S obletom Luny v ramkakh missii Artemida II i perspektivoj vysadki astronavtov na lunnuyu poverkhnost' v techeniye neskol'kikh let chelovechestvo vstupayet v eru, kogda otpechatok poseshcheniya Luny mozhet byt' stert iz zhivoy pamyati. Yeshche pyat' chelovek, letavshikh k Lune na missiyakh NASA Apollo, vse v vozraste za 90, ostayutsya v zhivykh. S 1968 po 1972 god 24 astronavta posetili Lunu, i 12 progulyalis' po yeye poverkhnosti. Pridetsya podozdat' yeshche nemnogo, chtoby popolnit' spisok lunokhodov, no chetyre novykh imeni popolnyayut spisok issledovateley Luny: ekipazh Artemida II, vse v vozraste 40-50 let, proletel nemnogo boleye 4000 mil' ot Luny - vyshe nad poverkhnost'yu, chem missii Apollo. Oni ustanovili novyy rekord po udalennosti cheloveka ot Zemli: 252 756 mil' (406 771 kilometr).\n\nEto pobivayet rekord Apollo 13, ustanovlennyy v aprele 1970 goda, kogda Dzhim Lovell, Dzhak Svigert i Fred Heyz dostigli 248 655 mil' (400 171 km). Etot rekord proderzhalsya pochti 56 let, chto bol'she, chem bol'shinstvo lyudey derzhat novogodneye obeshchaniye. Ofitsial'nyye litsa NASA, astronavty i entuziasty kosmosa nadeyutsya, chto rekord Artemida II ne proderzhitsya tak dolgo - no pob'yut li yego, zavisit ot orbital'noy dinamiki, byudzhetnykh tsiklov i ellipticheskikh kaprizov Luny. Orbita Luny menyaetsya ot 225 800 do 252 000 mil' (363 400 do 405 500 km) ot Zemli, a gravitatsiya Solntsa postoyanno yeye menyayet. Apogey Luny mozhet dostigat' 252 727 mil' (406 725 km), no eto byvayet lish' raz v 5000 let - khotya blizkiye (v predelakh 100 km) znacheniya vstrechayutsya tri raza mezhdu seychas i 2040 godom. Tak chto predskazat', kogda lyudi pob'yut rekord Artemida II, tak zhe nevozmozhno, kak predskazat', kogda Kongress soglasitsya s byudzhetom: nevozmozhno, no zabavno spekulirovat'.\n\nNASA iznachal'no planirovalo Gateway, mini-kosmicheskuyu stantsiyu na pochti pryamolineynoy oreole orbite, kotoraya petlyayet ot 1900 mil' (3000 km) do 43 500 mil' (70 000 km) ot Luny, chto moglo by pozvolit' dostigat' bol'shikh rasstoyaniy. No NASA otmenila Gateway, chtoby sosredotochit'sya na lunnoy baze, gde astronavty smogut dobyvat' vodu, zhit' v chastichnoy gravitatsii i testirovat' marsianskiye tekhnologii. NASA yeshche ne vybrala novuyu orbitu dlya ekipazhey Artemida, chtoby vstrechat'sya s posadochnymi modulyami, no ona budet blizhe k Lune - sluzhebnyy modul' Orion ne mozhet dostich' nizkoy lunnoy orbity (Apollo kruzhal na vysote meneye 70 mil'/110 km) i bezopasno vernut'sya. Itog: astronavty vryad li prevysyat rasstoyaniye Artemida II na bol'shinstve missiy po vysadke na Lunu, no inogda obstoyatel'stva mogut slozhit'sya tak, chto otpravyat ekipazh nemnogo daleye 252 756 mil'. Vernaya stavka - kogda kto-to nakonets otpravitsya na Mars.\n\n92-letniy Fred Heyz, yedinstvennyy zhivushchiy astronavt Apollo 13, podelilsya s Ars, kogda Artemida II vozvrashchalas' na Zemlyu. Yego ne ochen' volnoval rekord - eto byl uteshitel'nyy priz posle prervannoy posadki Apollo 13. «Eto ne bylo bol'shim delom», - skazal Heyz. «Luna prosto byla v samoy dalekoy tochke ot Zemli». On vyrazil udivleniye, chto rekord proderzhalsya tak dolgo, obviniv v etom nestabil'noye gosudarstvennoye finansirovaniye: «Sredniy grazhdanin dumayet, chto u NASA bol'shoy gorshok s zolotom. Oni ne osoznayut, chto nuzhno dobit'sya deneg ot Kongressa». Heyz otmetil, chto Apollo zapuskali kazhdyye dva mesyatsa v nachale, no sokrashcheniye byudzheta rastyanulo sroki. «Mozhno bylo by sdelat' eto bystreye, yesli by programma byla razrabotana i profilansirovana», - skazal on. «V etom net nikakoy magii». On podelilsya vospominaniyami o fotos"yemke na obratnoy storone Luny, nadeyas', chto Artemida II sdelala khoroshiye snimki Yuzhnogo polyusa. On vstretil nekotorykh astronavtov Artemida II - Viktora Glovera, Rida Uayzmena i Kristinu Kokh, - kotorykh pokhvalil za ikh uchastiye v Fond stipediy astronavtov. Sovet Heyza: profilansiruyte programmu, i smozhete poletet'.