I AM A CHILD OF THE MOON RACE, the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to land the first humans on another celestial body (and by extension, prove which socioeconomic system was superior). And space was a constant theme of my childhood, ranging from the full-color articles of the Apollo missions that filled National Geographic to the plywood and 2x4 lunar lander my dad built for my brother and me to play in.
Even after the U.S. stopped going to the moon in 1972, the expectation space exploration wasn’t at an end, but simply at the end of the beginning.
It’s taken more than half a century, but humanity seems poised to start the next chapter of space exploration with the Artemis missions set to start as early as 2026. (Without a Kennedy-style deadline imposed on the program, the timeline keeps getting extended.) The first crewed mission will simply orbit the moon, but we could see a human walking on the lunar surface as soon as 2027.
Of course, the astronauts are just the visible point of a giant army of engineers, scientists, and technicians who are designing and building the rockets and capsules. Senior Editor Louise Poirier spent the better part of a year talking to them and the result is the cover story this month, “Artemis Transcends Apollo.”
Engine nozzles and the heat shield for the Artemis II European Service Module, which will provide the power necessary to propel Orion on a trip around the Moon. Photo: NASA
Poirier’s feature is just one of a slew of great articles I am proud to present to you. For instance, author and science writer Lina Zeldovich looked at the future of the steel industry, which is developing new technologies for reducing or even eliminating its carbon dioxide emissions. Imagine using high-powered lasers to melt iron ore.
Elsewhere, our staff and freelance writers are exploring the frontiers of engineering, from developing a Stirling engine for microscale nuclear reactors to extracting lithium from water used in hydraulic fracturing in Appalachia to gaining a better understanding of how athletes pick up new skills. We interviewed Ratnak Sok of Waseda University in Tokyo about the future of the internal combustion engine and roboticist Stephen Indyk about creating tools to be used by rovers on Mars. And because everything old could become new again, we check out the work of engineers who are testing whether Leonardo da Vinci's famous aerial screw design could be a better propeller for drones.
Our Cathy Cecere took advantage of our new digital format to create an interactive story about the salary premium engineers get for learning specific skills. And be sure to check out our monthly Big Quiz; this month, we test your knowledge of the 1960s and 1970s Moon Race.
And there’s so much more, including links to selected ASME podcasts on the righthand side of this page and other material throughout this issue. We’re just starting to scratch the surface of everything we can provide for you in this new, all-digital format.
Much as I was when I was a starry-eyed youth, I can’t wait to see what the future holds in store.
—Jeffrey Winters, editor in chief
There’s more to ASME than the magazine. Be sure to check out these features.
Some of our most recent episodes include:
WHAT EMPLOYERS WANT
Gabriella Coloyan Fleming and Abdulrahman Alsharif discuss the skills students need to move from higher education into their engineering careers.
BOOSTING SOLAR EFFICIENCY WITH PEROVSKITE TECH
John Iannelli, president of Caelux, talks about commercializing perovskites to make solar energy more powerful and cost-effective.
TEACHING CAD THROUGH THE LEGEND OF ZELDA
University of Maryland professor Ryan Sochol created a syllabus around a popular video game to teach machine design and CAD software.
ASME UNCONVENTIONAL ENGINEERING
Join ASME CEO Thomas Costabile and STEM educator Jay Flores as they talk with some of the most exciting names in engineering. Recent episodes include interviews with spacecraft systems engineer Joan Melendez-Misner and Jeff Perry, author of “The Intentional Engineer.” Check out the podcast landing page to hear them all.
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