Living in two worlds

Today’s headlines reflect the best and worst of humanity. This morning, NASA launched a manned rocket that’s now heading for the moon. Artemis II is scheduled to spend ten days in space. For the next 25 hours, four astronauts will orbit the Earth at an altitude of 74,000km, checking and testing their Orion capsule's systems, before reigniting its service module engine and sending it towards the moon.

The astronauts won’t land on the moon’s surface. That feat is reserved for a future mission. Instead, they’ll loop around Earth’s natural satellite in what’s known as a free return lunar fly-by trajectory. This is a flight path that uses the moon’s gravity to automatically return the capsule to Earth without firing its rocket again.

In many ways, Artemis II resembles Apollo 8. This mission, which launched in December 1968, was the first time humans flew to the moon and returned safely to Earth. However, unlike the current mission, Apollo 8 went into orbit around the moon, circling it ten times before reigniting its rocket and returning to Earth.

Artemis II will establish at least one space exploration first. Its free-return trajectory will see it fly more than 7400 kilometres past the far side of the moon, more than 400,000 kilometres from Earth. This is the furthest any human has ever ventured into space. Apollo astronauts typically flew less than 120 km above the moon’s surface.

Artemis II represents human ingenuity at its finest. It’s a potent symbol of what we can achieve as a species when we aspire to greatness. It’s also an inspiring example of the USA’s extraordinary wealth, leadership and technical know-how.

Contrast this with the war currently unfolding in the Middle East. Five weeks ago, the USA and Israel launched a coordinated aerial attack on Iran. Since then, both nations have relentlessly bombed the Persian nation, destroying military assets and killing its leaders. Iran has responded by attacking its Gulf neighbours, damaging critical oil and gas production infrastructure, while attacks on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz have all but stopped oil from flowing out of the Middle East.

President Trump's rationale for starting the war and its ultimate objectives have morphed over time. However, one thing is clear. The quick and easy victory he plainly anticipated has failed to materialise. There's now every prospect of the USA becoming bogged down in prolonged conflict or withdrawing shortly, only to be drawn back in to finish the job at some future point.

The Iranian regime’s resolve hasn’t weakened, despite the devastation of American and Israeli airborne attacks. Instead, global economic activity is cracking under the strain. To quote a recent commentator, “The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has transformed economic prospects globally from the relatively benign to inflationary and, very possibly, in a worst-case scenario, deeply recessionary.”

What seems to have become an increasingly pointless conflict is now at risk of damaging the world’s economy for months, if not years, to come. Iran’s regime remains intact and inevitably more motivated than ever to accelerate its ambitions to develop a nuclear weapon. I'm not sure it's made the world a safer place. 

Meanwhile, here in Australia, most commentators, including the Reserve Bank of Australia, expect inflation to peak at five per cent, further interest rate rises, higher unemployment and greater economic uncertainty. It’s not the kind of year anyone wanted. The USA’s capricious actions in the Middle East stand in stark contrast to this morning’s historic launch at the Kennedy Space Centre. It's like we're living in two completely different worlds.

UPDATE: 10:58am, 3 April

I've just watched live as the Orion spacecraft completed its Translunar Injection Burn, a five-minute rocket burn that sends it to the moon. The last time humans headed for the moon, they were on board Apollo 17. This final moon landing mission took place in December 1972, more than 53 years ago. 

UPDATE: 4 April

The image above was taken by one of the astronauts aboard Orion. It shows the Atlantic Ocean bordered by Africa on the right and cloud-covered South America on the left. If you look closely, you can see auruoa glowing over both poles. Venus makes a guest appearance in the top left corner. The last time we saw an image like this was during Apollo 17.