There was a moment last week when none of the show's three contestants could answer a very basic question about the moon program.
The question was asked by Ken on the May 4 broadcast and it was called "Up With NASA."
It turned out to be a triple stumper, as none of the three contestants were able to invoke the correct response. Artemis doesn't seem to be popular with the larger public. I'm reading that as a regrettable Jeopardy! moment.
This was a sign that NASA isn't doing enough to promote the Artemis program. There are other factors to consider. Artemis was announced by former President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, and though it was in the works before that administration, the association may have hurt the program in some Americans' minds. It was hard for Artemis to capture the public's imagination the way Apollo did because of the crises and not-so-peaceful transition of power in January 2021.
I grew up in the 1960s during the Apollo era and I knew exactly what the brother of Artemis was up to.
Artemis can't possibly compete with the Apollo program in terms of novelty, excitement, and historical significance. NASA is having to justify the upcoming missions to the public, who can question the need to go back to the Moon or how they themselves might benefit from the multi-billion-dollar program. NASA wants to make the mission more relevant by having a woman and a person of color take part in Artemis 3, the first lunar landing since 1972, but it's not clear if the message is getting through or the degree to which this matters to people.
The amount of money involved makes it problematic that the contestants couldn't name Artemis. A recent Inspector General audit shows that a total of 40 billion dollars has already been spent on the Artemis program. According to NASA Inspector General Paul Martin, each launch of NASA's upcoming Space Launch System rocket will cost $4.1 billion, a cost he described as unsustainable during a March meeting of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.
The public remains distanced from the program due to ongoing delays. I will believe it when I see it, it's a wholly understandable attitude, given that SLS has yet to launch and the recent tests of the 322-foot tall. NASA's current plan is to launch the rocket for the Artemis 1 mission in August, but further delays would not be surprising.
That is only the rocket. The two requested lunar landers and the xEMU Moon suit are still being developed, despite the fact that the crew capsule is ready for launch. The current plan is to launch Artemis 3 in 2025.
Artemis, as a name and a mission concept, will eventually enter into the common vernacular once the program hits some truly impressive milestones, and I am not talking about the first launch of SLS. Artemis 2 will be when a crewed capsule will travel to the Moon and back without landing, and will capture wide public attention. Artemis will be in the distant future, and nothing to get excited about.
The year of the last Apollo Moon landing was misstated.
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