Business · Ars Technica
As they got close to the Moon, Artemis II astronauts were eager to land
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"If you had given them the keys to the lander, they would have taken it down.
Key facts
- But it was also very clear to them that it could get real bumpy, real fast.” The mission’s commander, Reid Wiseman, said he had a technical epiphany 250,000 miles from Earth — We were in surface spacewalk suits, doing surface geology tasks, and doing them well,” said Christina Koch, a mission specialist on the Artemis II mission
- Only a week before the Artemis II mission lifted off, when the crew was already in quarantine, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced that the space agency was pivoting away from a lunar space
- (The team were) able to complete an entire battery of very challenging surface tasks
Summary
NASA is apparently pretty serious about building a base on the Moon, and the astronauts who flew there say it is “absolutely doable.” Within two days of landing on Earth, the Artemis II astronauts were already back in spacesuits, working as if they had landed in a gravity well and had ventured outside onto the lunar surface for a spacewalk. “We were in surface spacewalk suits, doing surface geology tasks, and doing them well,” said Christina Koch, a mission specialist on the Artemis II mission. Their mission, a smashing success, tested a NASA rocket and spacecraft on the first human flight into deep space in more than five decades. It represents the opening salvo of NASA’s Artemis campaign and comes amid significant changes to the program. Koch said this announcement energized the crew and the mission. “This mission taught me that the unknown is way scarier than the known,” she said.
But it was also clear to them that it could get real bumpy, real fast.” The mission’s commander, Reid Wiseman, said he had a technical epiphany 250,000 miles from Earth. He felt a strong urge to land on the Moon, and if they’d had a lander, they would have eagerly done it. “It’s not—oh, I’m gonna eat these words—it’s not the leap I thought it was,” Wiseman said.