It’s Still Ok to be Excited About Artemis... Especially Now

Some of us might be finding it hard to get excited about Artemis right now.

And that’s ok.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the NASA Artemis programme. Typically, after so much anticipation, it has finally arrived at a time of intense global tension. On paper, it’s extraordinary; a return to the Moon! A foundation for deep space exploration and a genuinely international effort.

The people working on it care deeply about what it represents at its best - and that matters. But we’re also living through a moment where things feel deeply unsettled. Trust in global leadership is strained. Economies are taking in a deep breath before the plunge. The world can feel fragmented rather than shared.

So when something like Artemis arrives (vast, ambitious, symbolic) it doesn’t always land as uncomplicated excitement. For some, it lands as distance. Or tension. Or simply a question of priorities.

That doesn’t make the ambition wrong. If anything it makes it more important.

Because projects like Artemis aren’t just about where we’re going but also about what we choose to believe in together.

We’ve seen this before. The Apollo program also unfolded during a period of deep global tension. And it became something bigger than its moment and expanded what people thought was possible.

But that kind of meaning doesn’t just happen at launch. It happens when people find a way to connect those distant ambitions to their own lives, experiences, places ... and their own futures.

That’s the real challenge (and opportunity) right now. That gap isn’t NASA’s alone but a broader challenge of how global ambition connects to everyday life.

This is where approaches like space–place–making come in. Treating culture as the bridge between global ambition and everyday life. Not as outreach, but as something more embedded and reciprocal.

Because without that connection even our greatest achievements can feel distant. And with it they can feel shared and less complicated.

So yes... if you’re feeling conflicted, you’re not alone.

But it’s still ok to be excited. Maybe even important.

Because the future Artemis points us towards (collaborative, outward-looking, bigger than any one nation) is still worth believing in and building towards.

Wishing those celebrating a hopeful Easter weekend.