Back to the Moon

OUTSIDE space enthusiasts Apollo 8 is an almost forgotten mission. On December 21, 1968, three astronauts launched aboard a Saturn V rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Just 68 hours later Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders became the first humans to orbit the moon. A mere eleven years after Sputnik — the first artificial satellite — humanity was already preparing to set foot on another world.

That historic step would come seven months later. The systems required to land on the moon were still being built and tested. Apollo 8’s mission was instead one of proof: to validate the command and service modules, perform lunar orbital maneuvers, scout potential landing sites, demonstrate navigation and communications systems, and most importantly confirm that humans could travel to the moon and return safely.

These three men were the first to leave Earth orbit, the first to see the moon’s far side with human eyes during ten lunar orbits, and the first to witness an Earthrise, an image forever immortalized by lunar-module pilot William Anders.

You may recognize the name Jim Lovell. Portrayed by Tom Hanks in the 1995 film Apollo 13, Lovell would later command that ill-fated mission and become the first human to travel to the Moon twice —though, as with Apollo 8, his journeys would remain in orbit. 

Apollo 17, launched in December 1972, marked the last time humans traveled to the Moon. Three planned missions were canceled, and the remaining Saturn V rockets were placed in museums across the country. 54 years later humanity has yet to venture beyond low Earth orbit.

Till now.

As soon as Friday, February 6 this year, humans will once again journey to the moon. Three American astronauts and one Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut will strap themselves atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and embark on a ten-day journey around the moon and back aboard the Orion spacecraft. While both the rocket and capsule have flown uncrewed test missions, this flight is historic in many ways:

• The first crewed mission of SLS and Orion

• The farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth, about 8,400 miles farther than Apollo 13

• The first non-American to orbit the moon: CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen

• The first woman to travel to lunar orbit: Christina Koch

• The first person of color to journey to the moon: Victor Glover

Launch preparations began in late January for a series of launch windows opening between February 6 and 11. Coming shortly after NASA’s annual Week of Remembrance honoring the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia, this mission underscores a truth that has always accompanied exploration: progress demands courage.

Rigorous training, modern engineering and layers of redundancy stand guard over today’s astronauts. Still, exploration is never without risk. As President John F. Kennedy reminded the world in 1962, “We choose to go to the Moon … and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

This February, humanity once again takes up that challenge.

Wishing these explorers godspeed.

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