The U.S. capital was simply moonstruck — or at the least, the Washington Monument was.
A picture of NASA’s iconic Saturn V rocket was projected onto the monument at evening between Dec. 31 and Jan. 5. That latter date is only a month out from the attainable launch of the Artemis 2 round-the-moon mission with 4 astronauts, which is scheduled to elevate off as quickly as Feb. 6.
“Freedom 250 is ringing in the New Year by illuminating the story of America, including reaching for the stars, and highlighting our achievements in space, on the Washington Monument,” NASA officials wrote about the light show, which featured other imagery as well, on X on Dec. 31.
Freedom 250 is the group liable for marking the 250th anniversary of the approval of the Declaration of Independence, an occasion popularly celebrated as the start of america. The declaration, which handed the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, said that 13 British colonies in North America would separate from Nice Britain and type a United States of America with impartial powers of commerce and state, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Provided Artemis 2’s 10-day mission goes as planned, the follow-up will be the first crewed moon landing in more than five decades with Artemis 3, later in the 2020s. NASA is positioning Artemis as part of a larger push for moon settlement, including the establishment of long-term bases, resource mining and the use of nuclear reactors. From there, the agency hopes to eventually land astronauts on Mars.
NASA is implementing the Artemis program with the help of a number of international and private-industry partners. For example, Hansen’s seat on Artemis 2 came principally due to his nation’s planned provision of the Canadarm3 robotic arm for the Gateway lunar space station.
The United States is also spearheading an initiative called the Artemis Accords, which seeks to establish a set of norms for safe, sustainable and peaceful space exploration. More than 50 other nations have signed the accords to date.
The New Year’s Eve appearance of the Saturn V wasn’t its first projection onto the monument. Back in 2019, when NASA was celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the first-ever human moon landing, the rocket’s image graced one of the sides of the monument courtesy of a Smithsonian Institution celebration, according to Space.com partner site collectSPACE. The 2025 displaying of the rocket was the primary to place the Saturn V on all sides of the monument, nevertheless.
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