Even though I am generally interested in science and technology, I have found it impossible to get excited about Artemis II.

I'm not quite sure. Maybe it's because America isn't exactly my favourite country these days because ... well, you know why. Or maybe it's because, contrary to what I'd always assumed, these things are a lot more jingoistic than I thought. It's not "Mankind is going to the moon", it's "America is beating China to the moon".

#Artemis #Artemis2

@davidnjoku

Yup.

Related:
I never see any of the "I'm just excited about space progress and science!" crowd celebrating any of the Chinese space flight accomplishments.

They were silent when China landed a robot on the moon a few years ago. Silent when China landed a rover on Mars. Silent about the Chinese space station that's orbiting the planet. Silent about China's crewed mission to Mars that is on schedule to depart on 2033.

When they talk about space and science and exploration being "humanity's accomplishments," it's pretty clear who they're viewing as humanity. There's an era of cold war nationalism that feels yucky.

@mekkaokereke @davidnjoku TIL that China landed a robot on the moon and a rover on Mars, and their space station. 😮
@mekkaokereke @davidnjoku Sorry for the grammatical error in the second part of the above sentence. But too many people have liked or boosted that it feels like it would be too annoying for an edit to generate a notification for the change. 😆