My Thoughts on Artemis II

12, 11, 10, 9, ignition sequence — to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are zero Lift off. We have a lift off. 32 minutes past the hour. This is it. We're back, baby. We're back. Over half a century ago, a nation reached out and accomplished what could be considered humanity's greatest achievement. Human beings walked on the surface of another world. The Apollo era is one of such unfathomable technical brilliance and ambition that many today struggle to comprehend how it could even be possible. They doubt that it ever even happened. And whatever your view, that doubt is a tragic reflection of our ever-diminishing aspirations, that our self-belief has plummeted so deeply that we cannot accept that awesome achievement. How far we have fallen. Yes, it was an astonishing technological achievement and a triumph for the United States. Yes, the astronauts displayed death-defying courage. Yes, as Armstrong said as he first alighted, this was a historic step for the human species. But if you turned off the byplay between mission control and the Sea of Tranquility with its deliberately mundane and routine chatter and stared into that black and white television monitor you could glimpse that we humans had entered the realm of myth and legend. All told, 12 and only 12 humans have ever walked on a world other than the Earth. 12 American men. The last two were Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt with Apollo 17 in 1972. And I think many of us have long wished that Apollo era wasn't just a transient episode, but rather represented the beginning, the birth of a spacefaring civilization, settlements peppered across the solar system, launchpads to the stars. For many of us who dream of space exploration, we could be easily forgiven for harboring a resentment that Apollo didn't turn into something more. You gave us a taste of something so wonderful, thirsted for more. You know, when you look back at the history since then, the state of the modern world, it's tempting to conclude a very grim outlook for what lies ahead. One might be forgiven for believing that our best days might be behind us. The enshittification of everything from TV shows to a bag of chips, that we all need to hold two or three jobs now, live in smaller apartments with higher rents and eat processed foods just to stay alive. It's easy to spiral like that. Trust me, I know. But remember that the people who put humans on the moon six decades ago were not superhuman. More or less, the same blood courses through your veins as it did through theirs. It took enormous force of will to pull off what seemed impossible, but it also proved that even the moon cannot stand in the way of human ambition. Apollo proved that through sacrifice, toil, and a mountain of hard work, we can achieve wonders. Not through individual brilliance, but by thousands of people working together in common cause, that is unstoppable. The Artemis program promises to not only rekindle what Apollo started, but actually continue that momentum beyond the moon. Apollo concluded once national prestige was satisfied, but it didn't really satisfy our dreams of exploration, not really. Because so many goals remained left unrealized. Long-term space habitation, geological exploration of the moon, space industry, telescopes, and of course, Mars and beyond. Look, there's no point rehashing Apollo just for the sake of it, and that's not what Artemis is or should be about. Artemis 2 is the shakedown cruise that paves the way for boots back on the moon, which is in itself just a shakedown for humanity's next steps.

A long-term lunar base, developing self-sufficiency, new technologies for habitation, and launchpad to the next frontier. Many twists and turns surely await us, both technical and political. It will certainly test our will and ambition. But I, for one, am so happy just to see this happen, and even to be a small part of it by witnessing this launch and sharing it with you. And look, whatever you think about Artemis, however mired in politics those views could be, if we don't ever dare to go back to the moon, by far the most accessible world to us, then our dreams of space exploration end. And we don't need to wait for a billionaire to do this for us because millions of us together form a more powerful force than they ever could. It is we who fund NASA, who are making this happen. We are the patrons of Artemis. This is our mission, not Jeff Bezos's and not Elon Musk's. It's us. Now the world will watch as NASA sends four astronauts to fly around the moon, not to land, but to shake down crews for a future landing. The four crew members, commanded by Reed Wiseman, include the first person of color to leave Earth's orbit, Victor Glover, the first woman to do so, too, Christina Koch, and the first Canadian to boot, Jeremy Hansen. To these four brave souls, I salute you. I envy you, and I wish you Godspeed. And now, the journey truly begins. Incredible. Talk to me. What are you feeling? I don't know what I expected. It Let's walk right over here where it's quiet. But it just it blew my freaking mind. I Wow. I'm feeling a lot of emotions. My heart was racing and oh God, that was something else. We're going back to the moon. I just watched it happen. That's insane. This is it. We're back, baby. We're back.