On June 20th, 1969, the United States’ Apollo 11 famously became the first spacecraft to land on the moon. This was a culmination of a short-term space race and the much bigger Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Despite having proven its industrial prowess more than half a century ago, the U.S decided to fund another space exploration—more specifically, around the moon on April 1, 2026. During this trip, however, the objective wasn’t to showcase innovation in competition with warring countries.
The four astronauts— Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen— set aboard Artemis 11 (Apollo 11’s sister program) in an effort to improve future methods of expedition. The crew has put the spacecraft through a series of tests to evaluate things like human health studies, power and navigation systems, and lunar surface observations. The information gathered through these studies will inform operations on future space missions.
In alignment with President Trump’s National Space Policy and the goal of furthering American leadership in outer space, a key NASA priority is the creation of a Moon Base. In fact, Jared Isaacman announced a $30 billion plan to establish a long-term human presence on the lunar pole by 2036. “This time the goal is not flags and footprints. This time the goal is to stay” he said.
Establishing a moon settlement could go beyond simply expanding living space for humans. The isotope Helium-3, for example, has potential as a clean, high-efficiency fuel for nuclear fusion reactors, producing no dangerous radioactive waste. Found in high concentrations in lunar soil via solar wind, it is considered a major target for future space mining, and a significant incentive for establishing lunar mining communities.
The efforts to learn more about space are ongoing, and more news is sure to come regarding the discoveries and data from the Artemis II crew.
