The Artemis II mission is now “in the books” as they say in baseball. Before we move on to the next distraction that click-obsessed media want to feed us, it’s worth pausing a moment to ask: what was that all about?

It was possible that four more astronauts doing something in a space capsule wouldn’t have captured the world’s attention. It was possible that, other than space nerds like me, no one would have cared. After all, we’ve been to the moon before and there is, pretty much, someone in orbit 24/7 these days.

That’s not how things worked out.

The four astronauts were big news every day of their 10 day mission. I know this becuase I kept getting asked to do TV spots as the Integrity (the name the astronauts gave to their spaceship) soared through its figure 8 trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth.

So, with all the other news, especially the war in the Middle East, why did people care? I think the answer can be summed up in four words: bravery, sacrifice, compassion and hope.

From the thundering launch to the terrifying re-entry (with all those concerns about the heat-shield), these four human beings were clearly risking their lives. Why would they do this? What were they being brave for? The answer is simple: us.

They were risking everything for us and our children. They were taking their lives in their hands to offer us a path forward towards a future of boundless possibility.

If we can get past climate change and the other self-created threats (AI, nuclear war etc), then the prize we get is the solar system. If humans have (at least) thousands of more years ahead of us, then of course we’ll expand into the solar system. First we must ensure that Earth’s biosphere becomes even richer and more vibrant than it is now. Then, by expanding into space, we will become its agent bringing its life to new places.

That’s the long future, the hopeful future those brave astronauts were willing to sacrifice everything for. In that way they showed us a kind of leadership and integrity that’s sorely lacking at the highest levels of our government.

Finally, in giving us this amazing model of bravery and leadership those four astronauts also gave us a model of compassion. There was an incredible moment when commander Reid Wiseman officially named a crater for his wife who passed away last year. The other crew members all began to cry and then one after another they hugged him until they ended up as one weightless tangle of people caring for each other. These men and women were not just heroes of the high-frontier, they were simply human beings doing their best amidst all the suffering we are heir too.

Human beings doing their best and being there together for each other. That is what inspired us about Artemis II and why the mission will be remembered far into the future it helped create

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PS If you have specific questions or issues you want me to address leave a comment on the website or email me at [email protected]

PPS I could not get this proof-read so please excuse typos etc.

— Adam Frank 🚀