Another Step in a Long, Long Journey

Posted on April 1, 2026 by Brian H. Gill
NASA photo: Milky Way with International Space Station (ISS) in foreground. Long-duration photo. (November 25, 2024)
“The Milky Way pictured from the International Space Station in a long-duration photograph”
(NASA (November 25, 2024))

Today’s Artemis II launch is a big deal, even if it’s not particularly “newsworthy”. As usual, my news feed has been packed with the usual direly dreadful distressful disasters: and that’s another topic.

I’m actually writing this Tuesday evening, but what I have to say matters: even if the launch is rescheduled.

Back to the Moon

Sam Lott's NASA photo: SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft with moon in background. (February 1, 2026)
“A full Moon is seen shining over NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft in the early hours of Feb. 1, 2026, at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.”
(NASA photo by Sam Lott (February 1, 2026))

We’re going back to Earth’s moon. Not going for the first time, not landing, not sure to discover some totally cool new thing. But we ARE going back.

And this time the astronauts will be going farther out than anyone’s been before.

Whether that’s an important part of this test flight, something that’ll matter when landings resume, or is being done as a sort of bonus achievement: that, I don’t know. Either way, I think it’s a cool detail.

Looking Ahead, Thinking Back

NASA infographic: diagram of Artemis II flight path. (January 27, 2023)
“Trajectory for Artemis II, NASA’s first flight with crew aboard SLS, Orion to pave the way for long-term return to the Moon, missions to Mars” (NASA infographic (January 27, 2023))

I don’t feel about the Artemis program the way I did about the Apollo flights. That’s no surprise: I was a teenager then, now I’m an old man. But I still think humanity is headed for the stars. Eventually.

Tracy Caldwell Dyson's photo: self portrait in the ISS Cupola module, Expedition 24. (2010)
Tracy Caldwell Dyson in cupola of the ISS. (2010)

Going back to the Moon is just one step in a journey: one we started a very long time ago, when someone wondered what’s over the next hill — and decided to go and see:

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About Brian H. Gill

I was born in 1951. I'm a husband, father and grandfather. One of the kids graduated from college in December, 2008, and is helping her husband run businesses and raise my granddaughter; another is a cartoonist and artist; #3 daughter is a writer; my son is developing a digital game with #3 and #1 daughters. I'm also a writer and artist.
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