{"id":44493,"date":"2026-03-30T08:38:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/apollo-veterans-eager-to-see-nasa-return-to-moon-wish-it-happened-sooner\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T08:38:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:38:22","slug":"apollo-veterans-eager-to-see-nasa-return-to-moon-wish-it-happened-sooner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/apollo-veterans-eager-to-see-nasa-return-to-moon-wish-it-happened-sooner\/","title":{"rendered":"Apollo Veterans Eager to See NASA Return to Moon, Wish It Happened Sooner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. \u2014 The aging workforce that dedicated their lives to landing astronauts on the moon during the Apollo era is excited about NASA’s lunar return through the Artemis program. However, many wish these missions had launched years earlier when more of their colleagues were still living.<\/p>

The surviving members of NASA’s legendary generation are now in their 80s and 90s, with their numbers steadily declining. From the original 400,000 people who worked on Apollo, so few remain that no special gathering is being organized for the upcoming Artemis II mission, which will send four crew members around the moon as early as April 1. Those living near Florida’s Kennedy Space Center plan to view the launch from their own properties.<\/p>

“Because it was the first time, there was an energy. There was a passion that probably is not exactly the same today and hasn’t been for a while,” explained Charlie Mars, age 90, who contributed to Apollo’s command and lunar modules and later helped create the American Space Museum in nearby Titusville.<\/p>

Former engineer JoAnn Morgan remains angry that the final three Apollo lunar missions were scrapped during President Richard Nixon’s administration due to funding reductions, safety worries, and changing national priorities. She was the only woman present in launch control when Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins blasted off toward the moon in 1969. Three years later, Apollo 17 ended the remarkable period.<\/p>

“I’m just trying to stay alive so I can see us actually get back and step foot on the moon,” she explained. “I’m 85 and still feeling cheated after 53 years.”<\/p>

Morgan isn’t alone in her frustration with NASA’s and the country’s slow progress over the decades.<\/p>

“It’s a good thing I’m not in charge,” Mars commented, “because I would be out there beating the bushes and whipping up on people to get moving.”<\/p>

A significant change this time involves the numerous women holding important positions. NASA’s Artemis launch director is Charlie Blackwell-Thompson. The Artemis II team features Christina Koch, who achieved the record for the longest individual spaceflight by a woman \u2014 spending 328 straight days in orbit.<\/p>

“It will be even greater when they actually have a woman who plants her boots on the moon,” Morgan stated.<\/p>

Apollo 16’s Charlie Duke notes that half the global population wasn’t born when he stepped onto the lunar surface in 1972. NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman, a technology billionaire who funded his own space trips twice, belongs to that younger generation.<\/p>

Apollo veterans are encouraged that the 43-year-old Isaacman is speeding up Artemis launch schedules to better mirror Apollo’s pace and safety achievements. Artemis had been moving slowly with flights occurring roughly every three years, which Isaacman considers inadequate.<\/p>

He’s incorporated an additional test mission in Earth’s orbit to practice connecting with lunar landers before they transport astronauts to the moon’s surface. Last week, he unveiled plans for a lunar base that, combined with numerous moon drones and rovers, is projected to cost $20 billion over seven years.<\/p>

NASA’s self-proclaimed “moon base guy,” Carlos Garcia-Galan, guarantees “cool cameras” on all equipment to increase public interest.<\/p>

In the immediate future, the primary objective is defeating China in reaching the lunar surface. NASA targets landing astronauts in 2028, while China aims for 2030.<\/p>

The United States decisively defeated the Soviet space program in the original moon race, successfully landing 12 astronauts between 1969 and 1972.<\/p>

John Tribe, 90, who oversaw spacecraft propulsion during Apollo, believes NASA’s updated Artemis strategy is “a whole lot more sensible.”<\/p>

“The other approach was ridiculous,” Tribe said. “Whether we’re going to beat the Chinese back, I don’t know.”<\/p>

Apollo 9’s Rusty Schweickart also approves of the redesigned Artemis program. Regarding surpassing Apollo’s excitement level, however, he’s skeptical.<\/p>

“We can all recall Columbus,” Schweickart wrote in an email, but who remembers “who came along 50 years afterward?”<\/p>

Duke, one of only four surviving moonwalkers, expects Apollo’s excitement will resurface once Artemis astronauts begin landing, particularly for younger generations who missed the original missions.<\/p>

“If the first ones are successful and we start landing at the south pole,” Duke said, “I think millions are going to be watching that. I know I will if I’m still here.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aging Apollo program workers, now in their 80s and 90s, are excited about NASA’s Artemis moon missions but frustrated it took so long to return. With so few original Apollo team members remaining from the original 400,000 workforce, they’re hoping to live long enough to see astronauts walk on the moon again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":44492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[838],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1774874302066.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-bzD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44081,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/nasas-new-moon-mission-how-artemis-compares-to-historic-apollo-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":44493,"position":0},"title":"NASA’s New Moon Mission: How Artemis Compares to Historic Apollo Program","author":"Admin","date":"March 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"NASA is preparing to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time in over 50 years with the Artemis program. 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