By Paul Merchán
Let’s be honest – most of us wanted to be an astronaut at some point. There are few career choices that literally place you where only a handful of people have ever been. I think I might have written it down under the “what do you want to be when you grow up” section in my school years scrapbook for first, second and third grades.
LEGO did a survey about this a few years back – 86% of kids aged 8-12 are interested in space. Not only that, when asked if they would like to go to outer space or a different planet, nearly two-thirds (68%) of kids from the U.S. and a whopping 95% of kids in China said “yes.”
So when NASA set out to send Artemis II and four astronauts on a 10-day flyby of the Moon in early April this year – the first human mission to deep space in over 50 years – our childhood hearts were once again filled with the romanticism and adventure of what space travel means to us as a human society. We learned a ton of science from this expedition, but I looked at it from my communications vantage point and realized there were also quite a few lessons on how to build positive reputation and engender trust in a brand, even in an ecosystem where artificial intelligence seems to dominate the conversation.
Humans like stories about other humans
For decades, we all became familiar with names like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins – the team that went to the Moon in 1969. In 2026, the Artemis team – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen – became household names because we learned all the little details about them. We got to meet their family and pets waiting back home, learn their philosophies and even caught a glimpse of raw video footage taken while in space – from Wiseman’s iPhone. Media focus was on the personal stories, the human ambition and the fact that this mission included the first woman and first Black astronaut assigned to a lunar mission.
By contrast, whenever we hear about AI, there is ambiguity to it. It all feels kind of like a black hole – abstract, technical, even threatening at times. What NASA and the Artemis mission succeeded at is what brands should focus on as well when it comes to their AI messaging – how do you humans benefit from this? What is the real-world impact? And what stories can you share to bring your message across and make it relatable?
Transparency into the complex
NASA did an excellent job of lifting the curtain so we could see all the inner workings. We learned when there were delays, technical setbacks and milestones. Sometimes we can get so caught up in trying to highlight all the potentials of AI, that we may miss the important lesson on how to shed light on the opacity and potential concerns in the technology. When introducing AI capabilities to the market, brands should learn from this model and communicate limitations, not just capabilities. They should also emphasize how the technology works in the simplest terms, so that all stakeholders can feel like it speaks to them. In both space exploration and AI, credibility comes from clarity.
The importance of symbolism
Humans whisking by the Moon for the first time in decades isn’t just a technical or scientific achievement – it’s a cultural and symbolic one as well. This is pretty much one of the linchpins of the Cold War – whoever was first to space, to the Moon and beyond carried the bragging rights of the planet. There’s nothing capricious about it – there is a real and meaningful attachment to leadership, innovation and making the impossible seem possible.
With AI, we carry the same weight of exploration. It demonstrated incredible innovation, and also the great responsibility that comes with it (or should come with it). Brands should know that every move they make or don’t make on the AI front is a representation of their values. As in space exploration, it’s about managing risk, complexity and public perception for years to come.
Owning the Narrative
What comes after this lunar flyby? NASA has said that the next mission, Artemis III, will test docking in Earth’s orbit in 2027, with the ultimate goal of landing astronauts on the Moon in 2028 via the subsequent Artemis IV mission and establishing a colony there. After that… a remarkable planned crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s.
This framing is important. We know the long-term roadmap – fly by the Moon, land on the Moon, long-term presence on the Moon and then Mars. We know the mission goals and the purpose to advance science, sustainability and international cooperation. NASA and the Artemis missions are taking full control of the story. When it comes to AI narratives, often the story is driven more by media hype and the doomsdayers – are our jobs in danger? What are the ethics considerations and how to stop misinformation? Brands should learn to define their AI purpose and principles early and avoid reacting to external narratives.
Technology – whether in space or back here on Earth – builds trust among people when framed through human outcomes, not specs. In this AI era we’re all participating in – brands aren’t in it to just build products, they’re building long-term adoption and belief systems. If you want to be as successful as NASA’s Artemis mission, make sure you align your innovation with a heightened sense of clarity, confidence and trust.
