April was not aware of NASA’s plans to send the first woman to the moon in 2024. Also, she was a little surprised that 1972 was the last time we sent people to the moon. She thought we would have gone more frequently once we figured out how. And while she thinks it will be a good accomplishment to go back, it is not something that she is likely to celebrate.
Radha is a freshman in college, when Artemis III launches to put people on the moon again she will be in her first or second year of graduate school. She was not aware of NASA’s plans. But if it were on the news or taught in school, then more people would be aware of it.
Julian thought NASA’s plans to land on the moon were neat, but he had not heard of them before. And he thinks we should solve problems on earth before exploring space. The two problems we talked about were the environment and poverty. Electric cars need to displace gas cars. And we should work on putting solar panels on our houses before looking into space based solar power. He is most excited by solving problems that he can see the benefits of solving. For example, teachers spend much time looking for an eraser for the marker board, he has an idea for a solution. Also, getting tape off of a spool of tape is a pain. He is working on a solution to that too. In 2024, Julian will be a freshman in college. And he doesn’t plan to go wild when people are on the moon.
Julian has his own YouTube channel: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCvsRDQh2QoETeOH6hBJGNDA
I met Sterling at downtown Houston. He had heard about NASA’s plans to land an astronaut on the moon in 2024. He thinks it will inspire some people especially younger people in elementary. But he thinks that it needs to benefit all people. We should not go for the sake of going. When asked about something the astronauts should do on the moon, he suggested playing volleyball.
Tanmay was familiar with NASA’s plans to land on the moon! He thinks it will inspire people to study STEM, but he would like to know some of the societal benefits that we would get out of it.
Talked to Sammy Giammalva at the tennis club. He had not heard about the NASA’s plans to land on the moon. He thinks that if it was in the news then more people might know about it. He is not sure what we hope to accomplish but he hopes that it is something significant.
Today I talked to Aubrey at the coffee shop. She had not heard of NASA’s plans to go to the moon. But she thought it was pretty cool. And she would be willing to go.
Talked to Akash about the 2024 Artemis moon landing that NASA is planning. He had not heard about it before. Akash has some questions about the opportunity cost of a human moon landing. Could that money be used to solve more pressing problems on earth? We explored this a little and discussed the benefits we should get from improving our perspective. When those astronauts look back at earth and see something that is small, fragile, limited and yet extremely special, we will have a truer view of our place in the cosmos. Also what are humanity’s cognitive blind spots that might be addressed by having humans living in very different conditions than on earth. Where will Akash be in 2024 when the moon landings are happening? Celebrating this achievement with the rest of us.
Today I talked to Cole and Evi and the gym about the Artemis Program. They were not aware of NASA’s plan, but they were enthusiastic and supportive. They will be in college when people are walking on the moon again.
I was kind of nervous talking to complete strangers about the moon. But they were very supportive. “Would you help me with my project?”, I said. “Sure.. what is it?” And they warned me that they did not know much about the moon. But they did know that 1969 was the first time that people walked on the moon.
The Artemis Program will land the first woman and the next man on the moon by the end of 2024. Each day I plan to talk to a different person about the moon landing. What do they know? What do they think about it? What gets them excited? My first interview is with Pooja Bhatia, my niece, who is visiting for the holidays. She was not aware of the program, but she is excited and glad it is happening.