You have full access to this article via your institution.
Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here.
Majestic photos of Earth juxtaposed against the Moon, as seen from Artemis II, are sure to become iconic portraits of our home planet. Our photo team stayed up late last night hoping for these first images , but we only spotted glimpses on the tablet of commander Reid Wiseman on the mission’s livestream. Now they are here to marvel at. See more on NASA’s free image repository on Flickr. (NASA)
Backstory: from the Nature reporter’s perspective
Here at mission control, reporters and VIPs are flooding the humid, grassy campus of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. (I’ve also spotted deer and possums ambling around.) Everywhere you look there are images — including life-sized cutouts — of the four Artemis II astronauts: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. The sound of the mission’s livestreamed audio echoes through the lobby of the giant auditorium, where media are staked out below a giant mural of space shuttles and space stations.
After all the years building up to this flight, to the return of humans to the Moon, I’m almost surprised by how well the mission has been going. Apart from some minor glitches, like the infamous space toilet that was “no-go” for a while, the flight has proceeded remarkably smoothly. It almost belies the enormous technical challenges of designing and building the rocket and capsule that ultimately took these four souls around the Moon.
Science is not the main point of Artemis II. But as several scientists with the mission pointed out to me this week, the voices of the astronauts soar with joy when they talk about observing the Moon, the Sun and the stars. Pilot Victor Glover is turning out to be something of the poet of the mission, waxing eloquent on the “magic” he sees in lunar features, such as the illuminated mountains he calls “islands of light”.
Amidst the chaos and fighting that reigns these days across much of planet Earth, Artemis II is turning out to be the respite we all needed.
News
I watched the Orion capsule make its swing around the Moon from the ‘Science Evaluation Room’, a brand-new workspace in the main mission control building. The Artemis II crew were in constant contact with the scientific team on Earth, describing their observations — both objective and emotional — and batting questions back and forth about what they were seeing. I captured some of the key moments on Nature’s live blog; here are two of my most memorable:
• Audible gasps among the science team as the astronauts reported seeing green and brown colours on the Moon. “The more I look at the Moon, the browner and browner it looks,” one of the astronauts said. Detecting colour differences was one of the science team’s main goals.
• They saw impact flashes! These bursts of light happen when tiny meteorites hit the lunar surface. Mission scientists were hoping the astronauts would spot some, but couldn’t be sure. Artemis II’s science officer Kelsey Young put her hand up to her head in awe in mission control on hearing that they had.
Nature live blog | Leisurely scroll
News
Lunar scientists, in particular, were eager to discover what the astronauts observe as the first people to see much of the far side of the Moon with the naked eye. (Apollo astronauts travelled too close to the surface to get a wide view, and it was dark.) The far side of the Moon is markedly different to its near side, with far fewer vast lava flows, a thicker crust and many more impact craters. At the top of many researchers’ lists is the Orientale basin — a huge, multi-ringed impact basin in the Moon’s southern hemisphere. Orientale “holds a lot of importance in understanding impact cratering across the Solar System”, says science officer Kelsey Young.
Image credit: NASA
Opinion
“Between 1969 and 1972, Apollo astronauts left 96 bags of human waste — urine, faeces and vomit — on the lunar surface,” notes aerospace engineer Moriba Jah. “But who decided it was acceptable to leave them there?” Jah has spent his career studying the environment of Earth’s orbit, which is “quietly filling with debris and dead satellites”. He urges us to consider how to prevent the Moon — a shared domain that is meaningful in every human culture — becoming similarly tarnished. “With Artemis, we have a chance to go to the Moon not as conquerors of a new frontier, but as stewards,” he writes. “That would be a giant leap.”
Context
China wants to send several astronauts to the lunar surface by 2030 and build a permanent base there. The country’s first uncrewed test of its Mengzhou spacecraft took place in February. NASA plans to get its own astronauts onto the surface in 2028, but its ambitious schedule has often failed to reach its targets. “There is a possibility that China will get to the Moon first,” says space researcher Quentin Parker. But the country doesn’t frame its goals in terms of a cold-war style space race. “They’re just doing their own thing,” says planetary geologist Clive Neal.
News
A memory that will stay with me forever is being in the Mission Control Center itself at the moment when mission controllers woke up the astronauts yesterday for their lunar fly-by. The wake-up song — Good Morning, by Mandisa — was followed by a recording of the late Jim Lovell, who travelled around the Moon twice: once as pilot of the Apollo 8 mission in 1968 and again as he guided the Apollo 13 mission safely back to Earth in 1970. “Welcome to my old neighbourhood,” he said, addressing the Artemis II astronauts by name. “I know how busy you’ll be, but don’t forget to enjoy the view.” Hearing Lovell’s voice drifting over the broadcast caused more than a few hardy engineers to tear up.
One of yesterday’s most moving moments happened as the crew set a record for the farthest distance from Earth. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen passed on their request for a new moniker for a newish, as-yet-unnamed Moon crater: ‘Carroll’, after the late wife of mission commander Reid Wiseman. “It’s a bright spot on the Moon,” said an audibly moved Hansen, just before he was embraced by Wiseman. The crew could be seen wiping away tears and sharing a group hug — a moment that reflected the close bond and mutual support that seemed to be constantly in evidence between the team members, both in the capsule and on the ground.
On Thursday, Leif Penguinson was also following the launch of a Moon mission. Our feathered friend stepped back in time to join the government–industry team gathered in the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, to watch the launch of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission. Did you find the penguin? When you’re ready, here’s the answer.
Thanks for reading,
Alexandra Witze, correspondent, Nature
With contributions by Flora Graham & Jacob Smith
• Nature Briefing: Careers — insights, advice and award-winning journalism to help you optimize your working life
• Nature Briefing: Microbiology — the most abundant living entities on our planet — microorganisms — and the role they play in health, the environment and food systems
• Nature Briefing: Anthropocene — climate change, biodiversity, sustainability and geoengineering
• Nature Briefing: AI & Robotics — 100% written by humans, of course
• Nature Briefing: Cancer — a weekly newsletter written with cancer researchers in mind
• Nature Briefing: Translational Research — covers biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma
