Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.
'An incredible privilege and responsibility': Artemis 2's Christina Koch is ready to become the 1st woman to fly around the moonNASA's Artemis 2 moon astronauts are 'fortunate' to have a private space toilet — Apollo crews pooped in plastic bagsBreaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsSign up to our monthly entertainment newsletter to keep up with all our coverage of the latest sci-fi and space movies, tv shows, games and books.
Discover this week's must-see night sky events, moon phases, and stunning astrophotos. Sign up for our skywatching newsletter and explore the universe with us!Space.com's Sci-Fi Reader's Club. Read a sci-fi short story every month and join a virtual community of fellow science fiction fans!missions journeyed to the moon. Even more so, three of those people flew twice, and six missions did more than just fly by or orbit the moon — they landed on the lunar surface. So what's the big deal with Artemis 2, and why is NASA's describing the mission as"historic?" "Artemis 2 will be a momentous step forward for human spaceflight. This historic mission will send humans farther from Earth than ever before and deliver the insights needed for us to return toof landing a man on the moon and returning him home safely by the end of the 1960s, NASA's mission planners came up with a set of steps needed to be achieved before the next step could be accomplished, all the way from Earth to the lunar surface. These sequential missions were given alphabetical designations. For example,"Type A" flights like Apollo 4 and Apollo 6 tested the Apollo spacecraft without astronauts on board in Earth orbit. Apollo 7, which achieved the same but with a crew was"Type C," andThe Apollo program did not include an uncrewed test of the command module in orbit around the moon. That flight profile did not occur untilspacecraft put through its paces with everything but its life support systems installed, but it also tested out a new type of lunar orbit for a human-rated vehicle.Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors. By that one distinction — there will be astronauts aboard — a comparison could be made with Apollo 7 as the first crewed flight of the Apollo program. But Apollo 7 did not leave; Artemis 2 will transfer from LEO to a highly elliptical Earth orbit, such that it reaches and then exceeds the distance that humans have ever traveled away from Earth. That might lead to comparisons with Apollo 8 — the first mission to fly humans to the moon in 1968 — but Frank Borman,and Bill Anders orbited the moon. Artemis 2 crewmates Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will fly by and out beyond the moon, but they will not go fully around it.The four Artemis 2 crew members will follow a"free-return" trajectory that will use the moon's gravity to return them to, rather than relying on the Orion service module's engine to do so. In that sense, they are like the replanned"Type H"NASA may be 1 month away from historic Artemis 2 astronaut launch around the moonIn fact, the Apollo 13 astronauts hold the record for the farthest that humans have ever traveled into deep space: 248,655 miles from Earth . Artemis 2 will break that mark, if all goes according to plan. But Artemis 2 mission planners chose the free-return trajectory not because of an emergency but to enable the astronauts to perform proximity operations using the upper stage of the flight'sThere was no single Apollo mission that matched what Artemis 2 is going to do, but that's not the only difference between the moon missions of 50 years ago and today. Apollo went to the moon to demonstrates the United States' — and democracy's — ability to accomplish more than the Soviet Union and the communists could do. It was the two countries' way of fighting a Cold War through"soft power." Once Apollo 11'sThe five missions that followed Apollo 11 to the lunar surface accomplished a lot but were the result of the program winding down to a stop.The Artemis program has the goal of establishing a sustainable human presence at the moon and using the resources found there to enable humanity's future exploration ofand other even more distant destinations. The aim is not just to send astronauts to visit the the moon but to set up a base near the south pole. This will involve mining the region for water ice, which can be used for life support and processed into; this milestone will actually now occur on Artemis 4)."Success is Artemis 100, whenever that is. And we really define everything off of that.", a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of"Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018. In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History. In 2023, the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Pearlman with the Kolcum News and Communications Award for excellence in telling the space story along the Space Coast and throughout the world.Human SpaceflightHuman Spaceflight'Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4': Release date, plot, factions, & everything else we know about the upcoming 40K strategy game
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