We thoroughly enjoyed tracking the Artemis II mission earlier this month and learning more about the process and people who made the historic moon mission successful.
We’ve also loved seeing the photos from the mission and the perspective the astronauts provided of our world our place in the universe.
It was a wonderful reprieve and offered something many could unite around — a project involving multiple countries pushing human boundaries and increasing human knowledge.
We also loved the astronauts’ words on unity and humanity as they took in our little blue marble from farther away than humans ever have before — complete with our thin atmosphere and northern and southern lights.
“In all of this emptiness — this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe — you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together,” Pilot Victor Glover said on Easter, urging us to remember who we are, that we’re not so different and that we’re all in this together.
We were uplifted when Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew honored his late wife and the mission by naming newer features on the moon Carroll and Integrity — testaments to love and hard work, among many other things.
We appreciated when Christina Koch — who holds numerous records regarding her time in space — pointed out her braids were like the first to leave Earth’s orbit in a lighthearted moment and Jeremy Hansen’s message that he didn’t get to where he was alone — he did it with the help of a big team.
There were numerous great moments.
We thank NASA and the astronauts for giving us a bit of the unity we’ve been missing.
All those who helped get Artemis II into space and back safely will learn from this mission as they work toward again landing on the moon.
We hope we can also learn from this mission and take the words and attitudes of these astronauts to heart to be in this together, point out even the little fun things and set big goals for the future.
Letters to the editor reminder
As a reminder, The SUN will accept letters related to elections up to three weeks prior to the election.
That means the last issue The SUN will print letters relating to the upcoming La Plata Electric Association election will be April 30.
All letters must be submitted electronically in a format that can be copied and pasted and must not be in all capitals. Letters must also include the actual first and last name of the author, as well as a phone number and address (the address and phone number for verification, not for print).
Letters must be 500 words or less; and be received by The SUN by noon on Tuesday (the deadline may move up due to a holiday). Letters are limited to two per month per letter writer.
If necessary, only one letter pertaining to a candidate or political issue will be printed in each edition.
Letters quoting other people must contain proper attribution.
There is no guarantee letters will be published. The SUN generally does not edit letters, but reserves the right to do so.
Poetry, anonymous letters, letters that are libelous or in poor taste, are about a private business or that attack a private citizen will not be published.
Randi Pierce
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