Our planet, while vast and under-explored, is surrounded by more than freezing space. Mars, Pluto, Saturn, even the moon are all planetary bodies humanity hasn’t completely uncovered the potential of. But humanity is still not at the level of traveling safely beyond the moon with a manned crew. With this realization, the Artemis expedition was produced.
According to NASA, the Artemis expedition is a series of increasingly difficult and extremely planned missions, created in the hope of discovering information that is capable of benefiting both home, future crewed missions to Mars, and exploring impacts of deep space travel.
With the Orion crew of the Artemis II mission’s successful return on April 10, 2026, hope and curiosity toward the future expeditions have skyrocketed in the community.
While not all interest in the Expedition started with the recent boost in popularity, personal interests did have an effect early on for those with a passion for science.
“My uncle actually worked for NASA,“ said science teacher Paul Young, “ so I’ve always been into all the rocket launches over the course of my lifetime at least.”
For those in the STEM field, they hope these missions will lead to further discoveries and resources relating to their fields.
“Even though it may seem frivolous right now, for example, they’re thinking about harvesting helium 3 [from the moon],” said Physics teacher Ryan McCoy.
Helium 3 is a rare isotope of the element Helium that if harvested from the moon, according to The European Space Agency, could possibly be used as a safe energy alternative.
For younger generations, they hope these missions will bring humanity closer to having the understanding and means for long distance travel across space.
“I hope that we can develop a better understanding of space on celestial bodies that aren’t Earth,” said senior Adam Miller, “I hope that [the expedition] becomes a stepping stone to planetary exploration in the future.”
While many groups have indicated much support and hope for these missions, it is the increased levels of difficulty corresponding with the levels of potential danger that draw some concern for crew safety.
“They are not for the faint of heart; there is definitely risk involved. There’s several incidents [in the past] where we’ve lost entire missions with people aboard,” said McCoy.
However, with the next manned mission, Artemis III, not being launched till 2027, and the recent successful return of the Orion’s crew, it’s safe to say that the risk will not be as extreme, and further precautions will be taken.
With two successful missions, and everything going according to NASA’s schedule. Humanity is truly on its way toward uncovering the mysteries of unexplored planets, no longer from a distance.
