The first 10 days of the month of April have been very surreal. I got to witness history in the making through Artemis II: NASA's mission to fly humans to the farthest point (doing a lunar flyby to the far side of the moon) and back to earth. The last time humans went to the moon was in 1972, and it's such a treat for the new generation of today to witness this huge milestone of space travel in their lifetime. For those 10 days, I have been watching updates of the mission everyday, and I felt like I was also in that spacecraft with the astronauts as they traveled to the moon and back to earth. 😁 It made me realize that my love for space is still within me, and it rekindled a passion that had been dormant inside for several years.
Let’s start with launch day. I actually watched the six-hour broadcast of the Artemis II launch day on YouTube. I think this was an effective way for me to get emotionally attached to this mission right from the start (LOL). I got to learn more about the life backgrounds of each of the four crew and I waited with the crowd as the anticipation of the take off slowly built up. I felt so emotional during the take-off that literal tears were flowing down my cheeks (😆). Yeah, I guess that was the tell-tale sign that okay, I'm going all-in for this mission.
It was during launch day that I met Rise, the cute plushie that would serve as the zero-gravity indicator during the Artemis II mission. It was designed by a third grader from California (how cool is that kid!) Instantly, I wanted one for myself. 😁
As the mission progressed, I got to learn about human space travel through the different content that I consumed online (the mission day highlights, press conferences, articles, and Instagram reels that appeared on my feed). I learned that there's a very diverse food menu in this mission. This was a surprise for me, because I had the idea that eating "space food" was not fun. Honestly, given that menu, it's not that bad at all.
They also had a lot of mission objectives! The crew wouldn't be bored at all in this mission. Every stage of the trip had a checklist of what to do and what to observe. I just can imagine the level of coordination that the Artemis II crew had to constantly do with Mission Control Center in Houston (MCC-H) in accomplishing these objectives, plus reporting any kind of problems that could arise inside the spacecraft.
The Artemis II crew followed a very organized schedule. Since they don't have a sense of day and night in the spacecraft, MCC-H served as their guide to their schedule. They play songs as wake-up calls for the crew (which they have selected themselves) to indicate the start of their day, and then they do a number of meetings with MCC-H reviewing the day's itinerary and coordinating live events with the media.
The space crew get reminded of their exercise schedules (amazing that they have exercise machines in the limited area of the spacecraft, but this is an important factor in space travel, else they will lose muscle mass), as well as eating and sleeping schedules. Since every item in that spacecraft was carefully curated and tracked, it's a normal protocol for the crew to ask help from MCC-H to locate items in the spacecraft. I particularly liked the one where Christina Hammock Koch was asking the MCC-H personnel to locate a lotion in the spacecraft.
As the mission progressed, everything seemed to go according to plan. So many things could have gone wrong, but they encountered only minor issues, and they were able to fix them in real time. As a software developer, I can imagine how difficult it would be to debug issues remotely. If it were a hardware issue requiring physical fixes, that would be even more challenging. I have immense respect for everyone involved in this mission. The level of coordination and orchestration of tasks between the teams from start to end of the mission is still something that my head cannot fathom. I want to learn more about this, especially now that I know that there are Artemis III & IV missions lined up in the future! Let's go and nerd out!🤓🚀
I really got amazed with the lot of complications involved in space travel (well, this time, it is rocket science, quite literally 🤣). One thing that was a highlight for me was the outbound trajectory correction burns (OTC) that they do during specific stages of the mission. I was really impressed when I learned that they had to cancel a scheduled OTC of the spacecraft for its travel to the moon because the actual trajectory was already accurate. The level of accuracy of this mission was so mind-blowing. 🤯
And we haven't even started with the images the crew has taken and sent back to earth. EVERYTHING WAS SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I could just imagine the feeling of each of the astronauts as they saw the whole of the earth from above, especially Jeremy Hansen. It was his first time in space, and what a way to spend his debut space experience: straight to the moon! 🌕✨
Watching the Artemis II crew as the days of the mission passed, I truly felt that they were the best possible representations of humanity. Whenever I saw footage of them in media interviews during the mission, as well as the mission highlights, I can't help but feel so in awe of them. Aside from the fact that they are so smart and skilled, their auras felt so pure. I really saw in their eyes that child-like twinkle of happiness. Each of them really fulfilled their childhood dreams through this mission.
Also, can I just say that the men of this mission were so emotionally intelligent? One of the most touching moments of the mission was when one of the new observed craters was named after Carroll, Reid Wiseman's late wife. In that clip of them inside the craft during the lunar flyby observation stage, I saw two men get emotional and I couldn't help but cry with them. I think I always teared up watching this clip on Instagram. 🥲 I truly believe that it's healthy for men to show their emotions and I'm so glad this moment was witnessed by a lot of people around the world.
As of this writing, I’m still catching up on the post-splashdown press conferences and footage of the crew after getting back on earth. I am well aware that I have formed a parasocial relationship with them (😅), so I would be following their activities as they move on from this mission. 😁
Splashdown day finally came. As a non-NASA person, I felt like the reentry of the crew to the earth is one of the most delicate parts of the mission (same level as the launch). For me, the most scary part was the part of the reentry wherein the Orion spacecraft will go through the earth's atmosphere, with the heat shield, protecting the space crew inside, from the formation of heating plasma due to the friction of the atmosphere. The sequence of the splashdown happened during Saturday morning, local time. I was actually multi-tasking watching the NASA live coverage and working on my slides for my "Toastmaster of the Day" stint later that afternoon. Since I was the TOD, I had the authority to set the theme of our meeting. Well, guess what the theme was -- "Journey to the Moon", heavily inspired by this very mission. 😁
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| Switching between watching the splashdown live coverage and working on my TOD slides |
From the atmosphere reentry and ocean touchdown, the duration of all of these stages would only happen in minutes, so it was very critical to monitor that everything was in good shape. As an audience, it was an intense moment for me. 😅
During reentry to the atmosphere, as the hot plasma builds up on the heat shield of the Orion spacecraft, there was an expected 6 minutes of loss of signal (LOS), meaning no audio communication and data gathering could be done during that time. When it happened, it was the longest 6 minutes of my life. 😅It was a peak intense moment as MCC-H waited for the comms to be reestablished again. Imagine being one of the crews' family members during this moment. 🥲 It was with a great sigh of relief when the comms were reestablished again after that grueling 6 minutes and the crew reported that they were still alive and in good shape. 😅
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| Artemis II Orion spacecraft with three good-looking parachutes deployed. This was the peak count of the YouTube live feed: 3 MILLION people watching! |
When the parachutes got deployed and the spacecraft slowed down, I felt so amazed. Again, huge props to the teams involved. And when the aircraft splashed into the ocean, I couldn't help but clap. Out of joy. Out of relief. As what the NASA people mentioned during the post-splash down press conference, it was a textbook kind of landing. Everything worked as planned. 👏
Once again, immense respect to NASA and everyone behind this mission. They are incredible. I can only imagine the level of planning and coordination involved: especially among the engineers. Calculating trajectories, managing spacecraft systems, designing suits: everything had to work together seamlessly. And somehow, they made it look effortless.
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| Special shoutout to the MCC-H personnel who brought an Artemis plushie and was wearing a Sailormoon lanyard. You are a hero. 🫡 |
As much as I have gained a lot of scientific knowledge, there were also nuggets of wisdom earned from following the Artemis II mission.
- This mission reminded me to also overthink the positive. We often prepare for what can go wrong: but what about what can go right?
- Just like Orion spacecraft, we sometimes drift off course. But that’s part of the process. What matters is correcting our trajectory: those small adjustments that bring us back to our path. Even the spacecraft uses short OTC burns to stay on course. In the same way, it’s important for me to pause and ask: am I still heading toward the life I want?
- Our childhood dreams inspire us to achieve great things in life, through passion and grit.
- Seeing earth from space reminded me how small we are: and yet how meaningful this life can be. It brings me back to that childlike wonder I’ve always had.
Thank you, Artemis II. The mission was such an inspirational adventure for a lot of people in the world. For sure it was, for me.
This is just the beginning of human space exploration, and I hope to live long enough to see humans reach Mars. 👩🚀🚀✨
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