The Artemis astronauts have taken in sights of the Moon never before seen by human eyes, crew members reported on Sunday as their spacecraft crossed the two-thirds mark on their journey to a long-anticipated lunar flyby.
Image: Jim Watson / AFP
Having followed the launch of Artemis 2 on April 1, the four brave astronauts manning it, and its subsequent landing on Saturday into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California with extraordinary technology and precision, I cannot help but think back to 57 years ago.
At the time, I was only 5 years old and not knowing or understanding space travel, when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon.
The value of that exploration dawned upon me much later, but its significance was for all eternity.
Man's ingenuity, his cunning, his bravery and his resolve to challenge the sometimes impossible knows no bounds. We are privileged to have lived a lifetime where we could witness such and almost unimaginable feats achieved – but it is a stark and poignant reminder that the universe is as massive and colossal as it is small and reachable in the eyes of men and women, who go beyond energy and daring to make the impossible, possible.
We will not be around for the next space exploration into galaxies unknown, but I am thankful that this lifetime offered me the opportunity to bear witness to man's phenomenal human capabilities that explored frontiers once only imagined – once only dreamed of. The world of fantasy has become very real – again.
NARENDH GANESH
Durban North