CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago’s Alder Planetarium hosted a watch party Wednesday for the historic NASA Artemis II moon mission launch. It marks a major milestone in space exploration as astronauts are traveling around the moon for the first time in more than half a century. Chicagoans gathered to witness this significant step forward to returning people to the moon. ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch Artemis II is the second in a series of missions that will ultimately put people back on the surface of the moon. Wednesday was the launch of a mission expected to astronauts further into space than anyone has ever traveled. It was an occasion the Adler marked with a viewing party, where people were excited to mark the historic milestone. “I think it’s cool. It’s been been too long, so it’s nice that they’ll be back there, and hopefully we’ll keep exploring and keep on doing it,” Adler Planetarium visitor Stuart Mattison said. “We were walking up and we saw the line all the way down the road,” Adler Planetarium visitor Maura York said. “We’re like, oh my gosh, this is really happening. So yeah, we’re super excited.” The Adler Planetarium invited the public to experience the launch of the Artemis II mission live with real-time, expert narration led by astronomy expert Michelle Nichols, Adler Planetarium’s Senior Director of Public Programs. “This is our next step toward exploration of the solar system,” Nichols said. Nichols says this mission highlights the progress of science and the advancement of technology. “They’re actually going to end up traveling almost 5000 miles past the moon, farther than we’ve ever been,” Nichols said. “So these will be the farthest humans have traveled away from Earth, and also getting a perspective of the moon we didn’t get before.” In Oak Park, NASA Solar System Ambassador Mark Benson also geared up to host a watch party at the Austin Gardens Environmental Education Center. Benson believes this is the kind of moment that can unite people in support of a singular goal. “You’re gonna turn on the news and see something exciting and hopeful and an example of humans doing amazing things together, and there isn’t enough of that right now,” Benson said. And though we’ve been to the moon before, Benson says this is an important step toward building a permanent presence there and potentially creating a place to launch future, further-reaching missions into space. “Before the moon was kind of like a target, like, let’s get there. The goal was to get there,” Benson said. “Now the goal is to stay there and develop.” As the four person crew launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for their 10-day journey, space enthusiasts in Chicago are wrapping their minds around the enormity of it all. “It’s been a while, not in my lifetime, have they been there,” Adler Planetarium visitor Ben Delery said. “So it’s kind of awesome that they’re actually doing this.”.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/artemis-ii-launch-chicagos-alder-planetarium-hosts-watch-party-historic-nasa-moon-mission/18824638/