By T.J. Muscaro
HOUSTON—Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman told reporters that he hoped his upcoming historic mission around the moon would be ultimately “forgotten” due to it successfully opening the door for more impressive, historic missions.
“I hope we’re forgotten,” he said on Sept. 24. ”If we are forgotten, then Artemis has been successful. We have humans on Mars. We have humans out on the moons of Saturn. We are expanding into the solar system.”
Wiseman’s comment summarized the whole crew’s consensus that, despite the historic nature of their mission, their passion and focus remained strictly on their mission objectives, and their success was ultimately tied to Artemis III’s success. Artemis III is set to be the first of the program to land on the lunar surface.
Artemis II pilot Victor Glover said, “Our mission success is built on handing off a starting point to Artemis III that sets our country and our partners up to go back to the surface of the moon.”
Wiseman and Glover spoke to members of the press at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, with their fellow crewmates, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.
Aboard the Orion capsule, which they named Integrity, the four will embark on a mission of several firsts. The first crew to fly the Orion crew capsule and service module, and the Space Launch System. The first mission to travel around the moon in more than 50 years.
Their mission will mark the first time humans are simultaneously in low Earth orbit and flying to and around the moon. The crew plans to speak with their colleagues on the International Space Station while they are in lunar orbit.
Depending on the launch date, the crew will also have the opportunity to be the first humans to ever see regions of the far side of the moon that were hidden in shadow during the days of Apollo.
There are also breakable records at play. Artemis II has the potential to travel farther from Earth and faster than any of the Apollo missions.
But the crew emphasized that Artemis II was first and foremost a test flight in every aspect of the Orion spacecraft, from manually executing a rendezvous procedure in high Earth orbit, to using a brand-new form of onboard exercise equipment. They are also focused on the various scientific experiments they will bring on board, as well as the lunar geological observations they will make and relay to a science team on the ground.“I don’t think about it,” Glover told The Epoch Times when asked how he and his crewmates face the magnitude of their mission. “That’s a distraction. If we want to live up to the standards that we owe the American and Canadian [people]—and humanity in general, we have to be able to focus and know what the next right thing is to do. And so I actually spend a lot of time clearing that out of my head so I can focus on my job.”
That being said, the crew expressed their personal excitement and sense of honor in participating in such a trailblazing mission and being part of the integrated team of international and commercial partners.“We are bringing together the world,” Wiseman said. “We are bringing together an amazing workforce, and they are bringing together an amazing vehicle. And at the end of all that, when you squeeze it all down, they create magic.”
Hansen also expressed his own enthusiasm to be the first of his countrymen to travel into deep space. He praised the American space program for its continued leadership in space and for inviting other like-minded nations to come along. But he also praised his nation for earning its seat aboard Integrity
Hansen said Canadians should take great pride in the country’s role in the Artemis program.
“You have used strategic investments, and you have innovated and created things like Canadarm and many other examples that have put us in this position where we can earn our place on the global stage,” he added.
