“Maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we’re doing is special, but we’re the same distance from you, and I’m trying to tell you—just trust me—you are special. In all of this emptiness—this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the Universe—you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together.
“As we go into Easter Sunday, thinking about all the cultures all around the world, whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing, and that we’ve got to get through this together.”
A crescent Earth sets behind the Moon’s horizon on April 6.
Credit:
NASA
Back on Earth, Koch recalled seeing our home planet as she returned to Houston on Saturday.
“When we saw tiny Earth, people asked our crew what impressions we had, and honestly, what struck me wasn’t necessarily just Earth. It was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the Universe,” she said. “I know I haven’t learned everything that this journey has yet to teach me, but there is one new thing I know, and that is planet Earth, you are a crew.”
These are important messages for a world afflicted by war and division. Hansen, a Canadian mission specialist on Artemis II, encapsulated the sentiment.
“You haven’t heard us talk a lot about the science, the things we’ve learned, and that’s because they’re there, and they’re incredible, but it’s the human experience that is extraordinary for us, and it sounds like maybe for you, too. When you look up here, you’re not looking at us. We are a mirror reflecting you, and if you like what you see, then just look a little deeper. This is you.”
Yeah, NASA (and Canada) really nailed it with this group.