Rex Huppke: With our world in chaos, Artemis II offers humanity a lifeline

As the four astronauts on the Artemis II space mission approached the moon and found themselves farther from Earth than any human has ever traveled, a thought crossed my mind: Can we marvel at this? Please?

Amid all the chaos in the world right now, can humanity take one beat and acknowledge something remarkable, an exploratory achievement that pushed us deeper into the galaxy that surrounds us than we've gone before?

Just before 11 a.m. Pacific on Monday, astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft were more than 248,655 miles from Earth, surpassing the previous distance record set in 1970 by the Apollo 13 astronauts.

As the ship continued its trip around the moon, Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman said, "We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear. But we, most importantly, choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived."

The challenges we face here on Earth are immense, and I don't dismiss the feeling among many that we should focus money and time on making our immediate world a better place for all. In America right now, food and rent and fuel prices are high, income inequality is wholly out of hand, and we are as divided politically as I've seen in my lifetime.

We're at war with Iran for no clear reason. The Ukraine war shows no sign of ending. There is boundless turmoil making the Artemis II mission seem less important in the grand scheme, and I understand that reasoning, but I respectfully encourage all of us to allow a moment or two of wonder.

Four human beings - each braver than I can conceive of - are in a metal can, floating through space, viewing a side of the moon we've never laid eyes on and paving a path forward should we decide to venture out toward worlds beyond our own.

They are giving us, in the span of 10 days, a profound sense of our own smallness, a reminder that we are a mere speck in the universe.

But they also are showing us what's possible when people of different nations and faiths and cultures, people with different skill sets and expertise, join together and get something done.

Pausing to soak in what these astronauts are experiencing and accomplishing doesn't take anything away from the terrestrial things we are bound by human decency to improve. If anything, I'd argue, this space mission is a humbling reminder that we owe it to ourselves, and to all of human potential, to get our house in order.

To celebrate intelligence, to cheer on science, to recognize that kindness and cooperation always take us farther than hatred or cruelty.

The Artemis II astronauts now know better than any human who has ever existed how small we are. They have seen it with their own eyes, from a distance unimaginable.

So look at the images, listen to the astronauts' words, and take a moment to feel a sense of awe. The message of this mission, if you take time to let it in, is far, far bigger than we are.

Follow USA Today columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk