Our Chicago: What we've learned from Artemis II mission, what's next
CHICAGO (WLS) -- For the first time since 1972, humans traveled to the moon this week. We have never sent humans this far into space.
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Hunter Miller, a public observing educator at the Adler Planetarium, explained this unique mission's impact.
Four astronauts swung around the far side and captured pictures that stunned the world.
"They were seeing parts of the moon that we've seen with imaging before but never to the human eye. And they intentionally went far enough away from the moon that they could see the entire disc of the moon," Miller explained.
"[The moon] looked about like a basketball held at arm's length. And there is something special about the human eye seeing it. You can tell a camera exactly what to do. It will take a picture of that perfectly. But the human eye can notice unusual things. And choose new things to focus on. And that's something we're really benefited by having them there."
Miller says one thing that surprised him about this mission was the crew's mention of a higher number of meteor impacts than they were expecting.
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"These are bright flashes of light on the moon's surface as little bits of rock from space interact with the moon," he said.
While lunar landings are planned in the future, during this trip the astronauts did not walk on the moon and did not collect samples.
But they are bringing something back from their trip.
"I do think the most important thing they bring back with them is their experience. These astronauts are the first to fly aboard the Orion capsule. And so, their experience, their time on the spacecraft is a really important thing they bring back with them," Miller said.
The second: the Orion Capsule.
"They will look at how it handled this flight, this very long and intense journey that it took and see how they can improve that capsule for future missions," she said.
Artemis III, another test flight, is scheduled to blast off in 2027.
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