On April 1, 2026, while we were lost in the daily hustle and bustle on Earth, a silent but significant event took place in the sky. Most of us didn’t even notice it in the ordinary course of daily life. Yet, far above us, a journey of profound meaning for humanity was taking place. After more than half a century, or exactly fifty-four years, humanity once again crossed the boundaries of Earth. With NASA’s Artemis II mission, four astronauts in the Orion space capsule orbited the Moon, crossing a threshold long forgotten by humanity. This was the first time humans had gone beyond Earth’s orbit since the last Apollo mission in 1972. At approximately 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) from the Moon and 252,756 miles (406,000 kilometers) from Earth, the astronauts became the first people to travel farther from Earth than anyone before them. In doing so, they surpassed the previous record of 158,000 miles, which had been held by the Apollo 13 crew.
As the spacecraft passed to the far side of the Moon, it lost communication with Earth for about forty minutes. There was silence. This silence actually meant something much beyond an ordinary technical interruption. Imagine you are at the furthest point a human can go from Earth, and no one can even hear your voice. These forty minutes were actually a time for contemplation, both for those in space and those on Earth. What are we? Where do we come from and where are we going? One day we too will lose communication with Earth, what will we do then? Mission expert Christina Koch, the first female astronaut on a lunar mission, described the far side of the Moon as follows: “It was absolutely fascinating…It was nothing like the Moon we see from Earth.”
In this mission, the astronauts not only orbited the Moon, but also had the opportunity to observe the lunar surface, including the Mare Orientale, lava plains, and many formations known as the Grand Canyon, so clearly and up close. These observations were not just an image, but also an experience that reshaped humanity’s view of the universe. For example, on April 5, 2026, for the first time in human history, the Orientale Basin of the Moon was fully visible to the human eye. Robots had looked at this region before, but what the human eye saw was completely different.
A gigantic structure approximately 965 kilometers (600 miles) wide. A place scientists call the Grand Canyon of the Moon. Its age? 3.8 billion years. Science considers this canyon a young formation. Your life is 70 or 80 years; what science calls “young” is measured in billions of years.
This basin was formed by the impact of an asteroid approximately 64 kilometers (40 miles) in diameter. After the impact, the lunar surface collapsed and then rebounded, creating the remarkable concentric rings we see today. A destruction, yet there is order within it. A chaos, yet there is mathematics within it.
The astronauts were not merely looking at a landscape—they were looking at time. Because this basin lies along the terminator, the boundary between the Moon’s near and far sides, it is extremely difficult to observe from Earth. Observing it directly with the human eye allows for a better analysis of its color variations, surface texture, and the effects of light, deepening our understanding of lunar geology. Moreover, this basin is considered one of the best-preserved large impact structures on the Moon, providing valuable clues about the violent collisions that shaped the early Solar System.
Space race
Experts say that Artemis II is not just a space mission, but it also carries a geopolitical message. China’s rapidly developing space program, in particular, shows that this race is heating up again. NASA’s Artemis program is seen as an effort by the US to maintain its leadership in space. However, China is also accelerating its own lunar program and planning manned lunar missions by 2030. This shows that space will be an area of economic and strategic competition in the future.
The Artemis II mission has already ignited this competition by taking humans to the furthest point from Earth. Immediately after breaking the record for the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth, a very emotional moment occurred inside the capsule.
The crew proposed that a crater on the Moon be named after Carroll Taylor Wiseman, the wife of mission commander Reid Wiseman, who died of cancer in 2020. The proposal was made by Jeremy Hansen, the first non-US citizen to go beyond low Earth orbit and the first Canadian astronaut to participate in a mission around the Moon.
Speaking to Houston, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen’s voice trembled with emotion as he said:
“We started this journey years ago, and we’ve continued as a close-knit family of astronauts… and in the process, we lost someone we loved. There’s a formation in a very special place on the Moon. On the border of the Moon’s near and far faces… or even a little closer to that border. So, at certain times as the Moon orbits the Earth, we will be able to see this point from Earth.”
He paused… then continued:
“We lost someone we loved. Her name was Carroll. Reid’s wife… Katie and Ellie’s mother.
If you want to find this point, look at the Glushko crater. A little northwest of it, at the same latitude as Ohm, you’ll see a bright spot on the Moon. And we want to name that point Carroll.”
Following these words, Mission Control fell silent for approximately 45 seconds. It was perhaps one of the most meaningful silences in humanity’s history. In the NASA broadcast, the crew was seen embracing Reid Wiseman. Afterward, the communications officer Jenny Gibbons responded:
“Integrity and Carroll Crater… clearly received. Thank you.”
You may travel to the Moon, but you take your pain with you. You gaze at the stars, yet your memories remain by your side.
Perhaps the greatest truth to understand is this:
We are not merely exploring space; we are exploring ourselves.
An astronaut leaves his wife’s name on a crater that is billions of years old. What will you leave behind in your own life on Earth?
That is why Artemis II is more than a space mission. It is a letter humanity writes to itself. Even as we look at the Moon, we are, in truth, looking at our own story.
The Qur’an makes a powerful appeal at this point:
“It is He who created the heavens in seven layers. You will not see any inconsistency in the creation of the Most Gracious. Turn your gaze and look; can you see any crack?” (al-Mulk, 3) The astronauts looked. They looked again. They found no crack. They only saw a perfect order, and they were amazed.
Now we come to the critical question. What will going to the Moon bring us? Faster internet?
More powerful technology?
A chance for life beyond Earth?
The possibility of discovering new planets?
Yes, these are some of the benefits. But they are not the main point. The main point is the perspective it gives us.
That is why the words of Artemis II astronaut Victor Glover, spoken live during the mission, are so striking: “I think these observations are important because we are so far from Earth and we are looking back at the beauty of creation. I think one of the most important personal perspectives I have here is being able to really see Earth as one whole. And you know, when I read the Bible and look at all the amazing things that have been made for us—we as created beings—I feel like you have an incredible place, like a spaceship. You are talking to us right now because we are in a spaceship very far from Earth. But actually, you are also in a spaceship called ‘Earth’; this ship was created to offer us a place to live in the universe, in the cosmos.”
We always think that we live on Earth. But we live more in a spaceship than on a planet. This ship is such a ship that it knows no borders. It doesn’t require a passport. It doesn’t ask for identification. In contrast, what do we, the inhabitants of the spaceship, do? We start wars. We blow small issues out of proportion. We inflate our egos. We tear one another down.
Let’s be honest:
Is what’s consuming you right now really that significant? Or are you making it bigger than it is? From space, your title is invisible. Your wealth is invisible. Your ego is invisible. None of it can be seen.
What is visible is a magnificent, deep blue sphere.
The Qur’an says elsewhere: “We created everything with a measure.” (al-Qamar, 49)
The universe exists in balance. But what about humanity? The journey to the moon should help humanity rediscover that balance in four ways:
- It should help you change your perspective. Learn to look at your life from above.
You really need to learn this. Ask yourself this question: “Will this problem still exist when viewed from space?” Most of the time you will see that the answer is a resounding “No.”
- It should cause you to begin your inner journey. Humanity managed to go to the moon. But it still hasn’t managed to go on its own inner journey. This is a bigger problem. Because a person who conquers the outside world but loses their inner world has actually gained nothing.
- It should help you stop fighting. There is a photograph of planet Earth taken by the Voyager 1 space probe on February 14, 1990, from a distance of approximately 6 billion kilometers before leaving the Solar System. In this photograph, our world is seen as a “Pale Blue Dot.” Such great conflicts over such a tiny speck are tragicomic. We are all in the same boat. We are drifting in the same void. Yet, we remain of one other. Why?
- It should make you take the present moment seriously. Because that’s all you truly have. Only the now exists. The past? It’s gone. The future? It has not yet arrived. And yet, you are missing the present moment as well.
In this tiny blue dot suspended in the infinite universe, in this brief life, we are drowning in the crises of our own making. We fight one another, and we fight ourselves. The regrets of the past that haunt us, the endless anxiety about the future, the insatiable pursuit of wealth… You exhaust yourself chasing a title at work, losing sleep over what others think of you. You live under the illusion that everything is so important, as though you will live forever. Your ego has grown so large that it no longer fits even within that pale blue dot.
Yet the truth is unmistakable. One day, we will all disappear—silently. Our names will be forgotten. Our bank accounts will be closed. The titles we once prized will vanish. Not a single trace of our earthly existence will remain.
And that is precisely why the certainty that everything will one day pass away is not a tragedy but one of life’s greatest freedoms. Stop taking yourself, your endless worries, and your inflated ego so seriously. Nothing is as important as you think. All you truly have is the present moment, and even that is quietly slipping through your fingers.
Now look once more at the photographs of Earth taken during the Artemis II mission, and ask yourself: What, exactly, is worth worrying about as you spend your brief life on this tiny rock suspended in the vastness of space?
