The boy who told a reporter who asked why he was watching the launch of Artemis II: "Because we're going back to the freaking moon" spoke for billions of people around the world.

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He clearly felt it was absurd the question even needed to be asked.

None of this comes as a surprise to the members of generation Apollo who have been vicariously reliving the emotions associated with the first moon landing almost 60 years ago.

It is, in retrospect, hard to comprehend why almost 54 years have elapsed since Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan were the last humans to leave their footprints in the lunar dust.

They, and fellow Apollo 17 crew member Ronald Evans were, until this week, the last to venture beyond high Earth orbit and into outer space.

In recent days the adventures (and misadventures involving a recalcitrant zero-gravity toilet) of Reid Wiseman (commander, NASA), Victor Glover (pilot, NASA), Christina Koch (mission specialist, NASA) and Jeremy Hansen (mission specialist, Canadian Space Agency) on board Artemis II have captured the imagination of space enthusiasts young and old around the world.

It is refreshing that at a time when it appears the pinnacle of human ingenuity is to come up with ever more sophisticated ways to slaughter each other, that technology can be harnessed for peaceful pursuits.

While the crew of Artemis II will not touch down, their flight is a vital step towards the lunar landing expected to take place in 2028.

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© Canberra Times