President Kennedy once reminded us — as if we needed reminding — that humankind doesn’t reach for the stars because “it is easy”; we do so, he said, “because it is hard.”
Artemis II has returned four brave astronauts from its loop around the moon. The landing was picture perfect. The heroes splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at precisely, to the minute, on time. They called it a “bulls-eye” conclusion to the first lunar mission in 54 years.
Let us remember what JFK told us in 1962. This is an endeavor with many thousands of moving parts. Virtually anyone of them could produce a tragedy were they to fail. I won’t presume is less difficult in 2026 than it was in the early ’60s. Indeed, the nature of the technological beast that will transport future heroes may be more difficult.
Let us always presume that future missions contain grave risks to the human beings who suit up for missions such as the one that captivated the nation with Artemis II’s success doesn’t lure us into complacency.