Apollo-era veterans back NASAs moon return with Artemis II

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The people who toiled night and day to put astronauts on the moon during Apollo are thrilled that NASA is finally going back. They just wish these Artemis moonshots had happened sooner while more of Apollo’s workforce was still alive. Now in their 80s and 90s, the dwindling survivors of NASA’s greatest generation would also like to see more enthusiasm for Artemis. So few of them are left from the original 400,000 that no reunion is planned to celebrate the upcoming Artemis II flight around the moon by four astronauts as soon as April 1. Those living near Florida’s Kennedy Space Center will watch the launch from their backyards. “Because it was the first time, there was an energy. There was a passion that probably is not exactly the same today and hasn’t been for a while,” said Charlie Mars, 90, who worked on Apollo’s command and lunar modules and helped establish the American Space Museum in nearby Titusville. Retired engineer JoAnn Morgan is still fuming that the last three Apollo moon landings were canceled under President Richard Nixon’s watch be

Read Full Article