President Donald Trump’s NASA is launching a rocket to the moon this week, but that isn’t likely to distract Americans from his failures. “The i Paper’s” Jonathan Singh explained in a Tuesday column that Trump has desperately wanted to go back to the moon under his presidency, thinking that it would somehow boost “economic activity in the American heartlands.” He thinks it will rally his supporters around the country and, by association, him as well. Meanwhile, the mission will make billions for Elon Musk.’The symbolism of giant rockets blasting square-jawed astronauts into the heavens, accompanied by cheering, flag-waving crowds, fits with Trump’s brand as a strongman who gets big projects done,” said Singh. It comes at a time when the U.S. is going up against China in a second space race. Gabriel Elefteriu, senior research fellow in space power at the Council on Geostrategy explained to “The i Paper” that China understands “space power is now increasingly entwined with the other forms of power on Earth.”But, unlike in the 1960s, astronauts will stay on the moon and make money. “The big difference is that back in the Cold War, space exploration and space activity was a government activity, and now it’s really the government acting as the anchor customer, but really with a major commercial input in terms of the main technologies,” Elefteriu explained further. It all comes at a time that Musk says he wants to take SpaceX “public.” The report called it “the biggest stock market flotation of all time.”Both Musk and China have a goal to have a permanent moon base before the other as they start searching for rare earth minerals necessary to build technology. Musk said on his platform X in February: “For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.“He thinks that they can build a moon base in five to seven years. It all comes as Trump goes to war against Iran, spending an estimated $1 billion per day. So, a moon base may seem like a further waste of money. Dr. Carly Beckerman, an associate professor of international relations, told “The i Paper” that “Space power is crucial to the U.S. because it underpins its military might, but the current Artemis mission is being entirely overshadowed by the war with Iran.”She explained, “The Artemis missions could have been an incredibly important messaging tool for the Trump administration, a way to harken back to a golden age in American politics and channel some anger-based politics into a feeling of agency for the future that might have at least helped to buttress the Republican Party through several election cycles.”But pitting it as a distraction from Iran is another matter. All of it comes at a time that MAGA supporters are furious about another “forever war,” which Trump explicitly promised would never happen. Beckerman said that it has made the Artemis missions lose “their sparkle.”
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