Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Could the Artemis images have been taken by an uncrewed space probe that would have been a lot cheaper to send to the moon…? Yes. Now it’s worth stressing here that although these images are incredibly beautiful they are closer in definition to art than they are to science images - the motivation for the Artemis missions is not science. It has always been political and economical. So we are in another space race again with the USA wanting to beat China to put humans on the moon again. And while there is a treaty that does stop countries from laying ownership to entire astronomical objects - so not one country can say I own the entire moon - there is nothing to stop Nasa or the Chinese space agency or a commercial company from landing at a given spot and laying claim to all of the resources there that they could mine and then make money from - these are the reasons why missions like Artemis are getting funded - those are the deciding factors. Not the science that could possibly come from it.
In terms of science, the Artemis missions are thin on the ground. There’s a lot of focus on the toll that space travel takes on the human body, all with the view of preparing for longer term missions either to the Moon to build a Moon base, or to send humans to Mars. Did it justify the cost of this mission at the expense of other astrophysical programs that could’ve gone ahead instead and taught us a lot more science, no, not in my opinion anyway. Again just highlighting the difference between an astrophysicist and a rocket scientist that people often confuse. Although I will concede that the Artemis mission brought many many people some much needed joy over these past few weeks… correction, shared "Moon joy" 🌙
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Martino Gasparrini: fiverr.com/mgs_editing
Video produced by Marina Hui
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📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): lnk.to/DrBecky
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👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
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🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
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🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
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👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
Could the Artemis images have been taken by an uncrewed space probe that would have been a lot cheaper to send to the moon…? Yes. Now it’s worth stressing here that although these images are incredibly beautiful they are closer in definition to art than they are to science images - the motivation for the Artemis missions is not science. It has always been political and economical. So we are in another space race again with the USA wanting to beat China to put humans on the moon again. And while there is a treaty that does stop countries from laying ownership to entire astronomical objects - so not one country can say I own the entire moon - there is nothing to stop Nasa or the Chinese space agency or a commercial company from landing at a given spot and laying claim to all of the resources there that they could mine and then make money from - these are the reasons why missions like Artemis are getting funded - those are the deciding factors. Not the science that could possibly come from it.
In terms of science, the Artemis missions are thin on the ground. There’s a lot of focus on the toll that space travel takes on the human body, all with the view of preparing for longer term missions either to the Moon to build a Moon base, or to send humans to Mars. Did it justify the cost of this mission at the expense of other astrophysical programs that could’ve gone ahead instead and taught us a lot more science, no, not in my opinion anyway. Again just highlighting the difference between an astrophysicist and a rocket scientist that people often confuse. Although I will concede that the Artemis mission brought many many people some much needed joy over these past few weeks… correction, shared "Moon joy" 🌙
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Martino Gasparrini: fiverr.com/mgs_editing
Video produced by Marina Hui
---
📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): lnk.to/DrBecky
---
👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
---
🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
---
🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
---
👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
