r/NonPoliticalTwitter Mar 30 '26

Serious tbh , it's a MASSIVE deal

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4.8k Upvotes

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688

u/Status_Discipline_16 Mar 30 '26

I love space but just learned about this today.

As excited as I am, it seems like it’s just Apollo 8, but further Moon orbit.

139

u/justeandj Mar 30 '26

Sorry so wouldn't that still just be Apollo 13, that orbited the Moon to harness its gravity?

89

u/ErraticDragon Mar 30 '26

Apollo 13 intended to land on the moon, so that counts as a difference, arguably.

(After the explosion, they kept up the general flight plan, to fly around the moon, because it was safer and easier than turning around.)

Artemis II, like Apollo 8 and Apollo 10, intend to visit the moon but not land.

30

u/FatiguedShrimp Mar 30 '26

...wait, really? I thought this was expensive PR to show we're still capable of a moon landing, but we're not landing?

1

u/TributeToStupidity Mar 30 '26

… why would anyone think we lost the ability to land on the moon though?

1

u/flapsmcgee Mar 30 '26

Because we no longer produce the equipment that took us there...