Space! Let's go.

In 2026, over 50 years since we first landed on the moon, NASA has sent astronauts back with the Artemis II mission, and despite the mind-boggling beauty of it all, people complained. "Why do we need to go to space?" Since we first landed on the moon in 1969, the population of the Earth has almost doubled. Space is big, really big, and our planet gets smaller every day. "We should fix our problems here before going to space." A noble idea, but is that even possible?

In my teenage years I watched a sci-fi show called Babylon 5. A show set in the 2250s, written in the 1980s, produced in the 1990s, inspired by the 1940s, and absolutely on point for the 2020s. The show mixes galaxy-spanning Lord of the Rings mythology ("And so it begins") with stories about the rise of fascism, religion, and how choices have consequences. If there is one thing you can take away from the show, it's that "All of this has happened before and will happen again." — Battlestar Galactica

Babylon 5 showed us a very relatable future. Technology had advanced but had we? Earth still struggled with racism, fascism, and intolerance of that which is different, and we took it all to the stars. But the main thread of the show was that we can overcome it if we work together. Star Trek also believed this, but had a more idealised, utopian dream of the future where anyone could follow their dreams. Of the two, I can't see Star Trek happening, but I can see Babylon 5 happening — a future in space whereby we're still idiots, but we're curious idiots.

Now I know that Babylon 5 is a made-up sci-fi show with weird aliens and spaceships going "pew pew" at each other, but the series is rooted in our history. The fear of telepaths is the fear of any minority group. The distrust of aliens is no different now with immigrants than it was in the 1940s.

Or to put it another way — a more grounded way. In 1962, President JFK made a speech about going to the moon that, like Babylon 5, is as relevant today as when it was made.

We meet at a college noted for knowledge, in a city noted for progress, in a state noted for strength, and we stand in need of all three, for we meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.

For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.

We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man…

I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Which is why we need to go to space now — "Because it is there." — British explorer George Mallory.

In the gap between going to the moon and returning to it, all we've had is science fiction to inspire us: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, The Expanse, new Star Trek, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, For All Mankind, Foundation, Firefly, Farscape, and so on. So many dreams of space, but now it's time to wake up. Space is there. Let's go explore it.

In the words of Jeffrey Sinclair, commander of Babylon 5, on why Artemis II and going to space matters:

"Ask ten different scientists about the environment, population control, genetics, and you'll get ten different answers, but there's one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on. Whether it happens in a hundred years or a thousand years or a million years, eventually our Sun will grow cold and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us. It'll take Marilyn Monroe and Lao-Tzu, Einstein, Morobuto, Buddy Holly, Aristophanes — and all of this, all of this, was for nothing unless we go to the stars." — Sinclair, Infection

Links

• One Moon, 32 cameras, 10,000 photos – as a photographer, I’m awed by the Artemis II photo album. These are the best ones so far | Digital Camera World. Artemis II took 10,000 photos during the Moon flyby. These are the best ones so far...
• Artemis II. Artemis I will be the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to build a sustained human presence at the Moon for decades to come.
• Why Doesn’t Anybody Realize We’re Going Back to the Moon?. On the ground at the Trump era’s most important space launch...
• From the BeAmazed community on Reddit: Visualization of the distances in astronomy.
• Planets and Bright Stars ID Chart.
• Artemis II iPhone Wallpapers — Basic Apple Guy. Some of my favourite iPhone crops from the Artemis II mission.
• Moon Joy: Photos From Artemis II - The Atlantic. On April 6, 2026, four astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft, Integrity, swung around the far side of the moon, traveling farther from the Earth than any humans had ever gone before, and taking spectacular photographs along the way.
• Artemis II Mobile Wallpapers - NASA.
• 16 inspiring Artemis II photos that'll make you feel like a tiny Earthling | Popular Science. The astronauts spent two years in photography training.
• Artemis II in pictures: 21 jaw-dropping photos, from launch to splashdown | BBC Science Focus Magazine. As the latest mission to the Moon draws to a successful close, landing on the lunar surface is now within our reach.
• NASA Captured the Artemis II Launch in Infrared and it Looks Awesome | PetaPixel. Glorious infrared.
• From blast off to splashdown: My days following Nasa's historic mission to the Moon. BBC Science Editor Rebecca Morelle reflects on how it felt to watch history being made.