On April 10, 2026 (U.S. time), corresponding to April 11 in India, the Artemis II mission concluded successfully with the return of the Orion crew module Integrity. Over ten days, four astronauts completed a crewed lunar flyby, traveling to the Moon and back. Beyond its technical accomplishments, the mission marks a historic inflection point, the revival of human deep-space exploration after more than five decades since the Apollo era.
In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of an architect called Daedalus. They wanted to escape from the island of Crete since the king had imprisoned them for sharing their secrets. Daedalus had constructed wings from birds’ moulted feathers and some other materials. He had used the beeswax for the ‘construction’ of the wings. Daedalus had warned his son that he should not fly too high.
China's foray into space exploration began in the late 20th century and has experienced remarkable growth in the early 21st century. Initially, there was some criticism about China's space program, and it was often mentioned that China is reverse-engineering Russian technology.
Technology was at the centre stage during the Indian Prime Minister's visit to the United States in June 2023.
Moon is in the news, again. The first human landing on the surface of the Moon was made possible on July 20, 1969, with the landing of Apollo 11. The last human landing on the Moon was during December 1972. The US now is proposing the next human landing on the Moon around 2024.