Schools
Local school has special interest in moon flight
The sister of a Lakewood Ranch High School staff member was on the Artemis recovery mission
Paul Jordan – Mustangs Ahead
(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL) - The Artemis II mission, which sent humans further into space than ever before, successfully landed back onto Earth on April 10, 2026, and there is a Lakewood Ranch High School (LRHS) connection.
LRHS Front Desk Attendance Clerk Andrea Watkins's sister Lt. Amy Keller was serving on the Navy ship that retrieved the astronauts on the Artemis mission.
Find out what's happening in Bradentonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“I didn’t realize that’s what she was doing,” Watkins said. “It was a surprise.
“I knew she was training at NASA, but I didn’t know that’s what she was doing,” she added.
Find out what's happening in Bradentonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
On April 1, 2026, the Artemis II’s 10-day mission to go to the dark side of the moon started when they took off from Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 P.M.
The figure-8 path that the crew took was designed to maximize safety and minimize the fuel used in the mission. This allowed the crew to go farther than ever before and get pictures of the other side of the moon.
Stay updated on more LRHS news by following us on Facebook, Instagram @mustangs_ahead, YouTube or follow the Mustangs Ahead Podcast on Spotify
Although this is a significant moment in human history, this is only the beginning of the Artemis Missions.
Artemis III is scheduled to test commercial docking systems before landing on the moon surface with companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin.
Artemis IV is going to be the first crewed moon landing on the South Pole of the moon.
Artemis V is going to focus on constructing a permanent based on the Moon for testing and to act as a point in space to go even farther to places like Mars in the far future.
