On this episode of Our Island Universe: The next chapter of space exploration and renewed efforts to pursue our celestial destiny.
Note: Throughout the month of July, Our Island Universe is celebrating the legacy of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.
Shanil Virani, Director of the John C. Wells Planetarium in Harrisonburg, VA.
Follow on Twitter as shanilv
Transcript:
Sending 12 men to the Moon and bringing them safely back to Earth, is one of our greatest achievements in human history. But the Apollo program should not be the "golden age" of space, it must be just one important early step in an ongoing process of space exploration.
That next chapter started on December 5, 2014 when NASA successfully launched Orion, its space capsule, on its first test flight. Orion is the first spacecraft made for human space travel in more than 40 years. It is being designed in tandem with the Space Launch System, America's new mega rocket that will not only provide us with the machinery to launch our own astronauts into low Earth orbit again, but more importantly, to also send Americans to Mars. And to do so in the 2030s. The first un-crewed test of Orion astride the Space Launch System is expected as soon as 2021.
Our grandparents landed on the Moon; our destination is Mars. The larger story, however, is what this story says about us. Our species is one of overcoming obstacles but is also one of exploration. We are EXPLORERS; our destiny is up there and not down here. As President Kennedy said about space exploration, it is, "the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked."
