Whatever your view is of America today, the Artemis II mission showed the world that it can still deliver moments of wonder. For a few days, the chaotic headlines gave way to something more. Who could have failed to be captivated by the stunning images of the earthrise and earthset over the moon?
The mission was also so human. From the spontaneous moments of the astronauts onboard the Orion to the joy they radiated as they climbed out of the capsule after landing, I loved their sense of ‘moonjoy’, that shared exhilaration that reached way beyond the astronauts themselves. Technically, it was a mission of superlatives. It carried humans further from earth than ever before, revealed the moon’s far side in new detail and captured a solar eclipse from space. Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew tried, but failed, to describe sights no human has witnessed before and said: “There is no adjective for it.” Jeremy Hansen reflected on the shift in perspective when earth looks like a small, fragile sphere in a vast void.
This was also a global achievement, and South Africa was part of it too. The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) is a Centre of Excellence, and while astronauts captured unprecedented observations, our engineers in Hartebeeshoek played a small, but critical, role by maintaining contact and collecting critical telemetry. They monitored the spacecraft’s health, position and trajectory, contributing the ranging data essential for mission control whenever the capsule was visible from the southern hemisphere. International collaboration is the basis of even the most iconic milestones.
I was wondering why it took over half a century for NASA to return to deep space. It appears that it was mainly due to a lack of political motivation and funding after the Cold War space race ended, rather than technological limitations. Funding dropped sharply, from 5% of the USA federal budget in the Apollo heydays to under 0,5% today. This resulted in a shift toward lower-cost, lower-risk programmes in low earth orbit like the space shuttle and the international space station.
Over time, key capabilities were lost. The expertise, supply chains and infrastructure behind the Saturn V and Apollo systems were dismantled, meaning modern programmes effectively had to start again. At the same time, today’s missions are far more ambitious and complex. The Artemis programme aims to land astronauts and establish a sustained human presence. This will require advanced life-support, radiation protection and powerful new rockets. Modern standards also require much higher safety and testing requirements, making projects more complex compared to the Wild West fever of the 1960s.
Plenty of people question the philosophy and meaning of these flights when there are so many problems down here on earth. But the first moon landing turned extreme engineering challenges into practical innovations in a wide range of spinoff technologies that are the basis of modern technology.
When you look around your home, it’s likely that at least some of the technology has its origins in NASA-related innovations. We have NASA to thank for the cordless screwdriver and dustbuster, GPS navigation, videoconferencing, phone cameras, space blankets, cochlear implants, invisible braces, memory foam, and much more. For example, the inner soles in Nike Air running shoes that give you extra bounce and shock absorption come from a technology developed for spacesuit construction.
Another one is the golf ball. As part of the space shuttle programme, NASA needed to maximise the drag resistance on its launch system surfaces, especially the external fuel tank. A special dimpled surface gave a more optimum lift-to-drag ratio, getting more distance and stability during the launch. Wilson engineers realised that applying dimples to the surface of a golf ball made them glide more smoothly with less aerodynamic drag, and today all golf balls have this dimpled coating, much appreciated by golfers.
On the industrial side there are even more. The supercritical wing mitigates the shock waves as planes approach or break the sound barrier. Oil-free solid lubricant coatings developed for space-based machinery enable industrial engines, compressors and turbogenerators to operate without liquid oil, enabling hotter, more efficient operation. Systems designed to 3D-print lunar habitats are now being adapted to build entire neighbourhoods of affordable, sustainable housing down here on earth. Simulation software developed for the James Webb space telescope is now used to create digital twins of complex industrial systems, allowing manufacturers to simulate, test and optimise production lines before building them.
Artemis II did more than return humans to deep space. It reminded us through science, images and shared emotion of our smallness, our connection and our capacity to lift one another up.
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