Happy Astronauts in Space Day!
On May 5th of every year, we observe National Astronaut Day—created in 2016 by uniphi space agency—to celebrate the folks living out the dream job most of us had as kids. National Astronaut Day honors the achievements of past and current astronauts and, hopefully, inspires the astronauts of our future.National Space Day was created by Lockheed Martin in 1997 as a onetime event but was so popular that it became an annual occurrence; Senator John Glenn expanded it to International Space Day in 2001. International Space Day occurs the first Friday of May every year and celebrates the wonders of space itself, as well as achievements and benchmarks in understanding space, from Galileo Galilee’s astronomical discoveries and theories to the successful launch of Artemis I. It is a day meant to inspire kids to take interest in STEM and STEAM fields.This year, National Astronaut Day and International Space Day coincide, as does the peak of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower and a lunar eclipse! We have the opportunity to celebrate both the final current frontier and the exceptional people who have dared to leave Earth at the same time. The meteor shower—provided the skies are clear, especially in the Southern Hemisphere—and the lunar eclipse—in much of the Eastern Hemisphere—are as good excuses as any to look up at the afternoon and night skies and contemplate space and our place in it, as well as give a shout-out the ten humans who are living and working in space right now. For those not in the Southern or Eastern Hemispheres, you can see the lunar eclipse on a livestream from The Virtual Telescope Project and Astro LIVE: 流れ星と星空 朝日新聞宇宙部 currently has three ongoing livestreams—from observatories in Mauna Kea, Hawaii; Kiso, Japan; and Tokyo—of the meteor showers.
Robert L. Curbeam, Jr. (NASA astronaut, US) and Christer Fuglesang (ESA astronaut, Sweden) working on the construction of Integrated Truss Structure for the International Space Station during STS-116 on December 12, 2006 – photo from NASA-Imagery
The concurrence of National Astronaut Day and International Space Day is particularly exciting amid all the recent space and space travel news. Just last month, on April 3rd, NASA announced the four crew members selected for Artemis II; a month prior, both Axiom and Collins Aerospace revealed the new designs for suits geared toward lunar missions and extravehicular mobility unit for use on the International Space Station, respectively. Two days ago, on May 3rd, Czechia—a nation with no small presence in the ESA—became the 24th country to sign the Artemis Accords, an agreement to peaceful and cooperative space exploration.
Piers Sellers (NASA astronaut, UK-US) during an EVA during STS-121 on July 12, 2006 – original photo from WikiImages
And explore we shall. Last month, on April 14th, the ESA launched JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) which will be exploring Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto, all of which are ocean-bearing moons orbiting Jupiter. In July, SpaceX is planning to launch Polaris Dawn—a private spaceflight mission—which is slated to feature the first commercial spacewalk. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx—the first mission to collect asteroid samples—will be returning to Earth on September 24th; the samples OSIRIS-REx is bringing home with it are from Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid that nearly ate the Explorer when it landed to collect samples. In October, NASA plans to launch the Psyche spacecraft to study Psyche, an asteroid in orbit between Mars and Jupiter which could hold some clues about the metallic cores of planets in terrestrial planets in our solar system.Like the Artemis program motto says, “We are going.”Space, the final next current frontier…Just beyond the aether of our pale blue dot, lies everything else. In the grand scheme of things, our knowledge of space is still in its infancy; there is so much to learn, so many places to explore, so many theories to challenge and revise, and so much space to see! And we are pouring all kinds of humanity into all of the instruments of our learning: engineering, math, design, chemistry, biology, fabric and sewing expertise, food science and preparation, mechanics, medical expertise, communications, family, education, friends, curiosity, courage, love, hope… hope. Every step we take in our exploration of space and worlds beyond our own is, necessarily, infused with hope. Hope to understand more of the cosmos and our place in it; hope to find other habitable worlds; hope to find life out there among the stars; hope to better understand ourselves.
Bruce McCandless II (NASA astronaut, US) performing the first untethered EVA during STS-41-B, on February 7, 1984 – photo from WikiImages
Today, we celebrate that hope by recognizing the wonders and mysteries of space and honoring the people who risk so much to start to better appreciate those wonders and mysteries. As you glimpse that lunar eclipse or spy meteors burning across the sky, I hope (heh, see what I did there?) that you are filled with hope …and wonder and curiosity and joy. Because we are going. We are learning. We are hoping.