Artemis astronauts' message of hope is one all the world should hear
The United Nations and the international rules-based order remain vital to efforts to ensure a peaceful future for humanity
The Easter message is one of hope. And, whether religious or not, that is something we all need, particularly when the world seems increasingly chaotic, divided and dangerous.
Sometimes it takes an outsider’s perspective to see our planet as it truly is and astronauts looking down on Earth have regularly found themselves awestruck by its beauty. The crew of Artemis II, on a historic mission around the Moon, have been no different.
Commander Reid Wiseman said the view of the entire globe was “the most spectacular moment and it paused all four of us in our tracks”. The sight moved pilot Victor Glover to say: “You look beautiful and, from up here, you also look like one thing. You know, Homo sapiens is all of us. No matter where you're from or what you look like, we are all one people.”
READ MORE: Artemis II's space toilet glitch reads like Big Bang Theory script but their mission is no joke
UN’s inspirational founding charter
What the astronauts are seeing is the world as it truly is, not one divided by national boundaries, and their words are a reminder of this simple fact.
The creation of the United Nations in 1945 was an attempt to bring humanity together to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind” and to “reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small”, according to its founding charter’s inspirational opening lines.
The contempt for international law shown by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, by the terrorist actions of the tyrannical regime in Iran, and also by reckless comments made by Donald Trump and leading members of his administration have, in different ways, cast doubt on the authority of the UN, which seems as weak as its predecessor, the League of Nations.
However, the rules-based world order still remains our best chance of a peaceful future and one that we should strive to preserve. And if this seems a hopeless task, remember the words of Arthur Hugh Clough in his poem, Say not the Struggle nought Availeth: “If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars.” Happy Easter.
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