Life After Artemis II’s Splashdown
At roughly 3:30am (BST) on 11th April, I went to sleep knowing that the four crew members of the Artemis II mission were safely back on Planet Earth after 10 days of space joy.
Despite having stayed up late to watch them splashdown, I still woke up yesterday morning expecting to see the NASA live stream playing, as I have each morning. But no, there was nothing.
Even after remembering their journey was over, I still checked the NASA YouTube channel “just in case” and of course there was no stream. What do I do with my time now? I don’t know yet. I’ll find something.
For 10 days straight, I lived (all be it visually) in the Orion capsule alongside Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy watching each historic moment unfold simultaneously with millions of others across the world.
At certain points I felt like I was working for NASA frequently checking the latest telemetry data on their app, looking at each days upcoming events and pouring over all the stunning images taken that were beamed back to Earth (a couple of which proudly are wallpapers on my phone and laptop).
As I live in the United Kingdom it meant staying up late in order to watch all the events live but each hour of sleep lost and each groggy morning was worth every second. Already I can’t wait to do it all again next year for Artemis III.
There are two people who weren’t in space but I think deserve highlighting: Jenni Gibbons and Leah Cheshire.
Jenni was one of the backup astronauts but also served as CAPCOM numerous times throughout the mission. Her rapport with the crew was infectious and it was clear how excited she was throughout. I hope she may experience the same and go to space in future missions.
Leah is a NASA public affairs officer and regularly presents their broadcasts for missions such as Artemis II. Her clear and concise way of keeping viewers up to date with the latest information was impeccable. Just like Jenni her excitement for what we were witnessing was infectious. It is clear they both love their jobs.
This mission and the four incredible astronauts have undoubtedly helped the science community to understand more about the Moon as well as in the not too distant future land on the Moon. But unlike before, this time to stay permanently.
Not only have they helped the science community but they have helped the whole of humanity at a time where the world seems more divided and joyless than ever.
They brought together people across the world and brought immense joy through their unfaltering positivity and hope for the little blue dot floating in space that we call home.
The whole point of this post was to detail the immense joy I experienced watching this mission but I must also note how much it has made me think about life, Earth and its meaning. One word that comes to mind is precious. Just how precious it makes you realise our world is when you zoom out of the day to day dramas and heat. That can be a whole other blog post once I’ve fully digested my thoughts but for now…
To Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy: Welcome Home! And thank you for your work, positivity and shared love for Earth and humanity throughout. This has been an unforgettable moment in history which you should all be immensely proud of 💚
PS: NASA please release the Artemis II mascot, Rise, as a plushy for us to buy 🥹