The human touch

Why is it important to send people into space?

Why not just send robots, machines, cameras and sensors?

Fifth grade humanities spent some time yesterday talking about the sheer hassle of sending human cargo on a spaceship. (Ask a fifth grader how astronauts go to the bathroom.)

Today, they listened to the recordings of the Artemis crew from last night, and talked about what makes that hassle worthwhile: the data that humans can deliver that machines simply can’t.

Much of the coverage of the Artemis flight has focused on the expressiveness and emotional weight of the astronauts’ reports from space.

After watching several videos, fifth grade reflected on several views from the moon and pushed themselves to provide some data of their own that stretched beyond facts and measurements.
 

Responding to the Earth, viewed from the Moon:

“The clouds whip, and wave, and splotch, reaching for the edges of black.”

“I feel hope, and joy, but also sadness, and this swirling pit in my stomach.”

“It doesn’t belong to us. The Earth is its own person. It should choose its own destiny.”

“It makes me wonder how small I am, in a giant globe, in its own spiral, in our universe, possibly just one of so many.”
 

Responding to the Moon eclipsing the Earth:

“It looks like someone sprinkled water on sand on the moon.”

“The Earth looks like it is glowing and the shadow is so crisp.”

“Craters speckle a pinkish brown surface, and behind it is an arch that looks like a blue coffee mug with milk in it, except the person making it didn’t finish stirring in the milk.”

“The Earth reminds me of a snowy lake with water flowing, like Alaska in the winter.”