Artemis II Mission 2026

But if I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to Earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun — almost as hot as it is here today — and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out — then we must be bold.

I must admit, I was excited. Many of us were. When I was born, the Apollo program had already come to an end and I am not exactly a youngling any more, which tells me how long ago in the past this achievement had happened. My parents witnessed Apollo 11 in awe, watched and listened to the unfolding drama with Apollo 13 less than a year later and when I was born another couple of years later, all was over. The maybe greatest adventure of the human race.

Artemis 2 means a lot of first ever moments. It is the first time, a person who is not a United States of America citizen, will leave Earth’s orbit. So far, only astronauts from the USA have done this. This mission will also be the first time, a woman will leave Earth’s orbit and the first time, a person of color will reach the Moon.