“One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.”
Neil Armstrong said these iconic words as he became the first human to walk on the moon, followed closely by Buzz Aldrin and watched from orbit by Michael Collins. This was the Apollo 11 mission, a culmination of humankind’s exploration of the stars. In 1969, an estimated 600 million people watched as humanity left its eternal mark on the moon. Upon landing, these three men were honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and an irreplaceable position in the world’s history. Armstrong passed in 2012 and Collins in 2021. Aldrin is the last member alive from the main Apollo 11 crew at 96, which puts into perspective both how close and how far the first moon landing was in our history. Aldrin was one of many people who, on April 1st, 2026, watched the crew of the Artemis II launch towards the moon on a ten day mission.
The Artemis II mission is a test flight planned to support future Artemis missions. The Artemis program was established in 2017 and it has two specific goals: To land humans on the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972 by 2028, and to establish a permanent base on the moon by the 2030s, which will become a stepping stone for sending humans even deeper into space. The four astronauts on Artemis II are Reid Wiseman (USA), Victor Glover (USA), Christina Koch (USA), and Jeremy Hansen (Canada). As of 11:00am on April 6th, the astronauts have broken the record for the furthest humans have ever been from Earth, at an astronomical distance of 248,655 miles away. They are also the first astronauts to see the far side of the moon, the side not visible from Earth, with their human eyes. Artemis II is expected to reach the moon on Monday and send imagery back to NASA by Monday evening.
NASA sent out a tweet this morning that truly exemplifies the awesome gravity of this endeavor:
“Morning routine: Wake up, shave, make the bed, witness something that’s never before been seen by human eyes.”
The state of the world these days is not what I would call stable. With President Trump starting a war with Iran with no end in sight, ICE threatening the safety of US citizens, and the price of everything increasing, it’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s hard to believe that there even is an end at all. But, I would like to remind you of the quote that Armstrong said:
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”
Armstrong was an American citizen, and the Space Race which eventually led to Apollo 11 started as a competition between the US and the Soviet Union. But, in that memorable moment, Armstrong didn’t say that it was a leap for the United States. It was a leap for mankind, for all of us. It’s a reminder that at the end of everything, despite the chaos, there are people working and serving for the greater good of all.
And as long as we remember the light and stand together, there will be many more leaps to come.
