NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins shared a beautiful photo of the Moon appearing to hover just above Earth's life-giving atmosphere. This photo was taken by Watkins from the International Space Station (ISS).
"As beautiful as Earth is, I can't take my eyes off the Moon. Every Moon setting on the ISS brings us one step closer to Earth as we conduct scientific research and develop new technologies that will help pave the way to the Moon's surface," Watkins wrote in a post on his Twitter account.
As beautiful as the Earth is, I can't seem to take my eyes off of the Moon. Every moonset on @Space_Station brings us one step closer to earthrise on the Moon as we conduct scientific research and develop new technologies that will help pave the way to the lunar surface. pic.twitter.com/ViXt4IZNOj
— Jessica Watkins (@astro_watkins) June 9, 2022
All astronauts have always been fascinated by this kind of sight, but Watkins' admiration was probably multiplied considering this was his first space flight.
As quoted from Space.com, Thursday (16/6/2022) Watkins was one of four astronauts on NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 mission, which arrived at the ISS on April 27. They will work in the laboratory on the ISS for six months.
The other three crew members flying with Watkins were fellow NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines, and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency ESA.
It's not without reason that Watkins pays close attention to the Moon, because he and Lindgren were part of the Artemis mission team, the 18 astronauts who were the first group selected to fly in NASA's Artemis program exploring the Moon.
Artemis aims to land astronauts on the Moon's surface in the mid-2020s and establish a long-term sustainable human presence in and around Earth's natural satellite by the end of the decade.
NASA also said that the program would place the first woman and first non-white person on the Moon. To note, the twelve astronauts who landed on the Moon during NASA's Apollo program were all white men.
It is not yet known whether Watkins or Lindgren will reach the Moon in the near future. NASA has yet to announce a mission assignment for astronaut Artemis.