Friends,
Have you been following the lunar flyby expedition? As I ponder the mission’s completion, with splashdown scheduled for tonight, I start my own journey down the proverbial rabbit hole.
First, there’s so much information to sift through. Once you get past the earthrise, eclipse, and far side crater stuff, you get to the mythology. Artemis was Apollo’s twin sister. While this subtle connection to prior moon missions makes sense, Apollo is part of a rare breed of gods whose name is the same in both Greek and Roman myth. This matters because the precursor to the Apollo missions was Mercury, the Roman god of trade, travel and thieves. The other mission series in that era, Gemini, was also named after Roman twins. Artemis is a Greek goddess. Diana, Apollo’s Roman twin feels like a more suitable name, does it not?
There’s the Orion capsule. A fellow Greek, hunter and acquaintance. While the intra-mission mythological consistency is good, he was killed by Artemis—not so good. I suppose NASA does not believe in bad omens. I prefer the crew’s nickname, Integrity—as in Structural Integrity.
Then there’s the menu, the astronauts had 200 items to choose from, yet none of them were donuts. Apparently, the crumbs have the potential to damage equipment. What a crummy reason to deprive astronauts of such a delicious treat. Fortunately you and I don’t need to worry about such trivial details.
First, there’s so much information to sift through. Once you get past the earthrise, eclipse, and far side crater stuff, you get to the mythology. Artemis was Apollo’s twin sister. While this subtle connection to prior moon missions makes sense, Apollo is part of a rare breed of gods whose name is the same in both Greek and Roman myth. This matters because the precursor to the Apollo missions was Mercury, the Roman god of trade, travel and thieves. The other mission series in that era, Gemini, was also named after Roman twins. Artemis is a Greek goddess. Diana, Apollo’s Roman twin feels like a more suitable name, does it not?
There’s the Orion capsule. A fellow Greek, hunter and acquaintance. While the intra-mission mythological consistency is good, he was killed by Artemis—not so good. I suppose NASA does not believe in bad omens. I prefer the crew’s nickname, Integrity—as in Structural Integrity.
Then there’s the menu, the astronauts had 200 items to choose from, yet none of them were donuts. Apparently, the crumbs have the potential to damage equipment. What a crummy reason to deprive astronauts of such a delicious treat. Fortunately you and I don’t need to worry about such trivial details.
Lunar eclipse or Boston Creme. You decide.
Happy Friday!
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