elc team
On April 1st , millions of people from every corner of the planet watched the historic launch of the Artemis II mission live. For the first time in over half a century – and Apollo 17 in 1972 –, a crewed space mission approached the moon again to see, in fact, its invisible side. On its ten-day journey, the Orion spacecraft, with a crew of Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, brought around the Earth’s natural satellite the first woman, the first black man and the first non-American astronaut. And while man returns to the neighborhood of the Moon, for five years ALPHA MISSION – DELOS has been sending messages for the protection of life on our planet. Apollo and Artemis: the historic missions were named after the ancient Greek gods of light and the Moon.
An inspiring yet apt connection, which was also mentioned by Dr. Nicola Fox , NASA Head of Science, speaking in May 2024 at the 4th International Meeting of ALPHA MISSION – DELOS.
Because on the sacred island of Delos, where according to legend the twin children of Leto and Zeus were born, a new mission began in parallel with the Artemis mission. The visionary initiative ALPHA MISSION – DELOS brings personalities from different fields to the heart of the Cyclades every May to discuss the future of humanity and life on the “pale blue spot”, the only home we have ever known, Earth. The institution has been supported from its first steps by Stamatis Krimizis, emeritus director in the Space Exploration department at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and former president of the Academy of Athens.
ALPHA MISSION – DELOS aims to raise awareness about the climate crisis. At this defining moment for our planet, Delos – the first cosmopolitan center of the Mediterranean, where you could hear a multitude of languages and many religions coexisted – is already 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 civilization that honors life in all its forms.
It is noted that with the ALPHA MISSION – DELOS, the Artemis mission and its connection with Greek culture as a springboard, the International Thematic Network for Education for Sustainability “From Mythology to Space – Myth2space ” was created. This is an innovative project that brings together students from urban centers and the region and cultivates skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, computational thinking and a holistic approach to concepts. Currently, 15,000 students from 713 Primary and Secondary Education schools participate in the network.
You can watch the international meetings of Delos on the World Human Forum YouTube channel.
