Three words uttered yesterday from Mission Control to Reid Wiseman, commander of Artemis II, perfectly capture the groundswell of emotion many of us have experienced over the last week as a team of astronauts flew beyond the previous reaches of human space travel: "Amaze. Amaze. Amaze.”

That line, borrowed from Rocky, the hero of the science fiction blockbuster "Project Hail Mary," came as Wiseman took in, for the first time, the full, majestic scale of the moon. Our nearest neighbor and nightly companion loomed large before them, appearing several times bigger than home, which was a mere crescent off in the distance.

Less than an hour earlier, at roughly 1:56pm Eastern time, Wiseman and his three fellow crew members had broken the previous record for human space travel. They won’t touch down on the moon — this is more of a dress rehearsal for future landings. Yet just boomeranging around it is a monumental feat.

© The Japan Times