Did somebody just launch a Moon rocket?

I think they did and, as I write this, I understand that Earthlings are on their way to the Moon again. Not to land on it, sadly -- not this time, anyway -- but at least to orbit it.

This momentous, once-in-a-lifetime event has been vigorously and persistently reported um... nowhere. In fact, you could be forgiven for not knowing it's happening at all. The BBC News website has made occasional, half-hearted references to the launch, usually tucked away between an article on some pointless celebrity's marital difficulties and another on a sporting event that nobody cares about: the women's open underwater bat-strangling marathon or something. It's not until today, the very day of the actual launch, that the event reached the front page of any news source. So far as I can see, even specialist science and technology news sources haven't shown much interest. Moon rocket? Yawn.

I'm old enough to remember the original Apollo missions, and I find it revealing how different things were back then. The first Moon launches were big news everywhere. People were discussing them in the streets with complete strangers. Every time there was a launch, everybody crowded around the stupid ten-inch black-and-white television sets we had back then. Young kids, as I was then, were allowed to stay up long into the early hours of the morning to watch. My friends and I all had wooden lunar landers in our back yards. There was a constant buzz of excitement, that everybody felt to some extent.

If you're under fifty-or-so years of age, these new Artemis Moon missions are a new thing to you, as they were to us back in the day. Why are you not barely able to contain your enthusiasm? Why aren't you grabbing hold of complete strangers and shouting "We're going to the fuckin' MOOOOON!" into their grinning faces? In short, why is this not the biggest thing ever?

Partly, I suppose, we've all gotten used to seeing things put into space. In fact, low-Earth orbit is now full of crap. I suppose we also have many other calls on our attention these days. Back in the pre-web area, it was news every time a cat got stuck in a tree. I don't think I was fascinated by the Space Program just because Instagram hadn't been invented, but it's possible that other people were.

I think what's really changed is our attitude to technological achievement. As a society, we no longer seem to think that new technology will improve our lives. In fact, we're actively suspicious of new technology, and of the scientific processes that create it. That's not surprising, since so much modern technology -- particularly computer technology -- is designed to exploit us.

Among the many crimes that can be attributed to Google and the other tech giants, perhaps the worst is that they've created a world in which a Moon landing is unexciting.

So take a stand. Say it loud, and say it proud:

We're going (back) to the fuckin' MOOOOOOOOON!

Published 2026-04-02, updated 2026-04-02

Did somebody just launch a Moon rocket?

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