Honestly I’m not really caring about it. With so many problems left on earth this is not a great thing.

Anonymous wrote:Because so much stupid and destructive shit happening on earth. It’s a reminder of what we can do if we invest in science and aim higher.

+10000000

The teamwork, the patience, the knowledge, the curiosity, the humanity, even the spirituality of it all. If this is a distraction it is an amazing one.

Anonymous wrote:My teens are very into it!

This is a dumb question but have we seen the back of the moon before? I was a little like — what if they got to the other side and it turns out there’s like a big hole in it, or a rainforest, or a colony of Vulcans that have been studying us? Mostly just kidddijg, but was wondering if we might find something unexpected.

Well, you are right that this is a very dumb question.

I am obsessed with it. On a first name basis with Christina, Jeremy, Victor and Reid.

Anonymous wrote:I watched the launch. I watched the 40 minutes they lost coms on the dark side of the moon and watched them come out the other side. Other than that...it's a snooze fest. We landed on the moon 50 years ago and we are supposed to be excited about going around it today? How is this even news?

Did you turn it off before the orange fecal king ruined the moment?

Anonymous wrote:Maybe because the world is on fire right now?

It's escapism.

I watched the launch. I watched the 40 minutes they lost coms on the dark side of the moon and watched them come out the other side. Other than that...it's a snooze fest. We landed on the moon 50 years ago and we are supposed to be excited about going around it today? How is this even news?

Anonymous wrote:We are talking about it, just not on DCUM.

My thoughts exactly. Just depends who your particular circle of people you choose to surround yourself with.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe because the world is on fire right now?

Why can't focus on both? Why can't we use this mission to recognize what is *good* about humanity and see what we can accomplish together? Why not look at these astronauts, who are smart, professional, respectful, and collaborative, and thing collectively about the kinds of people we want in positions of authority and leadership?

Anonymous wrote:My teens are very into it!

This is a dumb question but have we seen the back of the moon before? I was a little like — what if they got to the other side and it turns out there’s like a big hole in it, or a rainforest, or a colony of Vulcans that have been studying us? Mostly just kidddijg, but was wondering if we might find something unexpected.

Yes, a bunch of Apollo missions have seen the back of the moon -- 20+ astronauts from the Apollo missions have seen it from space capsules prior to this mission, plus there have been lots of unmanned missions taking photos of it since the 1950s.

It's still significant that this crew was the first people to see it in person in over 50 years, and they can take photos with updated equipment (a lot better than what they had back during Apollo) and with greater control than an unmanned mission.

A lot of this mission is just setting up for the next one though -- trying out the artemis rockets on a manned mission before we send up a lander. I think that's why some people are like "so?" But obviously if we are going to send people to the surface to (1) land in a different place than we have before and (2) actually explore some of these craters and caves to look for ice, we are going to do a trial fly by mission. It's an important step.

We are talking about it, just not on DCUM.

Is it cool? Yes. However, a lot closer to home, we might be seeing the start of WWIII. Cool missions to the moon are quite insignificant if we blow up the world in the meantime.

Anonymous wrote:My teens are very into it!

This is a dumb question but have we seen the back of the moon before? I was a little like — what if they got to the other side and it turns out there’s like a big hole in it, or a rainforest, or a colony of Vulcans that have been studying us? Mostly just kidddijg, but was wondering if we might find something unexpected.

Yes, we have orbited the moon before, so we have seen all the way around. The first time we did, people had the same questions about what might be back there.

Maybe because the world is on fire right now?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pedolph Shitler might drop the big one on Iran tonight. I'm a little more concerned about that.

Right? This feels like a distraction. I’m not falling for it. Also, gas prices are astronomical (no pun) but we are spending money going to the moon *now*? Read the room. No one cares. We are trying to pay for gas and groceries and not lose our jobs and making sure we raise decent humans. Cool, we went further than ever before. What does that have to do with ANYTHING here on Earth? So what if the pics are cool? What does that really matter?

These missions are planned years in advance -- no one knew we were going to be at war with Iran when artemis ii launched. So it's not intended as a distraction.

It's not just about cool pictures. They are collecting data that can be used on future missions and that helps us to understand the moon, the sun, and our own planet better. Scientific exploration is often just about seeking understanding first, and practical applications come later. This has been true since Newton watched an apple fall to the ground and asked "why?"

But also it takes an enormous amount of collaboration to do something like this, and that has real value. This mission, in particular, features a North American collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency, and involves a Canadian astronaut, a first in NASA missions. At a time when our leadership is going out if it's way to destroy international collaboration and cooperation, NASA is pursuing it. That has real value.