I never thought (at least not in the past 25 years, give or take) that I’ll live long enough to see this.
Note the indicator I highlighted in the lower right.
Distance to the Moon.
For the first time since December, 1972.
I was not yet 10 in December, 1972. The world was troubled back then, just as it is troubled right now.
This launch? I was worried sick. A space launch system the design of which was very heavily influenced by politics. Political pressure to ensure launch. Frustrating issues with the rocket in the preceding months, with multiple delays.
And yet… so far so good. The launch proceeded without a glitch. The spacecraft is orbiting the Earth, soon to continue its journey to the Moon.
To the Moon.
I am astonished by my own reaction to these words. Thinking of Jules Verne, thinking of Apollo 8, of Apollo 11, Apollo 13, Apollo 17… and then 53 years — more than half a century! — with no human traveling beyond Low Earth Orbit.
You know what. Let me insert something here that these days isn’t very popular, for a whole host of (valid) reasons.
Yes. An American flag. On the Moon. Because…
Because they are on their way to the Moon again.