By KIM BELLARD

If all goes well, in the next couple of days NASA will be sending astronauts on their way to the moon, for the first time since – gulp – 1972. They’re not landing, mind you, they’re just doing a fly around, something Apollo 8 first did way back in 1968. Given the advances in microchips, computing power, AI, a robust private space industry, and Elon’s grand plans to inhabit Mars, it doesn’t really sound all that ambitious, hardly a “moonshot” in the sense that we’ve come to use that term, but I guess we should be glad that NASA hasn’t entirely conceded space to the billionaires.

The Artemis II mission will send four astronauts – including, if you are counting (and many are), the first person of color, the first woman, and the first Canadian to reach the moon — on a ten day, 230,000 mile trip that won’t actually orbit the moon but just loop around it, not getting closer than a few thousand miles. “Things are certainly starting to feel real,” Christina Koch, one of the four, said during a news conference Sunday morning.

Last week NASA unveiled its “Ignition” strategy that Artemis II is part of. It includes not just the fly-by, but also a follow-up mission in 2027, a manned landing in 2028, and a permanent moon base in the 2030’s, committing $20b over the next seven years to accomplish the latter. “NASA is committed to achieving the near‑impossible once again, to return to the Moon before the end of President Trump’s term, build a Moon base, establish an enduring presence, and do the other things needed to ensure American leadership in space,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.

He added: “Today, we are providing a demand for frequent crewed missions well beyond (previously announced moon landings in 2028). We intend to work with no fewer than two launch providers with the aim of crewed landings every six months, with additional opportunities for new entrants in the years ahead. America will never again give up the moon.”

I knew Elon and Jeff were going to get something from all this.