Artemis I: A Hugo Contender?

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NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022.

By Mark Roth-Whitworth: I expect a lot of File 770’s readers watched, as we did, as the Orion capsule returned to Terra. I’m older than some of you, and it’s been decades since I watched a capsule re-entry and landing in the ocean. What had me in tears is that finally, after fifty years, we’re planning to go back… and stay. This time, it’s not a stupid race, but, oh, ok, I’ll say it, the final frontier, and we’re going where no one has gone before.

Hugo nominations are coming, soon enough. Mike reminded me that the Apollo 11 news coverage won the Hugo for “Best Dramatic Presentation”. This capsule wasn’t crewed — that’ll be the next. But if the Artemis I mission doesn’t beat anything else this year deserving of the Best Related Work Hugo, nothing does.

I plan to nominate it. Join me?

NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:40 p.m. EST, Dec. 11, 2022, after a 25.5 day mission to the Moon.

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6 thoughts on “Artemis I: A Hugo Contender?”

  2. Thanks for clarifying this. So non-fiction news coverage can get best related work. I will also nominate the James Webb Telescope.

  3. I am going to disagree with Mark Roth-Whitworth and Paul Weimer. Rule 3.3.7 of the constitution of the World Science Fiction Society reads as follows:

    “3.3.7: Best Related Work. Any work RELATED TO THE FIELDS OF SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY OR FANDOM, appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year or which has been substantially modified during the previous calendar year, and which is either non-fiction or, if fictional, is noteworthy primarily for aspects other than the fictional text, and which is not eligible in any other category (emphasis added).”

    To me, there is a big difference between Science Fact and the fields of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Unless you are an individual who believes that the moon landing was a hoax or that the James Webb telescope photos are phony, I would submit that neither Artemis, nor the James Webb telescope, are related to the fields of science fiction, fantasy or fandom, and therefore qualify. Just because things occur in space in real life does not make them science fiction.

    And, yes, I also believe that it was a mistake to award the moon landing coverage a Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo.

    While it is just my opinion, I also feel that, in recent years, there has been a move, purposeful or otherwise, to devalue the Best Related Work Hugo. Well researched scholarly works are being ignored in favor of internet rants and speeches.

  4. The BRH has become a grab bag of things. I don’t think that is going to go back into the bottle anytime soon.

  6. Thought it was the specific news coverage that won the Hugo? (Not the Apollo 11 mission itself.) Wasn’t Arthur C. Clarke involved? So not sure if Artemis mission itself appropriate for award as it is not in itself a dramatic presentation…..?

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