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It's how language works.
We are flying to the moon, not to land on it, but to orbit it. That's still to the moon. We're not flying to the sun, or flying to mars. We're flying to the moon.
5000 miles away from the moon isn't "to the moon" the same way as me living in Paris isn't living in Minnesota.
I really need to stop replying to ignorant people.
Do you understand how far orbits are in general? We have satellites in orbit around earth at varying distances based on what service those satellites provide. Some of those orbits are 22,000 mi above earth, which is a super popular orbit distance.
I would still consider these things as part of earth because it's a physical feature of earth. Same with the moon. In astronomical terms, getting within several thousand miles of a thing, is entering the physical space of that thing.
I'd compare it more to going to the 820 loop around Fort Worth. You're not in Fort Worth, but if you lived in New Mexico and we're going to a small town outside Fort Worth, you might still tell people that you're headed to Fort Worth.
If you went through a Taco Bell drive through, you'd still be "driving to Taco Bell" even though you just drove around the building and never went inside.
Because we're flying to the moon.
Plus from a news standpoint it sells better than to say "around".
Don't get hungup on this, it's just part of the process of eventually landing.
Would you say Voyager didn't go to Jupiter because it didn't land?
No I would say Voyager is doing a Flyby....sorry kind of nerd came out.
I mean, technically speaking, if you didn't go to the place, you didn't visit the place.
That would be like a 6th grade boy saying that he totally got laid because he sat together with Jessica at McDonald's for dinner. Like, just because you got closer than anyone else doesn't mean you went all the way.
I was at the grand canyon. I was at the edge of it and looked down into it. Was I at the grand canyon or not?
I'd say you looked into it, but not visited it.
"I saw the grand canyon"
Mow much of the canyon do you need to explore before it counts?
Anything below the edge, really. Like a 3D map where the level of detail increases since you are inside the area.
It's not actually flying per se, more like a very complicated falling with style.
Cuz they are going to the moon, they just aren't going to go on the moon.
When I say I'm going to a football game, I'll sit at some distance and watch it, not walk on the pitch.
Same thing here.
Doing a flyby is like going to the cinema, sitting outside then going home.
like going to the cinema
You just used "to" in the same way the media did in the process of trying to argue against it.
It's a shuttle run. More literally than usual.
Am I visiting (going to) Yosemite, or driving around it?
Did you visit the grand canyon if you did not go to the bottom but only stood on the rim?
Did you visit the grand canyon if you did not go to the bottom but only stood on the rim?
Yes. Did you visit it if you flew over it on a commercial flight?
Much more similar to a chartered helicopter flight, which are quite popular at the Grand Canyon.
Maybe if that helicopter were flying 18x higher than the International Space Station.
Well now I can't see the canyon, thanks a lot
realizes we all have no oxygen
fucking dies
Well the brochure did state the the helicopter tours and views were "out of this world" so no refunds.
Because some people in this world are mentally normal and use language in mentally normal ways.
The moon is far away. Like really far away. They ISS is hard to get to, and the moon is 1000x farther away. So, just getting far enough to swoop around and come back is an achievement in its own right.
Also, it is part of a series of missions that will culminate in humans walking on the surface of the moon once again.
We are going to the moon. Artemis II is going to bring humans further from earth than any human has ever been, and doing a drive by like this is part of the process of landing on the moon
Further how? I've admittedly not looked anything up but the Apollo missions orbited the moon as well.
Artemis II won't fully orbit it, it slingshots around it.
Which means it will fly higher over the lunar service, and while it's on the far side will be further away from earth than previous missions.
this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2026
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