Amaze, Amaze, Amaze, Artemis II

As Commander Reid Wiseman described the incredible view of the lunar surface, Mission Control playfully responded: ‘Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!’

Amaze

Looking up for a moment is a good way to relieve our focus on the chaos of the world. And the world has been looking up to the crew of Artemis II as they look down on us. They enthralled us with pictures, made us laugh with their corny Full House rendition of the crew, and brought us to tears by naming a crater, Carroll.

Ground control at NASA even weighed in with a quip from the movie, Hail Mary.

For those who haven’t seen the film, Amaze, Amaze, Amaze is the catchphrase of ‘Rocky’, the friendly alien encountered by scientist Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Reynolds.

Speaking during an event organized by the Canadian Space Agency, Jeremy Hansen said that the film helped the crew get “ready to go on our own space adventure”.

“Art imitates science and vice versa,” said Mr Hansen.

Scientists

And then there was Upasna Gautam’s observation about the crew being scientists. (Gautam is the Product Manager on the Digital News Platforms team at CNN.)

She wrote,

“It’s not a coincidence that the astronauts who’ve traveled further than any human don’t talk like they know everything.  They talk like students and explorers. Their wonder and curiosity are on full display.

That’s what science does to you.

It dissolves your ego and forces you to confront the vastness of the unknown. It makes you more careful with your words, more open to being wrong and more in awe of the questions than obsessed with the answers.

It softens you in the best way possible.”

She says she wrote her Threads post in 60 seconds and it travelled the world of social media as fast as the Artemis II.

Brilliant.

Stars

There’s the childlike wonder of astronauts Jeremy Hansen and Reid Wiseman on seeing stars in outer space:

“It’s hard to see the constellations because there are so many stars out there and the coolest part of those stars is they do not twinkle at all, they almost look fake — just perfect pinpricks of light.”

I’ll leave you with Artemis II pilot Victor Glover’s thoughts.

He shared these mere MOMENTS before reaching the back side of the Moon, losing communication with Earth.

“Christ said, in response to what was the greatest command, that it was to love God with all that you are. And he also, being a great teacher, said the second is equal to it, and that is to love your neighbour as yourself.

And so, as we prepare to go out of radio communication, we’re still going to feel your love from Earth, and to all of you down there on earth and around earth, we love you from the moon.”

What did you learn from Artemis II? Please join the conversation by posting a comment below.

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