Originally published in the Herald-Zeitung, March 1, 2024.
This morning, early, I walked out for the newspaper, this one, and looked up at the full moon. It looked different; it was surrounded by a light haze of clouds accompanying its voyage. I felt the same chill as I did over half a century ago when the first astronauts touched down on its surface and left a footprint.
My wife and I watched with millions of others on February 22nd, when, after several challenges, teamwork, and ingenuity, as well as resolute resiliency in responding to glitches in the systems, the robotic craft landed.
NASA has used Greek names before, beginning in the 1950s; originally they named missions after sky deities: Apollo and Saturn, then beginning in 2022, Artemis replaced Apollo and there are four more Artemis voyages on the books. There was also the Mercury (Greek, Hermes) program. But this mission was named after a Greek hero, whose story is immortalized most fully in the Greek poet Homer’s magnificent epic, the Odyssey. In 24 Books, Homer tells the story of one Greek warrior who leaves his home of Ithaka to fight in the Trojan war. It lasts 10 years. His return, initially with many men and ships, is filled with challenges and obstacles often created by the gods, that strip from him all his ships, men, and possessions. But Odysseus is wily, a trickster and able to adapt in an instant to unforeseen challenges.
He arrives at his homeland with nothing but the stories he carries in his memory, for he has substantially changed. His voyage home was one one of self-discovery as well as self-recovery from his traumatic war wounds inflicted on him for many years. As he leaves Troy, he is more like an orphan without a home or a full sense of self; but with the aid of the goddess Athene as well as other feminine figures, both human and divine, he finds his way home. As did the robotic Odysseus.
Every journey away from home carries the seeds of a homecoming; these are archetypal or universal events that happen to all of us; since they are universal experiences, they are the core of mythic stories. They help to organize events and situations into coherent forms that we can reflect upon. Myths give events their identity, which opens a way to understand their meaning.
NASA partnering with Intuitive Machines, have their home in Houston’s “Space City.” Their Odysseus is a robotic lander, partly relying on being controlled from home, partly autonomous. Its onboard software was autonomous from 6 miles up as it scouted for a safe home on which to land. Like Odysseus, it knew when to follow instructions from the gods in Houston and when to exercise its autonomy. My sense is that a new myth is being formed before our eyes, as an ancient hero partners with tomorrow’s technology.
In addition, individuals in the space community have begun to ask new questions: “race to the moon, being first” is being outmoded as a story that is too narrow. Other questions are arising: How does this event expand human progress?
How might we partner with other countries in joint ventures? Who owns the moon and sets down perimeters for those whose space programs include landing on it? What ethical concerns should we entertain in this process of leaving home for another habitation? I would add: what myth should we watch for and help create because of this monumental event in history?
Homer’s Odysseus returns to Ithaca, but he will journey out again, to a foreign land where no none recognizes an oar; there he will die, in his final home.
Mission Director, Tim Crain, uttered the new myth when he announced: “Odysseus has a new home.” In that sense, we all are Odysseus experiencing a home we will get to know intimately in the coming years. Homecoming is a mythic enterprise.