At Kennedy Space Center, NASA is fitting four veteran Space Shuttle engines onto the rocket that will carry Artemis III aloft — not to the Moon as once envisioned, but into low Earth orbit, where humanity will rehearse the choreography of lunar return before committing to the final act. The mission's redesign reflects a recurring truth in exploration: the destination is rarely as instructive as the journey toward it, and patience with complexity is its own form of courage. In the coming months, three rockets, four astronauts, and two commercial landers will attempt one of the most intricate da