Artemis II sets stage for a moon base. Should we build it? Tell us. |
For casual observers like me, the latest moon mission can seem a bit puzzling. I mean, we already did this, right?
On multiple trips from 1969 through 1972, we sent astronauts near, around and onto the moon, where they collected rocks, drove a rover and set up scientific measuring equipment. Then, the space race with the Soviet Union ebbed and we lost interest in flying to our natural satellite.
So what's the big push now? Why did we send three Americans and a Canadian to loop around that big reflective rock in what we're calling the Artemis II mission, which launched April 1?
Well, one thing I recently learned is that we are in another, though less........