless films, books, and documentaries.
The current Artemis II mission looks to have already taken its place in the history books. NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and the Canadian Space Agencyâs Jeremy Hansen launched on Wednesday (1 April) aboard a 322-foot rocket, beginning their journey beyond Earthâs orbit.
Part of the missionâs significance is that it was to break the record for human spaceflightâs farthest distance from Earth, previously set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
Needless to say, a great many people have been following the Artemisâ progress. Arguably the most nerve-wracking period of the journey so far was when the crew passed around the far side of the moon, losing contact with Mission Control in Houston, Texas for 40 minutes.
The period of lost contact was preplanned, with the technology being used to communicate between the crew and Mission Control blocked by the moon.
Artemis pilot Victor Glover had revealed previously that they would spend the 40 minutes praying that they would âget back in contact with the crewâ.
Fortunately, the gap in communication didnât drag on for any longer than it needed to. Mission specialist Christina Kochâs words could be heard without issue when the computers on board Orion came to life at exactly the right time according to schedule.
The first four words she said were: âHouston, Integrity, comm check,â followed by âIt is so great to hear from Earth again.â
Koch then delivered a rousing speech, adding:
âTo Asia, Africa and Oceana, we are looking back at you, we hear you can look up and see the moon right now. We see you too.
âWhen we burned this bird towards the moon, I said that we do not leave Earth, but we choose it and that is true.
âWe will explore, we will build, we will build ships, we will visit again.
âWe will construct science outposts. We will drive rovers, we will do radio astronomy, we will found companies, we will bolster industry.
âWe will inspire but ultimately we will always choose Earth.
âWe will always choose each other,â she finished.
The historic mission has been a roaring success so far, with Koch and the rest of the Artemis crew now on their way back to earth.
