Artemis II flies

Always leave a trail
Source: NASA
April 1, 2026
Image also shared on Instagram

Like millions of other people around the world, I watched Artemis II leave the planet last night.

The launch came 19,473 days after the last mission to the Moon, NASA’s Apollo 17, lifted off from a nearby launchpad. We all know what happened next: we spent the next 53-ish years stuck in low Earth orbit, with significant gaps thrown in when we retired old vehicles without new ones to replace them.

Years ago, I was privileged to interview one of the astronauts who flew on Apollo 17. Harrison “Jack” Schmitt was the first scientist to fly in space, and had been originally assigned to Apollo 18. When flights 18, 19, and 20 were cancelled, he was reassigned to 17 as Lunar Module Pilot.

He was gracious enough to talk about his experiences with a barely-adult radio reporter. And of all the interviews I’ve done since, that conversation stuck with me because the passion he had for exploration, science, and inspiration felt as intense as it would have when the Saturn V’s engines were first lit.

I thought of him last night as I sat in our parked car and watched a new chapter in history being written on a tiny smartphone screen. He’s 90 years-old now, and I imagined he was watching the launch, satisfied that the lunar legacy he had bookmarked alongside his crew, Commander Gene Cernan and Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, had finally been dusted off and revisited.

He did bold things, and in doing so inspired countless others to follow in his footsteps. I hope he enjoyed the show.

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