Four intrepid astronauts are spending this Easter weekend speeding into outer space at thousands of kilometres per hour. Their Artemis II flight around the far side of the Moon takes place in the context of intense geopolitical competition, with the US keen to achieve a new lunar landing before China gets there. But success could help rekindle public enthusiasm for human space exploration — and science and technology more broadly.
This mission is unlikely to arouse quite as much interest as its equivalent in the Apollo programme, which took astronauts around the Moon over the Christmas holiday in 1968 in preparation for Neil Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind” the following July. But over the next few days Nasa’s formidable public relations machine will provide a receptive global audience with real-time audio and video coverage from Artemis II of a quality unimaginable in the Apollo era.
The fact that a dozen men walked on the Moon more than 50 years ago should not induce a feeling of “been there, done that”, either today or if the Artemis IV mission lands as planned in 2028. We can enjoy a sense of adventure about returning under very different circumstances today. Less than 20 per cent of the world’s current population was alive during the last lunar landings.