By Samantha McClellan
On April 1, 2026 the crew of Artemis II launched from the Kennedy space center for a duration of ten days. The crew of Artemis II consists of NASA Commander Reid Wiseman, NASA Pilot Victor Glover, NASA Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.
The spacecraft for Artemis two is named the Orion spacecraft but the crew decided to give it another name “Integrity”. According to Nasa, the crew chose the name Integrity because “it represents the core values of trust, respect, candor, and humility essential to the massive global team behind the mission. The name also honors the integration of thousands of workers and hundreds of thousands of components that safely brought them to the Moon and back” (NASA).
This mission showcases human advancement in deep space abilities. This was the second time in over 50 years since Apollo 17 where a crew mission ventured beyond low Earth orbit. The goal of this mission was to test the capabilities of the crew, its mission, and spacecraft in order to ensure the ability for more lunar exploration in the future. The crew successfully returned to Earth on April 11th, 20226 proving a successful mission and ensuring a future of further lunar and space exploration.
While observing moon craters, the Artemis II crew named an unnamed lunar crater “Caroll” in honor of Commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife. It is one of the brightest craters unnamed on the moon which the crew saw fit to honor his late wife. This moment shows the unity of the space mission crew and also serves as a reminder that although this mission is scientific, it also represents humanity. In addition, one of the crew members, Victor Glover stated, “In all of this emptiness, this thing we call the universe – you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together… we are the same thing, and that we got to get through this together”. This quote exemplifies that although this was an American space launch it represents a significant advancement in human history for space and lunar exploration globally. Glover’s statement emphasizes that during this time of extreme global conflict and polarization, being human unites us all.
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Image Credit: Time Magazine