The mission is a milestone achievement for us Canadians as it marks the first time a Canadian (Jeremy Hansen) is part of a lunar mission. If you're following it, you also know it's the first time a woman (Christina Hammock Koch) has orbited the moon. And it's a Canadian-U.S. collaboration. Sigh, I remember those days fondly.
I first heard about the mission a over a week ago while watching a news clip during which a cynical news commentator cited the mission as yet another distraction by the US administration to deflect from ongoing scandal after scandal. At the time I felt just as cynical. I still do. How can I not? As I mull over this war and its warmonger leader easily rage-bated by a criminal regime he and his claquers thought he could bulldoze down over the weekend to do what...build a statue of himself and a ballroom? Insert 63 swear words and the barf emoji here.
It's exhausting.
But, dear friends, look to some real leaders: the men and woman aboard this ship the size of a ten-person tent. Their aim is to test the aircraft's systems for future missions and exploration, and that in itself is historic, but in the clip below, there's a truly human operative unfolding: I'd call it lifework. Using this opportunity, the astronauts seem to surprise a fellow crew member with a touching dedication, one that speaks to authentic legacy: not greed, not fame, not to escape consequences, but what we selflessly do in the name of friendship and love.
It's quite a thing, but I was surprised when I learned that there would not be a lunar landing. The one photo that I saw of the dark side of the moon with the earth looming behind it was quite the thing.
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