Artemis II

Have you ever had one of those holidays where you’re all stuck in a caravan together, with the environment outside being so hostile that you daren't venture out? As if that wasn’t bad enough, just as you’re heading to your destination, the toilet backs up. Well, imagine that scenario but instead you’re orbiting the moon, and they haven’t even given you a bunk bed! Yes, it’s been 50 years, but finally, we’ve been back to the Moon!For the first time in over fifty years, four humans have successfully flown around the Moon. NASA's Artemis II mission launched on April 1st, 2026, and this week the crew completed their lunar flyby, breaking the all-time record for the furthest any human has ever been from Earth. They're currently on their way home. So what actually happened up there, why did it take this long to get back, and what does it all mean for the future of human space exploration?Related Media You Might LikeFor All Mankind (Apple TV+) — alternate history where the Space Race never ended. Excellent.Apollo 13 — still holds up, and weirdly relevant given the distance record connection.NASA+ / NASA YouTube — the live flyby coverage was genuinely worth watching.The Martian (Ridley Scott, 2015) — if the Moon conversation leads to Mars.The Right Stuff (Philip Kaufman, 1983)NewsProject Hail Mary cinema successNick Pope, UK UFO expert passed awayClaude: We formed Project Glasswing because of capabilities we’ve observed in a new frontier model trained by Anthropic that we believe could reshape cybersecurity. Claude Mythos2 Preview is a general-purpose, unreleased frontier model that reveals a stark fact: AI models have reached a level of coding capability where they can surpass all but the most skilled humans at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities.Grainger ThingsWhen Soviet Youth Bootlegged Western Rock Music on Discarded X-Rays: Hear Original Audio Samples | Open CultureSo yeah, you could listen to The Beatles “I’m looking through you”, whilst having an X-Ray of someone’s broken bones on the turntable. This fortnight we are recommendingAndi:See how far you’ve travelled through space so far in your lifetime - Cosmic Odometer - Space Travel CalculatorBBC Audio | 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis IIFoundation, Apple TVShrinking season 3Kris:Public Service Broadcasting - The Race for SpacePink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon (1972)Tangerine Dream - ZeitMichael Jackson: An American Tragedy (BBC iplayer)“Right about now - ish” (anniversaries we might have missed)Apple tuned 50 on 1st of April (Apple: The First 50 Years: Amazon.co.uk)Portmeirion turned 100 on 2nd of April (Sir Clough Williams-Ellis)Links mentioned in this episodeHow a piece of military tech changed music forever - YouTubeProject Glasswing: Securing critical software for the AI era \ AnthropicOstation Pro 2 (Battery charging, testing and management)ISS Live Now (Mac)ISS Live Now (Android, also available as a Family version)NASA TV (YouTube)If you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:[e-mail] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.