What Does The 'Artemis II' Mission Mean To Gen-X? Everything.

 

Image: NASA

Pick a cliché about Gen-X; it doesn’t matter which. Drinking from the hose. Staying out until the lights came on. Being a “latchkey” kid. Late-night television ads literally asking our parents if they knew where we were. In the words of Han Solo, “it’s true. All of it.” We grew up living a life of independence. Our growth, though, was also shrouded in trauma. Born into the tail-end of the Vietnam Conflict, we lived through and witnessed more tragedy than most generations, not the least of which occurred on January 28, 1986. On that day, an entire generation of children witnessed in real-time, on boxy televisions wheeled into classrooms on metal carts, the disaster of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. We developed, honed, and mastered the coping mechanisms of sarcasm and cynicism as a result. And that is why the extraordinary events of the last week have triggered a long-suppressed PTSD many of us perhaps didn’t even know we were harboring.

 

By "events of the last week" I’m of course referring to the Artemis II space mission. For the first time in fifty-five years, NASA would send astronauts back to the Moon. Not since Apollo 17 has a human being left the orbit of the Earth. Yet, Wednesday of last week, Mission Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremey Hanson blasted off aboard the Orion spacecraft Integrity on their way to reignite NASA in more ways than one. And every Gen-Xer held their breath watching.

Image: NASA

 

A recurring question people have asked though, is why? There has been a myriad of manned space missions since the Challenger disaster. (There were, I’m told, in total another eight-eight Space Shuttle missions following that fateful January day in 1986.) Did we experience the same sense of anxiety, dread, and stress with any of those? The honest answer is yes… and no. I think perhaps because Shuttle missions had become so routine. Think about commercial air travel. There have been many airline disasters, but that didn’t keep us from flying. Artemis II, however, is simply... different.

 

Why Artemis II Matters SO much

 

For me, the relation between Challenger and Artemis II is a simple one, as much as any emotional connection can truly be simple. Each mission, in its own way, heralded a new era of space travel - each a beacon of hope in otherwise troubled times. With Challenger, it was the gateway to space for the rest of us – a teacher, not a pilot, not a scientist, not an engineer, but a teacher, was going to space. That mission was meant to provide us “common folk” access to the stars. It didn’t just mean something to us burgeoning Gen-Xers, it meant everything.

 

In many ways, so too does the Artemis II mission. Each member of the crew is one of us. They all watched what happened to Challenger in their respective classrooms right along with the rest of us Gen-Xers, and yet, despite the tragedy, still decided that they were going to be astronauts, nonetheless. In doing so they became the next generation of pioneers, leading NASA, and humanity, into a new era of space exploration once again. Yes, it starts with a return trip to the Moon, but this time the mission will more likely than not be the springboard out into the rest of our solar system that NASA intended the original Moon missions to be. 

And that is pretty damn cool.

 I’ve been glued to the mission coverage. I’m captivated by the photos and videos. Awed by the sheer achievement of it all. I’ve laughed at the playfulness of the Integrity crew, and I’ve brimmed with my own giddiness witnessing theirs. And I cried watching Specialist Hanson announce that they’d be naming a crater on the Moon for Commander Wiseman’s departed wife. I generally don’t like using the term “peak” to describe things as I feel that the term is widely overused, but seeing grown men weep, and embrace, in an unquestionable moment of unconditional love? That was peak humanity. That is what we should strive for. No countries, no borders, no conflict; just humans being, well, human. Even with all the spectacular, scientific discovery, from new pictures of the far side of the Moon, to witnessing in real time as astronauts shared their observations and discussed the science of the mission with Mission Control, that moment of empathy, tenderness, and compassion is perhaps the one that will forever stand out for me.

Image: NASA

 

I don’t think I can understate the importance of this mission to me and those of my generation. It’s reignited long dormant flames of passion and hope for many of us, reawakening the wide-eyed awe and wonder we experienced as kids watching the Space Shuttle thunder into space. And if the reactions I’m seeing on social media platforms are any indication, it is by no means just me feeling this way. I simply wasn’t ready for the emotional impact this mission would have on me, but I’m grateful for it.

 

With everything going on in this country right now it’s been far too easy to disassociate and grow numb to what’s occurring. It’s been saddening, frightening, angering to the point that many of us could find no escape other than withdrawal…. Then came Artemis II, and we again felt something joyful, happy, uplifting, and inspiring. We feel….

 

Alive.

 

Make no mistake, we will all again be anxiety-ridden and hold our breaths in two days’ time as Integrity returns home, and won’t exhale until their Orion spacecraft splashes down and we see our new friends Neil, Christina, Victor, and Jeremy smiling and waving. No matter what happens, what they’ve done, accomplished, and shown us about science, and humanity, in the last week is an immeasurable gift to us Gen-Xers, and humankind, that we can never repay.

 

Godspeed on your journey home, Integrity. We’ll see you soon.

 

And thank you.