Apollo workforce is rooting for NASA’s return to the moon with Artemis

Apollo Veterans Eagerly Await NASA’s Return to the Moon, Wish Artemis Had Launched Sooner

The remaining veterans of NASA’s Apollo program—now in their 80s and 90s—are watching with anticipation as the space agency prepares to send humans back to the moon. While they celebrate this long-awaited return, many express regret that these Artemis missions didn’t happen decades earlier, when more of their colleagues were alive to witness it.

With so few remaining from the original 400,000-strong Apollo workforce, no formal reunion is planned for the upcoming Artemis II mission, which will send four astronauts around the moon as early as April 1. Those living near Florida’s Kennedy Space Center will simply observe the historic launch from their homes.

“Because it was the first time, there was an energy. There was a passion that probably is not exactly the same today and hasn’t been for a while,” reflected Charlie Mars, 90, who worked on Apollo’s command and lunar modules and later helped establish the American Space Museum in Titusville, Florida.

The half-century gap between lunar missions remains a source of frustration for many Apollo veterans. JoAnn Morgan, who made history as the lone woman in launch control during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, still laments the cancellation of the final three Apollo moon landings under President Richard Nixon due to budget constraints and shifting national priorities.

“I’m just trying to stay alive so I can see us actually get back and step foot on the moon,” said Morgan, now 85. “I’m still feeling cheated after 53 years.”

Her sentiments are echoed by others who believe NASA has moved too slowly. “It’s a good thing I’m not in charge,” Mars commented, “because I would be out there beating the bushes and whipping up on people to get moving.”

The Artemis program does represent significant progress in gender diversity—a stark contrast to the male-dominated Apollo era. NASA’s Artemis launch director is Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, and the Artemis II crew includes Christina Koch, who holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 consecutive days in orbit.

Morgan looks forward to this evolution continuing: “It will be even greater when they actually have a woman who plants her boots on the moon.”

Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke, one of only four living moonwalkers, points out that half the world’s population wasn’t yet born when he walked on the lunar surface in 1972. This includes NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman, a 43-year-old tech billionaire who has already traveled to space twice through private ventures.

The Apollo veterans are encouraged by Isaacman’s efforts to accelerate the Artemis program’s timeline, which had been plodding along at a pace of one mission every three years. He has added an orbital test flight to practice docking with lunar landers and recently unveiled a $20 billion plan for establishing a moon base over the next seven years, complete with lunar drones and rovers.

Carlos Garcia-Galan, NASA’s self-described “moon base guy,” promises “cool cameras” on all equipment to generate public excitement—something many Apollo veterans feel has been lacking in the Artemis program so far.

A clear motivation behind the accelerated timeline is the competition with China, which aims to land astronauts on the moon by 2030. NASA hopes to achieve this milestone by 2028, echoing the space race dynamics of the Apollo era when the U.S. competed against the Soviet Union.

John Tribe, 90, who managed spacecraft propulsion during Apollo, considers NASA’s revised Artemis approach “a whole lot more sensible” but remains uncertain about whether the U.S. will beat China back to the lunar surface.

Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart acknowledges the challenge of recapturing Apollo’s historical significance, noting that while everyone remembers Columbus, few can recall “who came along 50 years afterward.”

Nevertheless, Duke believes public excitement will surge once Artemis astronauts start making lunar landings, particularly among younger generations who missed the Apollo era.

“If the first ones are successful and we start landing at the south pole,” Duke said, “I think millions are going to be watching that. I know I will if I’m still here.”