--- title: "Rejoice! NASA’s Artemis I Is Now Orbiting the Moon" description: "NASA's Artemis mission has, after months of delay and tens of billions of dollars, finally reached the Moon, which it will orbit for the next 3.5 weeks." date: "2022-11-21" modified: "2022-11-21" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-artemis-reaches-moon" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "artemis" - "NASA" - "Orion" - "the digest" --- # Rejoice! NASA’s Artemis I Is Now Orbiting the Moon ![NASA's Artemis mission has, after months of delay and tens of billions of dollars, finally reached the Moon, which it will orbit for the next 3.5 weeks.]() *\Image: NASA/Futurism\* ## Changing the Game NASA's Artemis I mission has, after months of delay and [tens of billions of dollars](), finally reached the Moon, which it will orbit for the next two weeks before returning home. Just days after its launch, the Orion spacecraft has reached its lunar destination and is now engaging in the orbit pattern it will remain in until early December, [as *Universe Today* notes](), before traveling back to Earth and splashing down on December 11. As the amazingly-named NASA flight director Zebulon Scoville [cheered in a livestream](), the United States' first concrete off world gestures towards boots on the Moon since the 1970s has been "a game changer." "This is one of those days that you’ve been thinking about and dreaming about for a long, long time," Scoville mused during the livestreamed event. ## Lunatic Fringe As the [*BBC* notes](), the rocket flew over the landing sites of its predecessors, Apollo 11, 12, and 14 as it did its first lunar flover. While en route, Artemis' Orion capsule [took an incredible photo of our natural satellite](), and a time-lapse GIF of its first flyby tweeted by *CNBC*'s Michael Sheetz shows the epic scale of the close approach. https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1594680783716773888 For all the money NASA spent on its [Space Launch Systems rocket](), though, it hasn't received nearly as much fanfare as the [James Webb Space Telescope](), which successfully launched Christmas Day of 2021 and has been winning hearts ever since. This could be due to the very-public failed [initial attempts to launch Artemis](), or could be due to the fact that even though it's been the better part of a half-century, we've already been to the Moon. And though Artemis 1 is a promising proof of concept, there are no astronauts on board, which lowers the stakes and spectacle. Nevertheless, [NASA says that Artemis "exceeds expectations"]() and is trucking along splendidly — if you don't count the [damage done to its launchpad back on Earth](), that is. **More on Artemis:** [*SpaceX Is about to Launch the First Ever Astronaut Who's an Indigenous Woman*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()