Artemis: Built on Legacy
Creating Moonshots for Next Generation
Blog written by Nancy Conrad
As we look forward to NASA’s return to the Moon with Artemis 1, I am reflecting on how the mission dates align with those of Apollo 12, the second lunar landing on the Moon. Artemis’ window is November 14-27 while the Apollo 12 mission was November 14-24, 1969.
More than 50 years ago, my late husband, Pete Conrad, and his two best friends strapped in for their ultimate adventure: launching aboard a Saturn 5 rocket that would land them on the lunar surface and in American history.
Apollo 12 was their Moonshot. With Artemis 1, the next generation has a new Moonshot ahead of them.
Pete’s mission to the Moon was exciting. It took tremendous interdependence, dedication, courage, and bravery. It required discipline, training, resilience, and passion. Apollo 12 was the intersection of exponential technology and the most daring, extraordinary adventure humanity had ever dared to embark on.
Throughout his life, Pete brought his entrepreneurial spirit with him. His ability as the best “seat-of-the-pants” pilot, a wicked sense of humor, and straight talk sensibility endeared him to everyone he met.
Long before Pete became the third person to walk on the Moon, he faced educational setbacks. However, those setbacks would help him understand learning systems, the value of setting goals, and connect him with one person who would change his life. This is what we aim to do through The Conrad Challenge.
Pete grew up in Philadelphia and attended a prestigious private school. He had difficulty reading and spelling, which resulted in him failing several classes. He would eventually be diagnosed with dyslexia, but not before being expelled during 11th grade. His mother found a school in upstate New York with an excellent reputation for dealing with “problem kids.” While he was able to enroll, Pete did have to repeat his junior hear. This meant rereading Homer and Chaucer and solving the same calculus problems. However, at the new school, his learnings included chopping firewood, planting trees, and taking food to the needy. These were part of what they called a “systems” education.
Systems would come to play a role later in Pete’s life. Flying an airplane involves a system – a series of preparations, tasks, and operations that must be followed in the correct sequence. Learning at his new school was like that, and there was a goal at the end. Even as a student, Pete Conrad had the goal of flying.
Not only did Pete’s new school teach him about systems, but also the headmaster would help further Pete’s educational and career aspirations.
As a graduate of Princeton University, the headmaster would look for a special student who had “it.” And to no surprise, Pete Conrad was that special student. The headmaster took Pete under his wing and awarded him a scholarship to Princeton, compliments of Princeton and the Navy.
After graduating from Princeton University, Pete was commissioned as Navy ensign and designated a naval aviator. In 1958, he was accepted at the Navy’s test-pilot school and then given his Moonshot when he was invited to apply to become a NASA astronaut.
Pete went on to fly Gemini 5 and Gemini 11.
Fifty-three years ago this month, Pete commanded Apollo 12.
Stepping off the lunar module onto the Ocean of Storms, Pete, who stood 5’6”, said, “Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that’s a long one for me.”
That day, Pete exemplified the word Moonshot.
Throughout his life, Pete was the biggest character. His motto was, “If you can’t be good, be colorful.” Today’s translation: “Life is short: Don’t be boring.” While he was the third person to walk on the Moon, he was also the first to dance on it!
As Commander, Pete went on to fly Skylab, America’s First Space Station, but the lab was damaged at launch. When NASA tasked Pete and his crew with repairing Skylab, it was another obstacle defeated with teamwork and determination. For their rescue of the Skylab, Pete was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor; not bad for a kid expelled from high school.
When Pete retired from the Navy and NASA, he worked for MacDonnell Douglas, which is now part of Boeing.
In the early 1990s he was at the helm of the DCX, an experimental single-stage-to-orbit vehicle that became the foundation for the privatization and commercialization of space. From his experience with the DCX, Pete formed four companies with the goal of using space for easy and quick transportation – imagine traveling from California to France in just 45 minutes! What Sir Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos are doing today in space stands on the shoulders of Pete Conrad.
Pete’s story has many Moonshots. His life is an inspiring example of success at the intersection of STEM education, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
While Pete studied STEM, my education centered around philosophy and English. Like Pete, I am a systems thinker and a teacher. The Foundation’s work merges my passion to transform education with Pete’s story. Through the Conrad Foundation, Pete’s legacy has reached tens of thousands of global students.
My passion for education has continued to this day with a dedication to transforming young lives through experiential and practical learning. Today’s youth need to go beyond learning facts and figures by learning HOW to learn.
It only takes one person to believe in you and give you the tools to learn. That is what we do at the Conrad Foundation with our annual innovation competition, The Conrad Challenge, we give students around the world their Moonshot. And boy do they seize it!
The Conrad Challenge provides the bridge between knowing something and being able to do something with that knowledge. Once students learn this, they are inspired to accomplish more than they ever thought possible.
Our competition enhances young people’s educational experience and supports their STEM skills. And most importantly, it fuels their imagination and ability to design the future.
Students are the drivers of change. Their dizzying momentum, kinetic energy, and ability to reignite the dreams of the generations who came before them allows them to envision world-changing innovations that support global sustainability, technology, the economy and social well-being. By inviting a multi-cultural diversified community of students to design their future, our students bring STEM to life.
The Conrad Challenge is their Moonshot.
The Earth Pete saw from the Moon more than 50 years ago has changed. The internet has connected all of us. We are a global community that is being invited to open our minds to seeing the world as the astronauts did: a world without borders.
The adventure that lies ahead for today’s students requires the systems’ way of thinking, discipline, resilience, passion and daring that Pete embraced.
Only 12 people have seen Earth from deep space. Without exception, all who walked on the Moon have commented that our planet looks like a beautiful blue and white marble, suspended in black velvet sky. From space, Earth has no borders; there are no boundaries. Even though the world continues to change, one thing remains true: students innovate our future.
No matter what stage of life you may be in, I invite you to become a student of life. Expand your experiences and use science, technology, engineering, math, music, and art to create solutions to the complex global and local challenges of this century.
As Artemis 1 prepares for its mission, the Conrad Foundation and The Conrad Challenge invite you to work together as we prepare for the next great Moonshot: inspiring the next generation to conceive, believe, and achieve breakthrough ideas, technologies, and sustainable solutions that will influence and determine Earth’s future.
Just like Pete, we are in a time of magic and what a thrill it is to be part of it!