science

Earthrise, 2026 — Still Not Flat, Still Very Real

/ John Wagenvoort / Leave a comment

Well… there it is.

After all the waiting, all the quiet coasting through deep space, Artemis has delivered.

A new Earthrise.

And just like in 1968, it doesn’t shout.

It doesn’t argue.

It simply… shows.

The images

Then, the Moon, backlit. A perfect dark sphere with sunlight wrapping around its edge. Orion sitting there quietly, doing exactly what it was designed to do.

What you’re actually looking at

These aren’t just pretty pictures.

They represent:

  • A spacecraft that travelled hundreds of thousands of kilometres
  • A trajectory calculated so precisely it loops around the Moon and comes home
  • Systems, materials, and engineering built on decades of knowledge
  • Humans, once again, operating beyond low Earth orbit for the first time in over 50 years

No drama.

Just:

“All systems nominal.”

A gentle note to the sceptics

Now, I know… somewhere out there, someone is typing:

“It’s CGI.”

Of course it is.

Along with:

  • The Apollo Guidance Computer (which you can literally power on today)
  • The Saturn V rocket (still standing, still explainable bolt by bolt) (Hat’s off to Luke Talley)
  • The engineers — past and present — who can walk you through every system in detail
  • And now… Artemis, repeating the journey in full public view

At some point, you have to admire the scale of the “production.”

Because apparently, it’s been running flawlessly for over half a century.

The quiet power of this moment

Back in Apollo 8, astronauts didn’t set out to take the most famous photograph in history.

They just noticed something.

Earth… rising.

That same thing has happened again.

Different spacecraft. Different era.

Same reality.

Why it matters

This isn’t about proving anything to anyone.

It’s about perspective.

That small blue arc above the Moon isn’t:

  • A country
  • A border
  • A disagreement

It’s: Home

Final thought

Rockets don’t care what we believe.

Cameras don’t care either.

They just record what’s there.

And right now, what’s there is undeniable:

  • We Went Back
  • We saw it again
  • And it’s just as sensational as the first time

From Slide Rules to Starships — Artemis Is Flying, Whether You Believe It or Not

/ John Wagenvoort / Leave a comment

There’s something quietly extraordinary happening right now.

Humans are once again on their way to the Moon.

Not in a movie. Not in a simulation. Not buried in a comment thread somewhere between “fake” and “flat”, but in an actual spacecraft, currently tens of thousands of miles from Earth, doing exactly what physics says it should be doing.

I’ve been watching the Artemis mission closely — as a NASA virtual guest (plus one included 😄) — and as a long-time member of The Planetary Society, an organisation that has spent decades advocating for exactly this moment.

And the thing that strikes me most is not the spectacle…

It’s the calm.

No drama. No panic. Just:

“All systems nominal.”

That’s how real engineering looks.

A quick reality check

Back in 1968, Apollo 8 sent humans around the Moon using:

  • A computer with less memory than a digital watch
  • Navigation done by sighting stars through a sextant
  • Software literally woven by hand

Today, Artemis uses modern avionics, real-time telemetry, and deep space communication networks.

Different tools.

Same outcome:

👉 We go to the Moon.

“But what about…?”

Ah yes — the inevitable internet commentary.

To believe the Moon landings didn’t happen (or that we somehow “can’t” go back), you have to ignore:

  • The Apollo Guidance Computer — physically restored and running
  • The Saturn V rocket — standing in full scale, explained by engineers who worked on it
  • Decades of telemetry, independent tracking, and consistent engineering evidence
  • The fact that thousands of people, across multiple organisations, would have had to keep the same secret… perfectly… for over 50 years

At some point, it becomes less about evidence…

…and more about imagination.

The thumb test

Astronaut Jim Lovell once held up his thumb and realised it could block out Earth.

That tiny blue dot — everything we’ve ever known — reduced to something you could hide behind your hand.

Artemis is heading back into that perspective.

And when we get our first modern “Earthrise,” I suspect it will do what it did in 1968:

Quiet the noise.

Why this moment matters

For many of us, this isn’t just a launch.

It’s a continuation.

From Apollo…

through decades of advocacy, science, and persistence…

to Artemis.

The idea never went away.

It just took time to come back.

Final thought

Rockets don’t care what we believe.

They either work…

or they don’t.

And right now, Artemis is working beautifully.

So here’s to the engineers, the astronauts, and yes — even the sceptics.

Because whether you’re watching in awe or arguing in the comments…

We’re going back to the Moon.

And this time, we’re doing it with the whole world watching.