Although Reid is the mission’s commander, he takes care to include his crew.
“When I look at Victor, Christina and Jeremy, they want to go do this mission, they are keenly driven, they are humble to a fault. It is so cool to be around them.”
Reid is widowed and despite a distinguished career as an astronaut, he considers his time as an only parent as his “greatest challenge and the most rewarding phase” of his life.
In one of the very few interviews Neil Armstrong ever gave, I asked him in 1996 whether the dream of humans living and working on the Moon and going on to other planets would ever come back. His reply was:
“The reality may have faded, but the dream is still there, and it will come back in time.”
He would have been heartened to have heard these words from each of the Artemis II crew.
Christina: “We are ready.”
Jeremy: “We are going.”
Victor: “To the Moon.”
Reid: “For all humanity!”