Integrity Is On Its Way Home!
After the triumphant launch of Artemis II just over 8 days ago, the Orion Integrity is finally on its homeward trajectory, propelled by our Moon’s gravity.
I've had a lot of feelings about this journey that I've been struggling to put into words and have wanted to write about them since the launch, but those words have evaded me. I’ve finally decided to just start writing and let it all come to me as it wants to.
Bittersweet.
More sweet than bitter, but it is difficult to not get pulled into the swamp of negativity when the swamp is so damn loud.
I’ll start with the negative to get it out of the way; I’m not one to take TikTok (stick with me here…) comments seriously, if at all, but there is something to be said for the sheer amount of them so proudly proclaiming that they know the complete and utter truth, and no government-funded ‘woke’ program is going to convince them otherwise. That we have never sent ANY rocket to the Moon (ever), that there isn’t even a ‘space’ to fly to, and that Earth is and always has been flat.
I even saw one comment—in reply to someone asking why they thought the whole thing was a lie—say “Why would we fly a rocket to the Moon during the day?”, implying the Moon only existed at night…
It is apparent that a number of said comments are purely for rage engagement. It’s easy to spot once you know what you’re looking for, but when you don’t it is even easier to fall into the trap.
One could argue that I am spending too much time on TikTok and that is why I’m seeing all of these comments to begin with. That’s probably true, but I don’t believe the platform is all doom and gloom, chalked up to nothing of merit and full of slop. It’s not. For the plethora of ignorant (be it by choice or by blameless lack of knowledge) comments I’ve seen, it is made up for ten-fold by the many more awe-inspiring edits, outpourings of love, and glowing hopefulness scattered down my ‘For You’ page. These people are blogging! I have seen people in tears over what Artemis II and it’s crew are achieving; I don’t think we should discredit those emotions purely because of the platform they exist on! TikTok itself though? Not great. I won't get into that right now, though…
Before the Integrity capsule began its journey around the far-side of the Moon, where it would be completely cut off from any communication with Earth thus leaving it’s crew of 4 the only humans in existence to be utterly alone in the universe, Mission Pilot Victor Glover had this to share…
“Thank you to all of you for allowing us the immense privilege to be on this journey together—it’s quite amazing—and as we go on this journey thinking about the NASA mission to explore the unknown in air and space to innovate for the benefit of humanity and to inspire the world through discovery, and as you’ve gone along on this journey with us, hopefully we’re doing just those things.
As we get close to the nearest point of the moon and our farthest point from earth, as we continue to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos, I would like to remind you of one of the most important mysteries there on Earth—and that’s love. Christ said in response to “What was the greatest command?” that it was to “Love God with all that you are.”—and He also said, being a great Teacher, the second one is equal to it, and it’s to “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
And so, as we prepare to go out of radio communication, we’re still going to feel your love from earth. And to all of you down there on earth and around earth, we love you from the moon.”
That’s quite a long quote, but I believe its impact is dampened when chopped up for the sake of brevity. It is a sentiment that all 4 astronauts have shared throughout their 10 day journey, and one they continue to share amongst their discoveries. A projection of love, not only for our planet but also for all of us; for Humanity.
“You don’t see borders, you don’t see religious lines, you don’t see political boundaries. All you see is Earth and you see that we are way more alike than we are different.”
This is where I, unfortunately, fall back into that bittersweet feeling. Again, mostly sweet. Hopeful, actually. I am hopeful. Which is an incredibly hard thing to be right now, considering… literally everything. I have pretty much always had the opinion of "This is stupid, we are all on this random ass rock floating through an endless void, why the fuck are we fighting about anything." Which is usually followed by something along the lines of "Why the fuck do I need to pay taxes?! Why do I need to pay for anything?! What even is money???!?!??!?!" The idea of 'normality' looks incredibly stupid when you face it with the reality of existing on Big Floaty Space Rock ™.
I want the World—aka its 'Leaders'—to just stop. Just stop doing… all that. Look at where we are, what life could be, and just do that instead. Bring back trading! Bring back community! Bring back connection! What are we doing?!
Anyway…
Here Are Some Things About Artemis II That Make Me Want to Cry…
Artemis, in mythological terms, is a Goddess often associated with the Moon. Despite being a Goddess of the hunt and the wilderness, she is commonly associated with the Moon usually due to Apollo's association with the Sun. Why does Apollo matter? Well…
Apollo, the namesake of NASA's previous space missions, is Artemis' twin brother. Artemis is following in her brother's footsteps!!!
The capsule making its way around the Moon is of the Orion class, named after Artemis' companion Orion. When Orion died, Artemis placed him amongst the stars as a constellation. Artemis II was launched into the cosmos to fire the Orion capsule into the stars on its path to the Moon.
Integrity is carrying some extremely poignant cargo! This includes: An original silk patch from the Apollo 8 mission, the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon; The American flag that was supposed to have flown with the Apollo 18 crew; An inch square of fabric from the Wright brothers' Flyer (are you kidding me??!?!?); and Rise, the Artemis mascot who is carrying the SD card full of names submitted by people all over the planet…
After going dark as they passed 'behind' the Moon, they emerged with the news that they would like to name a crater on the far-side after Reid Wiseman's late wife, Carroll, who passed in 2020 from cancer. Talk about "I love you to the Moon and back"… And their 2 daughters being able to look up at the Moon and see her every night? Don't talk to me-
This flight breaks so many records! The 1st Woman beyond LEO (Christina Koch), the 1st Person of Colour beyond LEO (Victor Glover), the 1st Non-US citizen near Moon (Jeremy Hansen, Canada), and the furthest journey into space any human being has ever taken!
There's a specific picture of Koch looking out the window of Integrity towards Earth, and someone commented "Just two women looking at each other" and it made me want to eat my fist. Shut up right now.
They made contact with the ISS! Koch called Jessica Meir her 'astro sister', and both crews had dinner together.
I think we should all be incredibly proud of what we have achieved, and I hope you share my sentiment of looking forward to the future of the Artemis program and also for Humanity's journey on Earth and in space!
It's not all bad…
"Spaceship Earth"
NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon.
Image Credit: NASA
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