四位勇敢的太空人正趁著这个复活节周末，搭乘 Artemis II 以每小时数千公里的速度绕到月球背面，飞向外太空。这项任务发生在激烈的地缘政治竞争之中，美国急于在中国之前完成新的登月，而成功也可能重新点燃公众对人类太空探索，以及更广泛的科学与技术的热情。文章说，Apollo 计划曾在 1968 年圣诞假期期间带著太空人绕月飞行，为 Neil Armstrong 于翌年 7 月的「人类一大步」做准备。
50 多年前有 12 名男子曾踏上月球，这一事实不应让人产生「去过了，也做过了」的感觉，而且当今世界人口中不到 20% 在上一次登月时还活著。Artemis IV 任务计划在 2028 年登月，而 2030 年代的后续计划包括月球基地，以供人类长期居住、富裕游客造访，以及一个初步的「月球经济」，其中包括建筑、采矿、通讯、旅宿和农业等部门。1967 年《外太空条约》禁止任何地球上的国家宣称或拥有地球之外的领土，文章说，为了让建设和资源开采能进行，而不致为月球土地展开激烈竞争，新的国际规则已迫在眉睫。
美国和中国正投入数百亿美元推进月球任务，而 Nasa 的 Artemis 计划也包括欧洲、日本和加拿大的合作伙伴。行星科学家预期，未来的月球探测将能比短暂的 Apollo 造访和其后无人登陆，更彻底地研究月球，因为它的土壤和岩石保存了太阳系过去几乎原封不动的纪录，而月球背面又受到地球无线电杂讯的屏蔽。有些科学家认为，具备先进 AI 的机器人可以在月球上完成一切，但也有人说，人类思考仍然重要，而文章最后指出，让真正的人类持续参与所具有的象征与情感价值是无法估量的，尤其对于激励年轻人投入科学与技术职涯更是如此。
Four intrepid astronauts are spending this Easter weekend speeding into outer space at thousands of kilometres per hour on Artemis II around the far side of the Moon. The mission comes amid intense geopolitical competition, with the US keen to achieve a new lunar landing before China gets there, and with success potentially rekindling public enthusiasm for human space exploration and science and technology more broadly. The article says the Apollo programme took astronauts around the Moon over the Christmas holiday in 1968 in preparation for Neil Armstrong’s "giant leap for mankind" the following July.
The fact that a dozen men walked on the Moon more than 50 years ago should not induce a feeling of "been there, done that", and less than 20 per cent of the world’s current population was alive during the last lunar landings. The Artemis IV mission is planned to land in 2028, and later plans for the 2030s include Moon bases for longer-term human habitation, visits by wealthy tourists, and a rudimentary "lunar economy" with construction, mining, communications, hospitality and agriculture sectors. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty forbids any terrestrial nation from claiming or owning territory beyond Earth, and the article says new international rules are urgently needed so that construction and resource extraction can take place without aggressive competition for lunar land.
The US and China are committing tens of billions of dollars to Moon missions, while Nasa’s Artemis programme also involves European, Japanese and Canadian partners. Planetary scientists expect future lunar expeditions to allow much more thorough investigation of the Moon than the brief Apollo visits and subsequent uncrewed landings, because its soil and rocks preserve an almost pristine record of the solar system’s past and the lunar far side is shielded from Earth’s radio noise. Some scientists argue robots with advanced AI could do everything on the Moon, but others say human thought will still matter, and the article ends by saying the symbolic and emotional value of keeping real humans involved is immeasurable, especially for inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and technology.