On 1 April, millions of people from every corner of the planet watched live the historic launch of the Artemis II mission. For the first time in more than half a century—since Apollo 17 in 1972—a crewed space mission once again approached the Moon, even beholding its far side. During its ten-day journey, the Orion spacecraft, crewed by Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, carried around the natural satellite of the Earth the first woman, the first Black astronaut, and the first non-American astronaut. And while humanity returns to the Moon’s neighbourhood, for the past five years ALPHA MISSION – ΔELOS has been raising awareness about the need to protect life on our planet.
Apollo and Artemis: these historic missions were named after the gods of light and the Moon in ancient Greek mythology. An inspired and fitting connection, also highlighted by Dr Nicola Fox, NASA Head of Science, during her remarks in May 2024 at the 4th ALPHA MISSION – ΔELOS Gathering.
For it is on the sacred island of Delos—where, according to myth, the twin children of Leto and Zeus were born—that a new mission began at the same time as the Artemis mission. The visionary initiative ALPHA MISSION – ΔELOS brings leading figures from diverse fields to the heart of the Cyclades every May to discuss the future of humanity and life on the “pale blue dot”, the only home we have ever known: Earth. The initiative has been supported since its early stages by Stamatios Krimigis, Emeritus Head of the Space Exploration Sector at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and former President of the Academy of Athens.
The aim of ALPHA MISSION – ΔELOS is to raise awareness of the climate crisis. At this critical moment for our planet, Delos—the first cosmopolitan centre of the Mediterranean, where numerous languages were spoken and diverse faiths coexisted—is already being affected by rising sea levels. Today, it invites us to pause for a moment: to remember the roots that gave us wings—science and technology, but also ancestral intelligence, the humanities, the arts, and spirituality—and to imagine a civilisation that honours life in all its forms.
It is worth noting that, drawing on ALPHA MISSION – ΔELOS, the Artemis mission and its connection to Greek culture, the International Sustainability Education Network “From Mythology to Space – Myth2space” has been created. This innovative endeavour brings together pupils from urban centres and regional areas, fostering skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, computational thinking and a holistic approach to concepts. The network now includes 15,000 pupils from 713 classes in primary and secondary education.
You can watch the Delos international gatherings on the World Human Forum’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfWWGQFW64wLUNwMbjfy0RA
