Finding God on the moon
The successful return of the Artemis II mission marks a milestone in space exploration and highlights the evolving role of faith and personal legacy in space travel. The mission also underscores the ongoing geopolitical competition in space between the U.S. and the China-Russia partnership.
Why it matters
Space exploration serves as a proxy for national prestige and technological capability, with the Artemis program signaling a new era of lunar activity.
“Faith has always gone to space. Artemis II shows how much it has changed.” Jack Jenkins, Religious News Service, April 7, 2026.
When the Artemis II astronauts splashed down off the coast of San Diego on April 10, the United States asserted itself as the definitive leader of any space race that may come of its endeavour (China, in partnership with Russia, is planning to land astronauts on the moon by 2030). There were certainly celebrations after the successful landing and return to earth, with NASA’s Artemis program manager Lori Glaze saying, “We sent four amazing people to the Moon and safely returned them to Earth for the first time in more than 50 years. To the generation that now knows what we’re capable of, ‘Welcome to our moonshot.’”
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