On April 1, NASA’s Artemis II mission lifted off, carrying four astronauts around the Moon and back—the first human venture beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. While no boots will touch the lunar surface, dismissing this flight as merely a “practice run” misses the point entirely. Artemis II isn’t about triumphant arrivals; it’s about proving that deep-space human spaceflight can function as a complete, reliable system once again.

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