Jack Tame: The wonder of the Artemis II mission

Nine days, 22 hours, and 32 minutes.   

That’s how long the Artemis II crew has been away and as we speak this morning, they’re entering the final, critical hours of their mission. All going well, by the time Jason Pine welcomes you to Weekend Sport after the midday news, the capsule will have splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. The four people who’ve travelled further from Earth than any other human beings ever will be fished out and whisked off, home to NASA in time for supper. 

As someone who wasn’t here for the Apollo missions, Artemis II represents the most exciting crewed space mission of my life. There have been other big moments: rescue missions to the International Space Station, perilous repair jobs that have needed specialist, highwire space walks. But Artemis is the first crewed mission to leave low Earth orbit since Apollo 17, 54 years ago. 

For me, that’s what’s significant. When many of us think of the view of Earth from space, we think of something from the movies. We think of Earthrise, a marble hanging in space. I have that photograph hanging on our wall at home. It’s seductive to pause for a moment and think of our planet in the context of the big black. 

But that’s not what most astronauts see. I’ve done the maths. Well, no. I’ve looked up the geometry. The International Space Station orbits the Earth at a distance of about 400km. About 10 or 12 times the cruising altitude of a passenger jet. That’s high, sure, but if you look out the window at that altitude, the Earth is right in front of you, and rather than a sphere floating in space, it looks like a giant curved surface. 

You’ve got to go more than twice as far to see the whole Earth as a sphere. At 1000km, it still fills a huge part of your visual field, but you have to scan your eyes from left to right to take it all in. At 10,000km you can see the whole Earth, the whole sphere, the whole she-bang without moving your eyes. I reckon this is when the most significant shift must take place. It’s a view no one’s had in more than fifty years. 

Artemis II travelled 400,000km from Earth. What are you doing? Can you extend your arm out? Reach out and put your thumb up in the air. In the context of your whole visual field, look how small it is. That’s how big Earth would have appeared from that distance.  

I sat at the dinner table with our nine-year-old this week as the Artemis crew prepared for their 40 minutes of unbreakable solitude, the little window of uncontactable-ness as they passed by the far side of the moon. He had so many questions. He was so full of wonder. And almost every time he started with “but how do they...” my answer was “Well... maths.”  

I can only imagine what the Apollo missions must have been like to follow from Earth. It must have been extraordinary. The difference this time around is the technology. The photos sent from the crew are beamed back to Earth and almost immediately shared by NASA. The interactive tools online let you plot capsule’s route.  

You don’t have to be a nine-year old to feel the wonder. You don’t have to be 400,000km from home to have a little sense of what those crew members must feel when they look back at our planet as a distant sphere in the epic vastness of space.   

It must make of our quibbles and disputes seem so petty and trivial. Simultaneously humbling and profound. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from Newstalks atb.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Nine days, twenty two hours and thirty two minutes. That's
how long the Artemis two crew has been away, and
as we speak this morning, they are entering the final
critical hours of their mission, all going well. By the
time Jason Pine welcomes you to Weekend Sport right after
the middane news on Newstalks ZB at about twelve o

(00:35):
seven on the Dot, the capsule will have just splashed
down in the Pacific Ocean. The four astronauts, who have
traveled further from Earth than any other human beings ever,
will be fished out and whisked off home to NASA
and time for supper. As someone who wasn't here for

(00:55):
the Apollo missions, Artemis two, I think represents the most
exciting crude space mission of my life. There have been
other big moments, rescue missions to the International Space Station,
perilous repair jobs that have needed specialist high wire space walks,
but Artemis is the first crude mission to leave low

(01:19):
Earth orbit since Apollo seventeen, and that was fifty four
years ago. For me, I think that's what is significant
when many of us think of the view of Earth
from space, we think of something from the movies. Ah.
You know, if I say imagine Earth from outer space,

(01:41):
you probably think of something like Earth rise, a marble
hanging in space. I actually have that photograph hanging on
our wall at home, and you know, it's kind of
like it's it's nice, it's almost seductive to just pause
for a moment and think of our planet in the
context of the big Black But actually that is not
what most astronauts see. I've done the maths. Well, no,

(02:05):
I've not done the math but I have looked up
the math. I've looked up the geometry. So the International
Space Station orbits the Earth at a distance of about
four hundred kilometers, so about ten or twelve times the
cruising altitude of a passenger jet. And obviously that's high.
But if you look out of the window of the

(02:26):
International Space Station at that altitude, the Earth is right
in front of you, and rather than a sphere floating
in space, it looks like a giant, curved surface. It's
actually almost like being in an imax or something like that,
I think. So it takes up a big part of
your visual field, but not quite all of it, but

(02:48):
it's kind of the dominant thing in front of you, right,
You've got to go more than twice as far if
you want to see the whole earth as a sphere.
So at one thousand kilometers it still fills a huge
part of your visual field, but you have to kind
of scan your eyes from left to right to be
able to take it all in. You've got to go
even further. You've got to go a whole lot further,

(03:10):
ten thousand k's to see the whole earth, to see
the whole thing, the whole sphere, the whole shebang without
moving your eyes. And I reckon that this is when
the most significant shift must take place for astronauts. Soaking
in that view, it's a view that no one has

(03:31):
had in more than fifty years. Artemist two didn't just
travel ten thousand k's where you can see the whole earth,
the whole sphere without moving your eyes. Artemis two traveled
four hundred thousand k's. So what are you doing right now?
Can you just for a moment extend your arm right,

(03:52):
extend your arm full length out in front of your face,
hold it up in the air a little bit if
you like, and put your thumb out. Okay, now look
at your thumb in the context of your whole visual field.
Look how small it is. So that is how big
the Earth would have looked to those astronauts at that distance.

(04:13):
That's how big the Earth would have been from four
hundred thousand k's. I said at the dinner table with
our nine year old this week, as the art of
his crew prepared for their forty minutes of unbreakable solitude,
that little window of uncontactableness as they passed by the
far side of the Moon, and he just had so
many questions. He was so full of wonder with the

(04:35):
whole thing, and almost every time he started with but
how do they my answer was, well, maths, Maths is
how they do it. I can only imagine what the
Apollo missions must have been like to follow from Earth.
It just must have been insane, just extraordinary. And maybe

(04:59):
the difference this time around is the technology. The photos
sent from the crew are beamed back to Earth and
almost immediately shared by NASA. The interactive tools online let
you plot the capsule's route, and you don't have to
be a nine year old to feel the wonder. You
don't have to be four hundred thousand kilometers from home.

(05:19):
To hold your hand and your thumb up in the
air and have a little sense of what those crew
members must feel when they look back at our planet
as a distant sphere in the epic vastness of space.
It just must make all of our quibbles, all of
our disputes, all of our conflicts, seem so petty and trivial,

(05:44):
simultaneously humbling and profound.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
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