I just need to say it's an extremely huge bummer how much cynicism and negativity there is about this mission. Is it perfect? No, of course not. Neither was Apollo.
We are all painfully aware of the things that make it imperfect.
It's still joyous and exciting.
Try to let it be.
The cynicism or even lack of interest is because it's extremely underwhelming.
If you ask 100 people in 1969 what humans would be doing in space in 57 years I can guarantee not a single person would guess that we've done nothing of substance. And that the most exciting thing we have done that involved human space travel is simply flying around the moon, people wouldn't believe it
Humans going around the moon will be amazing every single time for the next 10,000 years it happens for anyone who isn't already a miserable person. Going for a swim in the ocean is an amazing experience every single time and I can do it every day. It's still a great feeling. Going to the moon is so much more extraordinary in the literal sense of the word. The fact that any collection of creatures is able to do it is remarkable.
On the contrary the average person in 1969 also thought that the moon missions were a waste of time and money: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S02659...
This thread is pretty much how people felt back then too.
> The cynicism or even lack of interest is because it's extremely underwhelming.
Only to the naive yet vocal minority, fortunately!
You think flying around the moon is simple?
It really sucks that you responded to my exhaustion with the exact thing I'm exhausted by. And you aren't even saying anything new. Please don't do this again.
Also, maybe make that an "I" statement. It may be underwheling to you, but it absolutely is not underwhelming to a lot of people.
Naysayers need to realize that very soon humanity will have a permanent presence on the moon. One that will outlive us all.
That's beyond exciting.
This has to be the most poorly documented event of this scale.
This link, for example, "first glimpse of far side...[video]", is a video of the crew inside the craft. yawn It seems like every article I've read is like this. Like they're trying to encourage conspiracy theories.
We're talking about the unseen, far side of the moon, and they can't scrape together at least a still image of it?
The launch was in lower resolution than many shuttle launches I've watched.
Looking at the NASA.gov site, it is pale comparison of what it used to be. They seem to have opted for a few well polished articles and images, and they've jettisoned any semblance of passing along the data itself.
No video of earth either, just a very promoted new image (taken on old cameras). And then the conversation is about the amazing emotions they feel. And all four of them are just chatting, no need for anyone to be monitoring anything.
Most of us feel that way, but that comes with a desire to avoid engaging with unhappy internet denizens finding company in their misery.
Remember that social media is a distortion of reality driven by whoever is willing to dedicate the most time and effort to dominating it.
I checked out some subreddits on the mission, and left pretty quickly for that reason. It's nice to find some positivity and wonder at it. I love what Artemis II is doing, found the launch very exciting and a little nerve wracking, and can't wait until they get even closer to the Moon.
Thanks for the reminder - genuinely. It's hard to keep in mind sometimes.