On moonshots and Minneapolis

On moonshots and Minneapolis Skip to content Subscribe today Every print subscription comes with full digital access Subscribe Now Menu All Topics Health Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology View All Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes View All Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment View All Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics View All Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology View All Magazine Menu All Stories Multimedia Reviews Puzzles Collections Educator Portal Century of Science Unsung characters Coronavirus Outbreak Newsletters Investors Lab About SN Explores Our Store SIGN IN Donate Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 SIGN IN Search Open search Close search Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 All Topics Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology Tech Computing Artificial Intelligence Chemistry Math Science & Society All Topics Health Humans Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Recent posts in Humans Neuroscience Why is math harder for some kids? Brain scans offer clues By Lily Burton8 hours ago Health & Medicine Can you trust the results from gut microbiome tests? Maybe not By Tina Hesman SaeyFebruary 26, 2026 Anthropology Mosquitoes began biting humans more than a million years ago By Tom MetcalfeFebruary 26, 2026 Life Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Recent posts in Life Neuroscience Why is math harder for some kids? Brain scans offer clues By Lily Burton8 hours ago Animals Here’s how honeyeaters and other birds thrive on sugary diets By Bethany BrookshireFebruary 26, 2026 Anthropology Mosquitoes began biting humans more than a million years ago By Tom MetcalfeFebruary 26, 2026 Earth Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment Recent posts in Earth Climate Take it from the Olympics, slushy winter sports may be the new normal By Natasha Vizcarra6 hours ago Animals Climate change could threaten monarch mass migration By Erin Garcia de JesúsFebruary 25, 2026 Earth Metal pollution from a rocket reentry detected for the first time By Adam MannFebruary 25, 2026 Physics Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics Recent posts in Physics Physics Here’s why sneakers squeak on the basketball court By Emily ConoverFebruary 25, 2026 Animals Intricate silk helps net-casting spiders ensnare prey in webs By Emily ConoverFebruary 24, 2026 Physics Physicists dream up ‘spacetime quasicrystals’ that could underpin the universe By Emily ConoverFebruary 17, 2026 Space Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology Recent posts in Space Space NASA scraps its 2027 moon landing, adds two missions in 2028 By Lisa Grossman5 hours ago Science & Society On moonshots and Minneapolis By Lisa Grossman10 hours ago Earth Metal pollution from a rocket reentry detected for the first time By Adam MannFebruary 25, 2026 Essay Science & Society On moonshots and Minneapolis Who cares about going to the moon when the world is in chaos? Earth peeks above the lunar horizon in this 1969 photo from Apollo 11, the first mission to put humans on the moon. Though such missions are touted for their power to unite humankind, they also bring our earthly problems into sharp relief. NASA By Lisa Grossman 10 hours ago Share this:Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Share on X (Opens in new window) X Print (Opens in new window) Print Listen to this article This is a human-written story voiced by AI. Got feedback? Take our survey . (See our AI policy here .) Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been gearing up to cover the launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission. This launch aims to bring humans back to the vicinity of the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, with an eventual eye toward landing humans on the moon and learning how to live there long-term. I expected to feel unalloyed excitement for this moment. I’ve been enraptured with space since I was 8 years old. I dreamed of being the first woman to land on Mars and search for alien microbes. I followed that passion to an astronomy degree and a career writing about space, for the joy of sharing my cosmological enthusiasm. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday. One of the things I love most about space exploration is its inspirational power and its potential as a unifying force. The first moon landing is remembered as a moment when the entire world looked up in simultaneous amazement. “For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one,” President Richard Nixon said in his phone call to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin after they landed on the moon in 1969. So in early January, as I eagerly listened to lunar science talks at an astronomy meeting in Arizona, I wondered if Artemis II would invoke the same feeling. We could certainly use it in 2026. Two days later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot and killed a woman about a mile from my house in Minneapolis. The woman, Renée Good, was demographically identical to me. We both moved to Minneapolis less than a year ago and had children the same age. She had been observing several of the thousands of ICE agents who inundated Minneapolis under the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge. The largest immigration enforcement deployment in United States’ history, it has been met with ongoing resistance from many Minnesotans.   I came home from the conference to find masked agents in military vests driving around my neighborhood. I witnessed them arrest someone across the street from my house while surrounded by neighbors blowing whistles and crying, “You can’t do this!” Thousands of protesters filled the parks and streets, enduring frigid temperatures and chemical weapons deployed by federal agents. The situation intensified when immigration officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse who had been observing enforcement actions. My immigrant neighbors hid in their homes with sheets pulled over the windows in a way that reminded me of my Jewish relatives hiding during the Holocaust. My kids were scared. I was scared. It was very hard to think about anything else. Protesters against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement march through downtown Minneapolis on January 25, 2026. The day before, federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse who had been observing enforcement actions. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/Contributor/Getty Images Meanwhile, NASA prepared t