🌞 Artemis II's achievements

We’re doing things a little bit differently today and dedicating the whole Good Newsletter to the uplifting moments from the Artemis II endeavour. We don’t know about you, but it’s renewed our faith in society this week.

P.S. This newsletter was written by Anju Dhanushkodi, one of TDA’s junior journalists. She helps source, research and write the Good Newsletter each week and said this one was her “favourite edition all year!” Enjoy!

Of all the amazing moments from the Artemis II mission, one in particular captured our hearts. 

As they approached the moon, the Artemis II crew provided suggestions to name certain craters, including one for the late wife of Commander Reid Wiseman. 

Wiseman’s wife Carroll, a NICU nurse, died of cancer in 2020, aged 46. Reid told The Sunday Times he wanted to give up his astronaut dream when she was diagnosed, but she insisted he continue. 

Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen said this crater was “especially meaningful for this crew,” adding that during “certain times in the moon’s transit… we will be able to see this from Earth… It’s a bright spot on the moon, and we would like to call it Carroll.” 

The visibly emotional crew shared a beautiful group hug. They also proposed naming another crater ‘Integrity’, after their spacecraft's name. The proposals will be formally submitted to the International Astronomical Union, the organisation responsible for the names of objects and bodies in space. 

Later, Wiseman said naming the crater was “the pinnacle moment of the mission for me.” 

Another bit of good news is how Artemis II represents social, scientific, and technological progress.

During the previous Apollo missions, all the astronauts were white American men. In this mission, Pilot Victor Glover became the first Black man to travel beyond low-earth orbit. Canadian mission specialist Jeremy Hansen became the first non-U.S. citizen to launch to the moon, and mission specialist Christina Koch became the first woman to fly around the moon. 

Koch adds to her previous achievements, including the longest single female spaceflight and participation in the first all-female spacewalks. 

Artemis II marks the first time since 1972 that humans have left Earth’s orbit. Back then, American women weren’t allowed to have credit cards in their own names, there were no Government-funded women’s shelters in Australia, and very few women working in NASA. 

Now, there are multiple women in space, and even more women helping them get there. 

Good for your skin. Great for the planet. Easy for everyone.

The average household gets through hundreds of plastic bottles a year. Skipper's answer? A tiny tablet.

Drop one into your reusable dispenser, add water, and you've got a premium face wash, body wash or universal cleaner — made right here in Australia!

Build your own bundle and save up to $120, with free shipping over $50. Say less.

My favourite part of being chronically online is bonding with other humans on what’s been capturing our hearts – Alysa Liu, The Pitt, and now, the Artemis II crew.

They’re all incredibly accomplished scientists and astronauts, and they also seem to be really great friends.  

During Easter, the crew awarded Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen with a gold astronaut pin to mark his first spaceflight. 

It’s NASA tradition to give astronauts who’ve completed their training silver pins. Those who make it to space are given gold pins.

Another moment that stuck with me was Victor Glover’s speech before their planned communications blackout when they went behind the moon. 

He said: “As we prepare to go out of radio communication, we’re still going to feel your love from Earth, and to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you from the moon.” 

Once they regained contact, Christina Koch said: "We will explore. We will build ships. We will visit again… We will bolster industry, we will inspire. But ultimately, we will always choose Earth. We will always choose each other".

During a press conference, the group was asked about the blackout, and while they spent most of their time doing scientific work, they did have time for one more thing. 

Commander Reid Wiseman said: “The four of us took a moment, we shared maple cookies Jeremy had brought, and we took about three or four minutes, just as a crew to really reflect on where we were.” 

As their return journey began, the group shared a no-gravity group hug, and it is the cutest.

Outside of the actual journey itself, there are so many good news glimmers surrounding this mission. 

Firstly, the creation of Rise, a sweet plushie of a moon wearing an Earth baseball cap that was loaded on the capsule. Rise was the zero-gravity indicator onboard – when it started floating, it meant the group had reached microgravity.

Rise was designed by Californian year 3 student Lucas Ye, who won NASA’s Moon Mascot competition from more than 2,600 submissions from over 50 countries. 

Rise was inspired by an image from the Apollo 8 mission. Lucas was also there to watch the rocket launch. 

Some more glimmers: NASA’s menu for the astronauts, which includes five different hot sauces, cocoa, maple syrup, candy-coated almonds, five Canadian products and 43 cups of coffee (because astronauts are just like us.)

Another cool initiative is NASA’s invitation to the public to “join” the Artemis II journey. 

People had a chance to send their names in, which were then loaded on an SD card and inserted into Rise. In return, they received a downloadable boarding pass. More than five million names joined the crew on their mission.

Something else I love is how space has become more accessible. We can see what astronauts are doing online and listen to a playlist (mentioned earlier!) of their morning wake-up songs. 

To quote High School Musical, it does feel like we’re all in this together.