Nelson: Apollo 11 United the Country in 1969, Artemis Will Too

In marking today’s 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson expressed hope that the space program can unite the country again as it did decades ago. The fractious political climate of 2024 is not so different from the 1960s, he believes, and just as the Apollo program brought everyone together then, space exploration can do it now.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969 as Command Module Pilot Michael Collins orbited overhead. Their Lunar Module, Eagle, touched down at 4:17:40 pm Eastern Daylight Time.

It was indeed a turbulent time in America with anti-war protests on many campuses and a country still reeling from the assassinations of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. a year earlier.

The extent to which Apollo 11 unified the country can be debated by historians, but for that one moment it did seem the entire world was watching and cheering humanity’s achievement. Nelson believes it can happen again.

Some may say that unity in divided times is an impossible dream. But what was landing on the Moon?

Space has the power to bring us together, just as it has before. Let the 55th anniversary of #Apollo11 be a time for hope. pic.twitter.com/bi1xBL7Itq

— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) July 19, 2024

“… Space can unite a troubled country in troubled times and no moment united the country quite like when the Eagle landed as all of planet Earth watched from below. …

“We are in politically divided times again as we work through this current time of challenge and unacceptable political violence. Let this Apollo 11 anniversary be a time of reflection and, I hope, of healing.

“Some may say that unity amid divided times is an impossible dream, but what about the unity of Apollo 11? Some may say that our brightest days are behind us, but what will happen when humanity gathers once again in shared reverence to watch a crew of Artemis astronauts take to the heavens? And then when humanity sets foot once again on the surface of the Moon? The day will be a triumph for all, for humanity’s capacity to work together for our shared will to dream new dreams.

“Because when we can work together up there, we can live together down here in the name of peace.” — Bill Nelson

Nelson was an active duty lieutenant in the Army Reserve on leave in Budapest, Hungary listening to the BBC when Apollo 11 launched on July 16, 1969 and in a London hotel watching a black-and-white television four days later when it landed, he recounted in a 2021 interview with The Guardian months after becoming NASA Administrator. Apollo 11 “was all extremely fascinating to me and never in a million years did I think that I was going to end up being able to fly in space” or be in a leadership position at NASA, he told The Guardian.

He chose a career in politics and represented Florida districts 9 and 11 in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979-1991 and the state of Florida in the Senate from 2001-2019. In 1986 while a member of the House, he was on the crew of STS 61-C, the space shuttle flight immediately before the January 28 Challenger tragedy. In the Senate he served with Joe Biden, who nominated him to be NASA Administrator shortly after taking office as President.

Nelson’s video, released yesterday, was NASA’s only dedicated Apollo 11 anniversary tribute. A smattering of other NASA activities were grouped together in a NASA press release noting the anniversary, but the one with the most direct relevance — the July 16 roll out of the core stage for the Space Launch System rocket that will send the Artemis II crew around the Moon next year — wasn’t even shown on NASA TV. They did post photos on X, however.

????Rolling out!

The SLS core stage for #Artemis II is on the move at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility heading toward @NASA‘s Pegasus barge.

After opening remarks from #NASA leadership, we marked this momentous occasion with an #AAFlyover, live music, and an employee event! ???? pic.twitter.com/f8iMonqph4

— NASA_SLS (@NASA_SLS) July 16, 2024

Artemis is NASA’s new program to send people back to the Moon. Unlike the U.S.-only Apollo program, Artemis is designed to include international partners and the commercial sector through Public-Private Partnerships.

The uncrewed Artemis I test flight took place in 2022. The first flight with a crew, Artemis II, is now scheduled to launch in September 2025. Also a test flight, it will not enter orbit around the Moon, much less land. The four person crew — three Americans and a Canadian — will be on a free-return trajectory that will bring them back to Earth even if the Orion spacecraft’s thrusters do not perform as planned.

The first Artemis mission to land on the Moon will be Artemis III, scheduled for September 2026 though many are skeptical that date will hold. Not only would Artemis II have to go perfectly, but it’s not clear the Human Landing System being built by SpaceX and the lunar spacesuits under development by Axiom Space will be ready by then. The crew has not been selected yet.

The Artemis program began in the Trump Administration and then-Vice President Mike Pence, as chair of the National Space Council, set 2024 as the date for the first landing. Many considered that unrealistic and were surprised when President Biden took office and adopted not only the program, but the deadline. By the end of 2021, however, Nelson conceded the date would slip to 2025. This year it slipped again to 2026.

Biden posted on X today that “We led the world to the moon in 1969. Now, we’ll lead the world back.”

55 years ago, an American became the first person in history to walk on the lunar surface.

As President Kennedy said, it was a challenge we were unwilling to postpone and one we intended to win.

We led the world to the moon in 1969. Now, we’ll lead the world back. pic.twitter.com/3T6jOKEiHK

— President Biden (@POTUS) July 20, 2024

This article has been updated.