Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, Engr '06 (MS), visited the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center last month for a conversation with Bobby Braun, head of the Space Exploration Sector at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. As they shook hands on stage, the two officially closed the more than 250,000 miles that separated them earlier this year, when Wiseman and his crew passed around the far side of the moon.
During a 10-day journey that began April 1, Wiseman traveled farther from Earth than anyone in human history, a fact Braun and Wiseman were quick to discuss.
"Tiny Earth was as big as your thumbnail," Wiseman recalled. "The gray of the moon just made the Earth so beautiful, so vivid. And then the thing that caught us off-guard was you could see the [moon's] craters and the mountains silhouetted ... as the Earth was setting behind the moon. ... Everything that keeps us alive down here, good and bad, it's just right there, and you can see it, just so tiny."
Video credit: Poll Bravo / Johns Hopkins University
According to Wiseman, the mission created an extremely tight bond between the Artemis crew. For the 45 minutes they spent behind the moon, the crew was completely cut off from Earth, sharing the unprecedented views with only one another.
"In Apollo, those astronauts, they said things like, 'Peace, love, hope, joy, all mankind.' And I thought they just had really good speechwriters. And then they put the four of us out there, and the only thing that we could say was, 'Peace, hope, joy, all of humanity, unity, lucky,'" Wiseman said. "I think if we had different words, we could use them, but those are the words that we have in this language to describe what it feels like. And there's nothing else that we felt other than we wanted to get home to our families and our friends on this planet."
During the event, part of the Next Conversations series celebrating Johns Hopkins University's 150th year, Wiseman also spoke about his childhood growing up just north of Baltimore. At the time, he dreamed of getting out and exploring the world. Now, having gone farther than any human before, he can't help but feel deep appreciation for his home state of Maryland.
He also expressed pride in Johns Hopkins University, which he says influenced him long before he ever heard about the Applied Physics Laboratory.
"When you look at Hopkins as a kid growing up, ... it's like a crown jewel of the academic world, and you're proud to be from Maryland. You're proud that this university is here," Wiseman said. "You guys were motivating me as a kid, and my brother as well, and that's pretty special."
As the discussion came to a close, Wiseman invited university President Ron Daniels onstage for "a little gift from the crew of the mission"-a framed Maryland flag that flew around the moon on Artemis II.
"Thank you for all you do here, for the people that you inspire around the world, and for helping us be better every day," Wiseman said. "We would love for you to have [this flag] and put it in, maybe-it doesn't have to be a place of honor, but a place where maybe the students will come by and be a little motivated by it."
Daniels was delighted by the gift, promising to hang it in the university's new Bloomberg Student Center.
"The humility, the grace, the decency, and the courage you've shown-I think it would be just terrific to have this permanently placed there so we can celebrate you as a Hopkins graduate, but much more than that, a great American," he said. "We're so proud of you."
Video credit: Johns Hopkins University
