Apollo - Artemis II and the Joy of Earth

Since Artemis II was launched, several more-senior people in the media have been interviewed, with their reflections on certain lunar events in 1969 with the Apollo programme.

 

I too remember being woken up, taking several giant steps down the stairs and huddling around the black & white TV set in the early hours. I'm so glad I did that.

 

Thanks mum and dad. X

 

Following the livestream from Artemis, it's brilliant to see Christina Koch and Victor Glover onboard too.

 

INDIVIDUAL

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    INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

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GROUP

art002e008487 (April 4, 2026) - NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon. Image Credit: NASA

"I have not complained about the weather one single time. I'm glad there is weather. I've not complained about traffic. I'm glad there are people around. One of the things that I did when I got home - I went down to shopping centers, and I'd just go around there, get an ice cream cone or something, just watch the people go by, and think: "Boy, we're lucky to be here. Why do people complain about the Earth? We are living in the garden of Eden."                     Alan Bean. Apollo 12

Image: NASA

Text: https://www.livingspace.earth/home/2018/5/remembering-alan-bean
 

Previously: 'Apollo' : 'exploration' : 'moon' 

Space for Medicine - ISS

NASA - International Space Station

Space Medicine

International Space Station Update: Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026

Individual

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     INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

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Group

ETHICS CONFIDENTIALITY CONFIDENCE   'COMMS'    MENTAL HEALTH   BEHAVIOURAL HEALTH & PERFOIRMANCE   PRIVATE PSYCHOLOGICAL COMMUNICATION    CIRCADIAN HEALTH PERSON-CENTRED HEALTH/DISABILITY	INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION  distance - remoteness EARTH orbit  LAUNCHES - RE-ENTRY WINDOWS   TRAINING MEDICAL EMERGENCY in SPACE HEALTH - EMERGENCY CONSTRAINTS - CONTIGENCIES PLANNING - TIME - PROBABILITY 'MONTE CARLO' MODELS/SIMULATIONS DIAGNOSIS: INJURY, RADIATION, MUSCULOSKELETAL, NEUROLOGICAL, VISION, microGRAVITY
CREWS WELFARE - PRIORITY  SOCIAL - WELL-BEING	NASA POLICY - PREPAREDNESS MEDIA RELATIONS

NASA Spaceflight Human System Standard Volume 1: 
Crew Health

'NASA-STD-3001 Volume 1 covers the requirements needed to support astronaut health and provide medical care while Volume 2 covers human-related vehicle system design and operations requirements that will maintain astronaut safety and promote performance.'

Additional reading:
Farrell, R.M., Fogarty, J.A., Covington, M. et al. A moonshot for female astronaut health, a win for all astronauts and space exploration. npj Microgravity 11, 38 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-025-00495-8

 

Marshall Porterfield, D., Tulodziecki, D., Wheeler, R. et al. Critical investments in bioregenerative life support systems for bioastronautics and sustainable lunar exploration. npj Microgravity 11, 57 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-025-00518-4

  

Rizzo, A., Borra, E.M., Ciciani, L. et al. Foundations of radiological protection in space: the integrated multidisciplinary approach for next manned missions in deep space. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 138, 1001 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-04572-3

The National Space Institute -  
https://nss.org/the-national-space-institute/

During the 1990s I was a member of the 
Space Nursing Society -
https://nss.org/space-nursing-society-chapter/ 

London Institute of Space Policy and Law - 
https://www.space-institute.org

 

See also: 'NASA' : 'astronautics'

 

Half-turns ... to orbit

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic -------------------------------------------  mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group-population

	"If you can get your ship into orbit, you're halfway to anywhere."

See: Where did Heinlein say "Once you get to Earth orbit, you're halfway to anywhere in the Solar System"?

Hodges' model: A person - Everyone else [x2!]

INDIVIDUAL

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   INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES              

humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic

 SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL   

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GROUP

	'Michael Collins, the astronaut who took this photo in 1969, is the only human, dead or alive, that isn't in the frame of this picture.'   (Image credit: NASA/Getty Images)
“If the universe is meaningless, so is the statement that it is so… The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance.” 'Alan Watts on our search for meaning and the antidote to our existential loneliness'

Image: https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/spaceman-who-photographed-every-living-being-but-himself-rip-michael-collins

Text: https://x.com/themarginalian/status/1876298178326069285

https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/11/01/alan-watts-wisdom-of-insecurity-3/

So good I'm repeating myself ... https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2019/07/2-everyone-else-1-thank-you-michael.html

'dance' :: 'meaning'

Fragile: This way up - Frozen goods!

Apollo 17 'Blue Marble' Photograph

 

Apollo 17 1972 NASA Original Blue Marble Photograph

Or, some water 'heading your way' ...

'NASA’s archival designation for it is AS17-148-22727, and the original image was taken upside down with the South Pole at the top. In its myriad reproductions, it’s flipped up to match what we would normally expect to see.'

Text: https://www.thephoblographer.com/2013/12/09/behind-blue-marble/

Does the model still 'work' -

Group
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 POLITICAL        :     SOCIOLOGY  

MECHANISTIC --------------------------------------  HUMANISTIC

            SCIENCES       :    INTERPERSONAL

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Individual

POLITICAL	SOCIOLOGY
SCIENCES	INTERPERSONAL

- this way ...?

Image source: https://www.forum-conquete-spatiale.fr/t15428-apollo-17-1972

Prompt for 'Blue Marble' - Plate 1 in Brotton, J. (2024) The Four Points of the Compass: The Unexpected History of Direction, London: Allen Lane.

Previously: 'compass'

A planet is not just for Christmas.

'Earthrise' c/o Bill Anders RIP

Earthrise in 4K

"In December of 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 became the first people to leave our home planet and travel to another body in space. But as crew members Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders all later recalled, the most important thing they discovered was Earth." 

See also:

Earthrise: The Story of the Photo that Changed the World | Short Film Showcase

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsShNeDvccc

Thank you Bill and all the Apollo team and subsequent space faring families across the Home planet.

P.S. I'll leave it to you to relate the significance of Apollo 8's 'Earthrise' to Hodges' model.

'Space' - 'travel' and aftercare

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group - population

'Of Course I Still Love You' "Aftercare"	5 4 3 2 1 0 . MAX Q .. 1st STAGE (MECO) ... 2nd STAGE   (SECO) .... 1st STAGE ENTRY BURN .....
Governments must know there are many spaces to understand and assure  that human rights are upheld for all.	Congratulations USA!

My Moon Mission? "The Stack"

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group

I choose  ... [still] to try . 4.6 . . . 8.7.5 and c o u n t i n g . WAMP Windows Apache MySQL PHP Command Line Interface [VirtualBox, Vagrant ...] PHPMyAdmin  JQuery git HTML5 CSS Drupal APIs Themes & Modules*^ Create Custom T&Ms #? . to journey ... to explore ... to learn ...	Saturn V Reference Dimensions: http://heroicrelics.org
The Drupal slogan is: "Come for the software, stay for the community."	The Stack

*What are the requirements of your project?
^What themes and modules are available 'out of the box'?

^#If the themes and modules you require are not available you can create your own.

The idea of using Drupal (or other CMS) is to use the software to do the 'heavy lifting'.


Image source:
http://heroicrelics.org/info/saturn-v/saturn-v-general.html

2 + Everyone Else -1: Thank you Michael

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group

Michael	All of humanity in one picture except for Michael Collins. Apollo 11, July 1969
Collins	"We choose ..."

Photo:
https://www.reddit.com/r/spaceporn/comments/63ztoy/all_of_humanity_in_one_picture_except_for_michael/

Seeking a sense of Direction: Holistic Compass

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic --------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group

Seeking a sense of direction
Seeking  a sense of  humanity  and care for all?	Seeking a sense of direction  and find yourself here? Is this really All you can see? You may be lost?

BBC Radio 4: Living With The Gods

Hidden Figures

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic -------------------------------------------  mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group-population

	FIGURES
	HIDDEN

See also:
Sobel, D. (2017). The Glass Universe, The Hidden History of the Women Who Took the Measure of the Stars, Fourth Estate,

Image: © 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.

Space race?

individual
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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
humanistic --------------------------------------- mechanistic
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL
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group

Jeff Bezoz - Elon Musk
	USSR - USA

Additional links:

Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies

Thunderbird 3

Space Station Robot Forgets Key Again

individual

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

group

Memory: artificial (jokes aside) and real

Just-be? Making sense of the activities of daily living Chunking	Space Station Robot Forgets Key Again
Making sense of someone else's sense of the  activities of daily living	Funding for research (competition!)

group - population

Additional link: The Economist - Rise of the robots 29.3.14
Image source: APOD

The moon, Saturn V, policy and holistic care

The last time human kind ventured to the moon it took a three-stage rocket to get us there.

Unlike the space race and Kennedy's breathtaking commitment, there never has been a political objective akin to - "We choose to achieve holistic care in this decade, and do the other things like multidisciplinary, integrated, electronically supported collaborative care. ..."

Perhaps the UK's series of National Service Frameworks goes some way towards this, with the Next Stage Review over the next decade set to make the holistic difference?

So, it appears that the objective of holistic care isn't easy, like going to the moon it is hard and in this problem domain - care engineering - we have had more than a decade to get there.

There has been a space race in nursing. A race to fill curricula, wards and the heads of many with models and theories of nursing.

Like Apollo this race has petered out.
Like Apollo this programme is safety critical.
Like Apollo ambition can be re-kindled.

We need a new imperative. Something to charge policy landscape of our time. There is still a need to deliver on this and the other things....

Hodges' model is a marvellous delivery system.

Unlike the Saturn V it boasts four stages.
Like the Saturn V it incorporates the means to take us to some place and make the journey back: quantity - quality and the universe between.

The stages of h2cm are interchangeable their use dictated by the situation and context. There is even recourse to a virtual fifth stage as required, since as the astronauts found:

you can find bliss up there : looking down here

Image source: ABC News

Ack: John F. Kennedy Moon Speech - Rice Stadium

Thermo, Long Way Down, Aether and Atlantis

Here's a video on a forthcoming new Adobe development tool - 'Thermo'.

Thanks Ewan and Charley - great TV.

Another journal - Aether : The Journal of Media Geography -

Aether offers a forum that examines the geography of media, including cinema, television, the Internet, music, art, advertising, newspapers and magazines, video and animation. It is our goal to provide a space for contributions to current issues surrounding these media, beginning with constructions of space & place, cultural landscapes, society, and identity.

Atlantis takes flight tomorrow (fingers x'd). For a different media mix try NASA EDGE.

In the Northern hemisphere whether you're walking the dog or E.T. is walking you, keep your eyes open for the Shuttle and ISS. In the Southern hemisphere too with those mid-summer nights - enjoy!

SpacePort and Moon

There are a series of images on TechRepublic including:

The view from above is reminiscent of crop circles. Officials hope Spaceport America will be operational in late 2009 or early 2010.

Apart from the little matter of punching of a big hole in the atmosphere, it is great to see another return to the moon - this time SELENE from Japan.

Working on the socio-technical structures paper, I need to summarise existing socio-technical approaches in the literature. The moon will figure in this paper too - an ideal light to help explain why s-t perspectives are essential.

I visited a nursing home this week (not much choice there as a Community Mental Health Nurse for Older Adults): the surprise though - no PCs.

More this weekend...

Ecotherapy: Hey Surf's Up - Better grab your sunbed

Having an eye for 'therapy-this' and 'that-therapy', a report on ecotherapy has appeared on the MIND website, blogs and other media. It's not new really, although the researched approach is very welcome. The mental health benefits of volunteering and the great outdoors have been recognised for countless years.

This summer - August in fact, there's an opportunity to do something different that also has an outdoor theme. It means putting that surf board down and getting the sun bed out: after midnight. Now is the time to do some networking and planning - at that time of night of course you must be safe and this is an experience to share with people you know and trust.

This is 'astrotherapy' which is connected to ecotherapy because venturing out you realise how light it is at night - where is the night sky!

Why go out and find dark skies? It's the PERSEID meteor shower and this summer with maximum the 12-13 August there is no full moon.

You can also check on whether the International Space Station (AND Space Shuttle on this occasion!) will pass within sight for your location.

When you can and do look at the stars it's quite a trip. If you are feeling depressed or lacking in self-esteem, if you let the view work its magic - it sure can make you feel insignificant and yet so very special. Gifted: to look the infinite in the eye...

Mind - Go green to beat the blues - Executive Summary
Some obvious tips: If travelling somewhere even with others check the site during the day. If needed: get permission - tell someone; take extra clothes and a hat - midges, mozzies. If you've a torch cover it with a transparent red film (red hanky even) so it doesn't mess your (and others!) night vision as much. Support your neck properly, you can't stand and crane your neck for hours - besides you'll look daft the next day walking into work - hey I know. If you are in the back garden and see a meteor don't shout out. The buckets of water will fly. Give yourself a good 10-15 minutes to light-dark adapt. Don't forget the flask! Be patient and I'm sure you'll be rewarded...