The OMSI director of space science education said renewed excitement around human spaceflight is inspiring a new generation.
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Artemis II mission’s 10-day journey around the moon marks a major milestone in NASA’s push to return humans to deep space.
The mission launched April 1 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen aboard the Orion spacecraft. Together, they traveled nearly 700,000 miles, flew within about 4,000 miles of the lunar surface and ventured farther from Earth than any human mission since the Apollo era.
For local space science educators, the mission’s success is both historic and deeply personal.
At the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Space Science Education Director Jim Todd said the mission brought back memories of the early days of human spaceflight.
“It’s kind of reminiscent of what happened with the Apollo mission. I grew up with the Apollo mission, I remember the splash landings and it’s all part of the newer generation of the mission to the moon. This is fun, it really is,” Todd said.
Artemis II is the first crewed mission in NASA’s Artemis program and is designed to test the Orion spacecraft in deep space with astronauts onboard. The flight builds on the uncrewed Artemis I mission and lays the groundwork for future missions that aim to land humans on the moon again for the first time in more than 50 years.
Todd said the mission has already made an impact beyond the spacecraft itself.
“I know from this mission it has inspired many young generations to be interested in science, interested in human exploration. All of that. I couldn’t ask for a better time, that we need something like this now to get excited,” he said.
During the mission, the crew conducted a range of tests, evaluating Orion’s life support, navigation, propulsion and communication systems while operating in the harsh environment of deep space. They also carried out manual flight operations and observed the lunar surface, collecting data that will inform future missions.
Todd said those advancements represent a significant leap forward.
“The leaps and bounds by technology. The images have been phenomenal and we have gained so much science and engineering from this mission. It’s a boost in the confidence that we can continue to go on in the process going to the moon,” he said.
The mission’s return to Earth ended with a high-speed reentry and parachute-assisted splashdown, a sequence that echoed the final moments of earlier U.S. space programs.
“Everything that we’ve seen with the pictures and the video, they have accomplished so much from mission alone. The excitement is back. The splash landing will remind many of the older generation of the Apollo, the Gemini, the Mercury. They did the splash landing, the recovery and what have you. It’s all part of the process, so I’m really looking forward to the landing when they come back safely and mission accomplished,” Todd said.
For Todd, the broader significance of Artemis II goes beyond engineering milestones, it’s about inspiration.
“It brings the science back into the human exploration. It brings the wonder and the excitement. That’s why people love and follow NASA and their space program because it brings joy and a lot of excitement and science in the classroom, at home and for our nation. It’s really a spectacular mission,” he said.
Todd knows firsthand the power of moments like this. Watching Apollo 11 as a child helped shape his career path.
“I remember vividly. I was 7, 8, 9 years old watching the Apollo 11 landing on the moon and it inspired me so much. That’s what made a career out of it, a professional career in teaching in space science,” he said.
With Artemis II now complete, NASA is expected to move forward with future missions that could land astronauts on the lunar surface and eventually establish a sustained human presence on the moon.