Suburban space center following Artemis II crew’s historic mission around the moon

RIVER GROVE, Ill. (WLS) — NASA’s mission to the moon reached a pivotal point Monday. The Artemis II crew underwent a lunar flyby, pushing humans farther into space than ever before. ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch The Cernan Earth and Space Center in River Grove is following the historic achievement. The center is named for Chicago-born astronaut Gene Cernan, the last person to leave footprints on the moon in 1972. And though this Artemis mission won’t land on the moon, it is setting NASA up for future moon landings and potentially creating a lunar launching pad for further exploration of space. “We want to be part of something that’s bigger than ourselves and something that can have a positive impact, scientifically, culturally, emotionally. And so, you know, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it,” said Kris McCall, director of the Cernan Earth and Space Center. The center is on the campus of Triton College. It’s home to a planetarium and a number of relics representing past space exploration, including a spacesuit worn by Gene Cernan on Apollo 10. “He famously said that he expected to live long enough to see someone else make footprints on the surface of the moon,” McCall said. Cernan died in 2017, but the astronauts of today are making sure to honor those who came before them. At the start of a historic day, the Artemis II crew woke to a pre-recorded message from the late Jim Lovell, saying “Hello, Artemis II! This is Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell. Welcome to my old neighborhood! I’m proud to pass that torch on to you as you swing around the Moon and lay the groundwork for missions to Mars . for the benefit of all.” Lovell died last year in Lake Forest at the age of 97. Lovell’s famous Apollo 13 flight trajectory gave him and his crew the record for the farthest distance humans had ever traveled from Earth until Monday afternoon. The Artemis II crew proposed the naming of two moon craters. One they called the Integrity, named after their spacecraft. The other could be named for astronaut Reid Wiseman’s late wife. Carroll died after a battle with cancer in 2020. The crew came together for an emotional hug. Planetarium educator Jordan Jubeck hopes the younger generations are paying attention to these moments. “I hope that they stay interested and they stay invested because I don’t want it to be another 50 years before we land somebody else on the moon again. I want us to go up there. I want us to stay there,” Jubeck said. The spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth Monday night, nearly 253, 000 miles away. For about 40 minutes, mission control lost communication with the crew, as the Orion capsule flew through space. They’ve since regained contact.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/cernan-earth-space-center-river-grove-following-artemis-ii-nasa-historic-mission-around-moon/18849518/