Well, except for the fact that the mission saw humans travel further from Earth than ever before, and in a vessel on its maiden flight with a crew.  Plus, it’s a stepping stone to establishing a base on the moon, from which exploration to more distant destinations becomes less challenging (since you need much less energy to escape the Moon’s gravity).  But that’s years into the future and extremely challenging.a return trip is 15-18 months at best, depending on the alignment of the Earth and Mars.

It is a pity that it will almost all be for future generations. I do wonder where we might have been now if the Apollo programme hadn't been scrapped. 

I wonder how much further ahead we might be if the world’s most advanced nations pooled their resources for the benefit of mankind instead of treating space exploration as a chance for national glory.  We might have had a permanent presence on the Moon by now, for example, as a logical step on from the ISS.

It's a hard one really. Collaboration combines resources but competition drives innovation.

https://vaonis.com/pages/vespera-gallery 

The Lyrid meteor shower is a result of the Earth passing through dust left behind by Comet Thatcher centuries ago.

Expect 10 to 15 meteors an hour but with surges that can occasionally deliver up to 100 per hour.

Named after the constellation of Lyra where they appear to originate from, the shower peaks on 22 April"

Oldest known meteor shower to light up UK skies this week

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/c1d902y90g5o 

Lyrid meteor shower -16-25 April

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/space-astronomy/lyrid-meteor-shower-when-where-see-it-uk 

This Week's Sky at a Glance, April 10 – 19

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-april-10-19/ 

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/what-were-the-flashes-that-artemis-2-astronauts-saw/?fbclid=IwY2xjawROte5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFuT1RKNEJjQmJ1bzFGTnF4c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHnVM1B2hd3LPqQFIOnSAy64H1lCnozgYFY4xijeHLCW1lCY9GwjCA2QcfOON_aem_YKhSxN-fn4UqALZ7Y6uX6w#google_vignette 

https://spaceweather.com/ 

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,

To throw a perfume on the violet,

To smooth the ice, or add another hue

Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light

To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,

Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

William Shakespeare - King John, Act IV, scene ii

https://spaceweather.com/ 

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-april-10-19/ 

https://dq0hsqwjhea1.cloudfront.net/WEBVic_Apr17_ev_NORM.jpg 

Think I'm closing in on either a Dwarf mini or a Seestar S30 Pro. The Dwarf has equatorial mounting which seems like a significant plus, but the Seestar S30 Pro has better sensors.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cede7gpjn85o 

Maximum tonight from 2200 with clear skies - unless the idea that they're the remains of Comet Thatcher puts you off🙄

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cp846n0wkk6o 

Apparently a 'micromoon' in contrast to recent 'supermoons' Also a second full moon at the end of May, two in a month = 'blue moon'. It used to be enough for the moon to be full or new, now it's getting a different set of labels every month!

The BBC seems to have become obsessed with the "different" moons. It's farcical but fitting for our era. I passed astronomy O level with an A grade when I was 15 but had (and still have,) no idea these descriptions existed. If the BBC believes it is delivering on its public service mandate by educating people about astronomy with this type of article, it isn't. 

Many cultures have names for certain moons, sometimes linked to biological/agricultural or seasonal cultural events. I refer you to the Royal Museum of Astronomy at Greenwich. Having said that I agree I can't see point or purpose in borrowing an alien/foreign lunar nomenclature.

"Over time, different cultures have given names to full moons across the lunar calendar. Many of the Moon’s nicknames have come to us from Native American culture because for their way of life, the cycles of the lunar phases were just as important a method of timekeeping as the longer solar cycle of the year (from which the modern Gregorian calendar is derived).

The number of Moon names differs slightly from tribe to tribe, but many assign either 12 or 13 full moons to the year. These names were then adopted by the Colonial Americans and have entered popular culture; below you can see a few alternatives alongside the most popular names for each month's full moon."

Why do we have special names for full moons?

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/space-astronomy/what-are-names-full-moons-throughout-year 

Timey's Calendarium

The Old English Lunar Calendar

https://time-meddler.co.uk/the-old-english-lunar-calendar/ 

We've all heard of X-class solar flares - powerful explosions on the sun that pepper satellites with energetic particles and trigger great geomagnetic storms. They can be scary. But not as scary as a new category of solar flare being discussed by researchers: the "S-flare" - a solar superflare stronger than X10.

There are some clues to when the next S-flare might happen. In the 50-year dataset, the researchers found two underlying rhythms: 1.7 years and 7 years, both linked to magneto-Rossby waves inside the sun. When both rhythms swing into their positive phase at the same time, the probability of an S-flare spikes.

According to those rhythms, we're exiting a high-risk S-flare window now: mid-2025 through mid-2026. The next high-risk window opens in early 2027 and lasts about 6 months.

https://spaceweather.com/ 

"Get prepped for the astro event of the year (or decade?)

Our guide to catching the 90-95% 12 August partial solar eclipse - you're not going to want to miss this."

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/space-astronomy/how-see-12-august-2026-partial-solar-eclipse?f24_pid=c31dabb0-06c7-4d2e-bd99-3e8da31945b0 

I've located my safe viewing glasses and the solarscope is ready. I observed the Venus transits of June 8, 2004, and we manged to let every pupil in school see it! [Safely!] I used to have 3 solarscopes in my lab and pupils who completed work swiftly were allowed to observe sunspots briefly! During an Ofsted inspection one was asked "What has this to do with the current lesson?" He replied to the effect "Nothing sir, but you have to watch events on the Sun when they happen!" 😁

https://spaceweather.com/ 

https://spaceweather.com/images2026/07may26/farsideflare_strip_opt.gif 

The good news is, it's not going to happen. Mars is airless, waterless, the dust is cancerous,  it's gravity is too low + getting there require massive amounts of energy. Humans can't live there for any period of time and do more than survive.

When you look at the amount of energy required to lift 1kg of payload to orbit, you begin to realise what an effective prison the Earth's gravity well is.

Given that the well is deep enough to hold the Moon in the Earth’s orbit, yes.

https://spaceweather.com/ 

Payload is the key word here - see Arthur C Clarke's Space Elevator concept. 99.9% of the energy of a rocket launch is wasted on getting the rocket to move and lifting its fuel with it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_ (energy)

11 MJ - daily recommended food intake for a man

50 MJ - energy from burning 1Kg of crude oil

63 MJ - energy required to lift 1Kg out of Earth's gravity field (at 100% efficiency)

4.2 x 10^7 MJ - energy expended in a Saturn launch

Sorry for off topic