Still Reaching for the Moon - and Beyond in the Artemis II Era

George Le Gresley

Paris Independent Columnist

The moon has fascinated all races and societies since the beginning of our existence. In fact, Earth’s only satellite, about one-quarter the size of Earth and approximately 384,000 kilometres from Earth, has fascinated the scientific community and inspired artists to create music. In rock and roll history, there are hundreds of songs with the “moon” in their titles. Scientists and writers have been fascinated by travel to the moon since the 1600s, and from the 1800s through the 1900s, rocket science was theorized to enable flights beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

So why on Earth did mankind start taking rockets seriously? During the Second World War, rocket scientists' goal was to build a weapon capable of travelling long distances to their enemies. After the war, Russia, then known as the U.S.S.R., began a program that eventually put animals in capsules, launched them on rockets to leave Earth’s atmosphere, orbit Earth, and then return with the passengers alive. In 1961, the Russians moved from animals to Yuri Gagarin, the first man launched into orbit, circling the Earth and returning safely.

Explaining the “Cold War” is too complex to do in a short story, but in the 1950s and 60s, the simplest way to explain it was the poor relationship and the differences in political beliefs between the communists and the free world. During that time, nuclear war was a concern. The “Space Race” accelerated in 1961 when, in a speech by President John F. Kennedy, the United States set the goal of being the first to land on the moon.

The “Gemini” program followed earlier efforts to put a man in orbit and focused on advancing spaceflight capabilities. In 1964, the first rocket in the program was Gemini 1, an unmanned flight to assess whether the spacecraft could complete multiple orbits around Earth. The goals of the flight were met, including testing how the craft performed in orbit. Gemini 2, however, was protected by a silicone elastomer heat shield, allowing the capsule to return to Earth safely. Gemini 3 was the first manned spacecraft in the program to be launched into orbit and return to Earth, and the last mission in the program was Gemini 12. It’s amazing that this program began in 1964, was completed in 1966, and that many of its missions were televised to the world.

Following the Gemini series of launches came Apollo, whose goal was to orbit and land on the moon. Apollo 8, in 1968, was the first spacecraft to orbit the moon and transmit images of the moon back to Earth. In July of 1969, Apollo 11’s three-person crew headed to the moon. Once in the moon’s orbit, two of the astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, moved into the lunar landing module, which separated from the main ship to proceed with landing on the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first man to climb out of the lunar module for man’s first step on the moon, saying, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” On the moon, Buzz Aldrin and Armstrong were televised jumping and leaping in the moon's lower gravity. The scientific agenda for the moon walkers consisted of collecting 49 kg of moon dust and rocks, which were subsequently aged to 4.5 billion years old. They also placed a “Laser Ranging Retroreflector,” which is still in use, where a laser is aimed at the retroreflector to measure the distance between Earth and the moon. A seismometer was placed to measure moonquakes, the seismic impact of meteors hitting the moon, and an astrophysics experiment. Lastly, there was a large collection of photography, used for scientific study and for public consumption.

There would be 12 astronauts to step on the moon and a total of 17 missions in the Apollo program, several of which carried crews to lunar orbit or the moon’s surface. After the Apollo program, the focus shifted to reusable spacecraft, leading to the “Space Shuttle” program, whose goal was to help build a space station.

Canada has made many major contributions to the space program, most notably the Canadarm, an important tool used to deploy and service satellites, and areas around Sudbury serving as a training ground for astronauts on the Lunar Roving Vehicle, due to some of the landscape resembling the moon’s surface. Canada has had many astronauts in space, from Marc Garneau to Jeremy Hansen, who has been selected for Artemis II, a mission that will orbit the moon.

Technological developments in space travel include the launch of the Hubble Telescope, which continually expands our understanding of the universe, and improvements in image processing techniques for MRI and CT scanners. Innovations in miniaturized electronics, memory foam, scratch-resistant lenses, fire-resistant materials, and even cordless tools were developed to support the actions astronauts had to perform. Where would the electric vehicles we drive be without the batteries developed for energy storage?

So now, with the Artemis program, the goal is to land on the moon as a springboard for a voyage to Mars, and with that challenge, Canada, through its Space Agency, will have a role in providing astronauts and technology. Spotify currently lists 50 songs about Mars… wondering if more might be written in the future.