Brown University professor who worked on Apollo missions praises Artemis II

Artemis II recently traveled to the moon, and Jim Head, a Brown University planetary geoscientist who worked on the Apollo missions, told WBZ-TV he finds the crew's excitement "inspirational" and hopes it will inspire a new generation of scientists.

Artemis II and its crew traveled to the moon last week. It has been more than 50 years since the United States last sent humans on a moon mission. Jim Head, a professor of planetary geosciences at Brown University who worked on the Apollo missions, reflected on the continuity between those earlier programs and the current flight. He told WBZ-TV he finds the astronauts' excitement inspirational and said he hopes that excitement reaches a new generation of scientists. What we know: - Artemis II and its crew traveled to the moon last week. - It has been more than 50 years since the United States sent humans to the moon. - Jim Head is a Brown University professor of planetary geosciences who worked on the Apollo missions. - Head said he trained astronauts and helped determine lunar landing sites during Apollo. - He described the Apollo missions as "certified scientific expeditions like Lewis and Clark." - Head told WBZ-TV he finds the Artemis II crew's excitement "inspirational" and has former students at NASA, including one in Mission Control for Artemis II. Summary: The flight of Artemis II has prompted reflections from a veteran of the Apollo era and renewed public attention to lunar exploration. Jim Head emphasized that the underlying mission to pursue the unknown continues and expressed hope that current enthusiasm will draw people toward scientific careers. Undetermined at this time.