Pink Palace Front Entrance

All systems go: Memphians gather to watch NASA’s Artemis II launch

 

Vani Jaishannkar | Daily Memphian

Memphians gathered at the Pink Palace Museum on April 1 to watch NASA’s Artemis II launch.

Astronauts last flew to the moon during Apollo 17 in 1972.

“I think that it’s special because space travel has always been a significant part of our culture since the early launches, since the early moon landings,” said Jeff King, interim executive director for the Memphis Museums of Science and History (MoSH).

“I do think that what we have is an opportunity to bring people together around something that is really interesting and unique,” he said.

Artemis II launched at 5:35 p.m. Central Daylight Time from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Four astronauts are on board: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. In a journey lasting fewer than 10 days, they’ll go several thousand miles beyond the moon and straight back.

They won’t stop on the moon.

Guests began arriving at the Pink Palace Museum around 4:30 p.m. and were seated in the Giant Screen Theater at 5 p.m.

Although over 400 people registered for the event, the theater wasn’t at full capacity.

Ciara Swearingen, an employee at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, attended the event with her family.

She described her family as space- and science-oriented.

“I’m most excited about seeing (my son) be excited about the event because he loves space and science,” Swearingen said. “I just want to see his face light up and him to get exposure and just learn about the possibilities that he could be involved in.”

Antonio Hobson, a Memphis saxophonist, said he wanted to attend because he has always been a fan of space exploration and has been following the Artemis II countdown through the delays.

“This is the furthest that humans have ever been traveling to space, so I just wanted to be a part of that with a group of people that are also fans of it,” he said. “Especially with all the things that we go through in the world, sometimes we need something that kind of brings us all together as humanity.”

During the livestream, before the launch, guests listened to NASA employees in the launch control room discuss launch details and preparations. They watched footage of the astronauts aboard the rocket, on the launch pad, and in the launch control room.

They also listened to the messages from Artemis II crew members:

“We are going for our families,” Victor Glover said.

“We are going for our teammates,” Christina Koch said.

“We are going for all humanity,” Jeremy Hansen said.

Guests began counting down in unison, starting at 10 seconds, until the rocket took off and remained seated to watch the rocket exit the Earth’s orbit and enter space.

The number of miles from Earth, the distance to the moon, and the velocity were shown at the bottom of the screen.

“I have these exciting memories of seeing the first moon landing, and younger generations have only heard about it, so I think that there’s something really unique about this mission,” King said.

“Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy, on this historic mission, you take with you the heart of this Artemis team, the daring spirit of the American people, and our partners across the globe, and the hopes and dreams of a new generation. Good luck, godspeed Artemis II, let’s go!” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch director during the live stream.

NASA has plans for a permanent moon base. The space program is aiming for a moon landing near the lunar south pole in 2028.

The Memphis event was one of three the museum hosted with support from a NASA grant, King said.

The first event on Feb. 4 was for the start of the potential launch window; the second event was for Pi Day; and the third event was the live stream of the rocket launch.

The Pink Palace Planetarium offers a daily program that lets people see what the night sky looks like in this area and step outside to look at the stars.

“This is a chance for our generation to experience history,” said Cashundra Jefferson, director of education at MoSH, about the Wednesday rocket launch.