When the crew of lunar mission Artemis 2 was asked what they wanted people to remember about their trip, they answered in an unconventional tone: “I hope they all forget about Artemis 2,” mission specialist Christina Koch expressed, days before their craft lifted off.
Within the dimmed, cramped confines of a module the size of two camper vans, Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Koch and Jeremy Hansen became the first individuals to reach the moon in 50 years since the last of the Apollo missions in 1972.
While their ultimate goal of proving that humanity remains capable of reaching places beyond Earth may have been accomplished, their wish of fading silently into history may not quite come true in the near future—and rightfully so. Their mission reflected the stark reality of humanity: the boundless potential of bonding and emotion, as well as the cruel nature of selfish, misguided interests.
Above all, Artemis 2 will be remembered for testing the limits of mankind’s spaceflight capabilities, more than 50 years after the five-year span of crewed Apollo missions that allowed 12 people to walk on the moon. This return to deep space paved the way for setting all new types of records, including humanity’s longest distance traveled from Earth of about 407,000 kilometers.
The mission will also be remembered for the diverse faces that flew aboard the Integrity spacecraft around the Earth’s satellite body. Hansen became the first non-American, Glover the first person of color, and Koch the first woman to reach the moon.
This success, however, came with its own celestial obstacles.
The preparations for Artemis 2 revealed the political nature of humanity. A leadership crisis, which delayed the confirmation of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, threatened to stall preparations for the mission that was to launch in only a few weeks’ time. Furthermore, the close ties between the US government and space oligarchy also jeopardized the project, raising concerns about the monopolization of space science that had already been floated before the current administration.
Yet for all the commotion that surrounded Artemis 2, and amid the many tests and tasks that the four-person crew undertook over nine days in space, the most remarkable way it will be remembered is through the moments that reminded the eight billion people back on Earth—and even the four astronauts themselves near the moon—of the gravity and reality of humanity.
Humanity shone in a poignant moment when the astronauts broke the distance record and, led by Hansen, phoned back to Earth, suggesting to NASA’s Mission Control that a newfound lunar crater be named after their commander’s late wife.
Humanity became evident in the crew’s meticulous messages when they circled the far side of the moon and got back to Earth. Their reflections called toward a spirit of togetherness in a world that remains and grows ever more divisive. For instance, Hansen likened the crew to a mirror reflecting humanity. “And if you like what you see, then just look a little deeper. This is you,” he quipped.
The icons that Jim Lovell and Neil Armstrong were for the aspiring astronauts of the late 20th century, these four lunar travelers can become for the next generation. For Koch and Glover, who have lit a brilliant beam of hope and inspiration for women and for people of color in the astronomical arena, they have encouraged a larger demographic, shunned by the historically Eurocentric and misogynistic sciences, to dream bigger and step into a world they can now call theirs, too.
While the journey of Artemis 2 lasted only nine days, the legacy it has begun to leave behind will surely trickle like stardust across centuries. And while, at some point in the far future, these four astronauts may be forgotten—as they originally wished—the time they spent in space reminded the people back on Earth that they are truly, and imperfectly, human.
