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Artemis II launch races China for moon base and Helium-3

Sunday, April 5, 2026 · from 3 podcasts
No Agenda ShowThe Intelligence from The…The Daily
  • NASA's new moon race aims for a permanent base by 2030 to preempt Chinese claims and control strategic resources.
  • The mission is a geopolitical hedge, with monthly launches planned to secure cislunar space as a national security asset.
  • Artemis II tests life support for a crewed landing, but future landings depend on SpaceX and Blue Origin hardware.

NASA’s Artemis II launch is less about scientific discovery and more about planting a flag before China can. The mission, the first to send humans near the moon in over 50 years, is a stress test for the Orion capsule's life support systems - a necessary step toward a permanent lunar base. As *The Daily*’s Ken Chang put it, the astronauts' primary goal is survival, ensuring the machinery works 250,000 miles from home.

The urgency is driven by Beijing’s deadline. As noted on the *No Agenda Show*, Dean Chang of the Potomac Institute predicts China aims to have "Chinese boots" on the lunar surface by December 31, 2030. In response, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has signaled a shift to a monthly launch cadence to establish infrastructure and repeatable missions.

This base is framed as a strategic asset. On *The Intelligence*, Oliver Morton argued the mission is a "hedge against the loss of prestige" of not being on the moon when China arrives. The U.S. seeks to control cislunar space - the volume between Earth and the Moon - which is now considered vital for observation and communication superiority.

The long-term prize is resources, particularly Helium-3. This isotope, rare on Earth but prevalent on the lunar surface, is critical for future fusion reactors and quantum computing and is valued at roughly $3 million per pound. Establishing a base also claims the far side of the moon, an ideal location for a radio telescope free from Earth's electronic noise.

Artemis II represents the end of an era. It is the last major deep-space spacecraft designed and operated solely by NASA. Future landings, beginning with Artemis III, will rely on commercial partners like SpaceX and Blue Origin for the landers, transitioning the agency from manufacturer to primary customer.

The new space race is measured in months. Success means setting the rules for off-world commerce and securing a permanent foothold on the high ground.

Jared Isaacman, No Agenda Show:

- We're in a new space race for the moon base.

- You're going to start seeing launches to the moon almost on a monthly cadence.

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By the Numbers

  • C-246Bill Numberlegislation
  • C-220Bill Numberlegislation
  • C-243Bill Numberlegislation
  • C-242Bill Numberlegislation
  • 1856Episode Numbermetric
  • April 2nd, 2026Episode Datemetric

Entities Mentioned

AnthropicCompany
Artemis IIProduct
Blue OriginCompany
Claude CodeProduct
CoracleProduct
Daily MailCompany
DARPAinstitution
Fox NewsCompany
GPT-5model
NASACompany
NATOCompany
NvidiaCompany
OllamaTool
OpenAItrending
PentagonCompany
Raspberry PiProduct
SpaceXCompany

Source Intelligence

What each podcast actually said

No Agenda Show
No Agenda Show

Adam Curry

1856 - "CIS Lunar" • Apr 2

  • NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated a new space race for a moon base is underway, projecting monthly uncrewed launches and annual crewed missions.
  • NASA's lunar strategy involves SpaceX and Blue Origin as 'moon partners' for landers, incorporating on-orbit assembly and cryogenic prop transfer.
  • Astronauts on the Artemis II mission encountered a Microsoft Outlook crash, requiring remote assistance from Mission Control.
  • Jared Isaacman highlighted the moon base project's role in national security, sending a message of U.S. capability to geopolitical rivals.
  • The CBC reported the Artemis 2 mission cost an estimated $93 billion, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman criticized its slow pace.
  • Dean Chang of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies predicted China aims to have 'Chinese boots' on the lunar surface by December 31st, 2030.
  • President Trump's national space policy calls for American superiority in the 'high ground of space,' including cislunar space.
  • France 24 reported President Trump was considering pulling the U.S. out of NATO due to perceived lack of allied support in the Iran conflict.
  • Mark Ritter stated 22 countries, including NATO members and Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, and Bahrain, formed a coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Rubio questioned NATO's value if allies like France, Italy, and Spain denied U.S. basing rights and overflight for military operations.

Also from this episode:

Culture (7)
  • The No Agenda Show episode 1856 aired on Thursday, April 2nd, 2026.
  • Adam Curry characterized John C. DeVora's 'To the moon, Alice!' reference from The Honeymooners as misogynistic and suppressed.
  • Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau faced calls for resignation after delivering an English-only condolence message for a plane crash that killed a francophone pilot.
  • The Canadian TikTok user reported significant rises in violent crime and theft, a collapsing healthcare system, unaffordable housing, and record food bank usage in Canada.
  • A Fox News psychiatrist suggested 'No Kings Day' protests were 'bad group therapy' stemming from a 'grievance culture' focused on hating political figures.
  • Young Turks reported on Lindsey Graham being photographed with a Princess Ariel bubble wand at Disneyland, then attempting to project a 'butch' image by tweeting a skeet shooting photo.
  • Peter Duke, a showrunner, claimed on the Ripple Effect podcast that Steven Spielberg has always worked for the Pentagon and receives 'marching orders' for his film projects.
Science (1)
  • NPR's Nell Greenfield Boyce reported from the Kennedy Space Center on the Artemis II moon mission launch, describing physical sensations from the sound.
Politics (15)
  • John C. DeVora predicted President Trump would withdraw from the Iran conflict, expecting France or other allies to police the Strait of Hormuz.
  • President Trump threatened to 'completely obliterate' Iran's civilian infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz remained closed.
  • ABC News reported the U.S. struck an Iranian ammunition storage facility in Isfahan using 2,000-pound bunker-busting bombs.
  • The Pentagon confirmed B-52 bombers were flying deep over Iranian territory, and Secretary Pete Hegseth stated the conflict was entering a 'decisive phase.'
  • President Trump claimed the U.S. would be out of the Iran conflict in 'two weeks, maybe three,' after hitting missile-making facilities and potentially bridges.
  • Trump asserted that preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons was the U.S. goal, which he claimed had been attained, not explicit regime change.
  • A No Agenda producer in the region reported that military outcomes were not as positive as Trump suggested and that Pakistan and China were involved in negotiations.
  • Marco Rubio explained the attack on Iran was necessary to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons and protecting their program with a missile/drone shield.
  • Iran's National Security Committee approved a bill to impose fees on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, claiming it was for 'self-defense' checks.
  • A Canadian TikTok user living in the U.S. criticized Canada for voting down four public safety bills (C-246, C-220, C-243, C-242) concerning sexual predators and repeat offenders.
  • The NDP (National Democratic Party of Canada) convention featured attendees using 'equity cards' (e.g., yellow, red) for speaking priority based on identity.
  • TMZ reported leaked photos allegedly showing Brian Gnome, husband of Christy Gnome, involved in a 'bimbofication fetish scene,' raising blackmail concerns from a former CIA officer.
  • Secretary Pete Hegseth lifted the suspension of four U.S. Army Apache helicopter crew members who performed a low-level flyby over Kid Rock's house.
  • A federal court issued a 'stop work order' on President Trump's White House ballroom project, ruling he is a 'steward' not an 'owner,' requiring Congressional approval.
  • Matt Gaetz claimed a uniformed U.S. Army member briefed him on 'hybrid breeding programs' where captured aliens breed with humans for intergalactic communication.
Business (3)
  • Dr. Oz and the HHS Secretary announced a new initiative to align hospital food purchases with dietary guidelines for continued Medicaid and Medicare eligibility.
  • CBS News reported a new court filing in the Charlie Kirk assassination case claims the recovered bullet does not match the gun identified by investigators.
  • Oracle is laying off thousands of global employees, with some teams in India seeing up to 30% cuts, as it doubles down on AI infrastructure investments.
AI & Tech (6)
  • Anthropic, a $380 billion startup, accidentally leaked Claude Code's entire source code via an NPM release, revealing features like 'Buddy' and 'Kairos.'
  • John C. DeVora stated the Anthropic leak was exaggerated and less important than a 'massive hack' at Merkur, an AI training company whose data was released.
  • Adam Curry cancelled his 11 Labs subscription after successfully running a voice model locally on a Raspberry Pi with an old NVIDIA GPU.
  • Global News reported on a 'propaganda war' between the White House and Iran using memes and deepfake videos, blurring lines between real and fake and achieving billions of views.
  • Steve Pchenik previously told Adam Curry that DARPA experimented with early online social networks to manipulate public opinion using multiple actors.
  • Adam Curry believes 70% of social media commenters are bots, identifiable by patterns like 'no followers' and 'numbers in the name' from old accounts.
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The Intelligence from The Economist
The Intelligence from The Economist

Over the moon: Artemis II launches • Apr 2

  • The Artemis 2 mission was the first crewed launch of NASA's Space Launch System rocket.
  • Artemis 2 marks the first human spaceflight mission beyond low Earth orbit in over 50 years.
  • Oliver Morton says the mission's trajectory involves a high Earth orbit before a figure-eight loop around the Moon.
  • The Artemis 2 crew will splash down near San Diego around mission day 10.
  • Oliver Morton states the Artemis 2 mission's primary purpose is to enable the crewed lunar landing of Artemis 3.
  • The goal of landing humans on the Moon was reset for NASA by President Trump in 2017.
  • Morton argues NASA has been lacklustre and hobbled by congressional equipment mandates, causing years of delays.
  • NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman aims to establish a permanent Moon base analogous to Antarctic research stations.
  • Morton states the Apollo missions were a superpower flex with no sustained rationale after the initial achievement.
  • NASA's renewed lunar urgency is partly a response to China's structured moon program and its 2030 crewed landing goal.
  • Gabriel Crossley says Chinese officials face pressure from public complaints and Xi Jinping's anti-laziness campaigns.
  • Officials like Wu Shaoyu are using social media to publicly demonstrate their diligence to hundreds of thousands of followers.
  • Content from 'influencer officials' ranges from village visits and traffic control to fitness stunts with local produce.
  • Official Lin Yang Duo gained half a million followers by posting videos like squashing persimmons with his biceps.
  • A study showed social-media-famous officials are more likely to receive promotions and state investment.
  • The trend carries risks, including extreme stunts that led to at least one official's death and criticism within the party.

Also from this episode:

AI & Tech (8)
  • Dina Moussa says AI models can give dangerously different medical advice in English versus other languages.
  • Moussa cites a scenario where an AI warns of preeclampsia in English but gives a dismissive answer in Swahili.
  • The Gates Foundation and OpenAI announced a $50 million plan to deploy AI tools in African primary health clinics.
  • AI models perform worse in non-English languages due to training data imbalance and inefficient tokenization.
  • A study found top frontier models scored 12 to 20 percentage points lower in 11 African languages versus English.
  • In the worst cases, model accuracy dropped from 75% in English to 23% in other languages.
  • Progress on multilingual accuracy has stalled, with GPT-5.2 performing roughly on par with models from eight months prior.
  • Even multilingual models like Meta's LLaMA retrieve answers internally in English and translate, adding error.
SpaceChinaModelsSafety
The Daily
The Daily

Today’s Mission to the Moon • Apr 1

  • The United States is returning to moon missions nearly six decades after its initial human moon landing, with Artemis II marking a significant step in this renewed effort.
  • Artemis II is the first human mission to travel close to the moon in over 53 years, involving four astronauts who will swing around the moon and return to Earth after 10 days without landing.
  • The overarching goal of the Artemis program is to establish a sustained human presence on the moon, contrasting with previous missions that did not aim for long-term stays.
  • Artemis I, an uncrewed mission in 2022, successfully tested the basic machinery of the spacecraft around the moon, paving the way for the crewed Artemis II mission.
  • The primary objective of Artemis II, with its four astronauts, is to rigorously test the life support systems aboard the Orion capsule, which requires human presence to produce waste and carbon dioxide.
  • NASA's future plans for the moon include establishing a permanent base with power plants and habitats, initially serving as a scientific research station similar to those in Antarctica.
  • The moon base could enable the mining of valuable resources, such as helium-3, which is rare on Earth but more prevalent on the moon's surface.
  • A long-term scientific aspiration involves building a large radio telescope on the far side of the moon to listen for signals from the early universe, free from Earth's radio noise.
  • The moon also serves as a crucial testing ground for technologies intended for Mars, including nuclear power plants, habitats, and advanced life support systems.
  • Geopolitical competition, particularly with China, is a significant driver behind the renewed US lunar mission, as being first would grant influence over space commerce rules and resource control.
  • The Artemis II crew consists of Commander Reid Wiseman (US Navy), Victor Glover (first Black man to go to the moon), Christina Koch (holds record for longest single spaceflight by a woman), and Jeremy Hansen (first non-American in deep space).
  • The Orion spacecraft will make two looping orbits around Earth after launch to conduct comprehensive system checks before firing engines for the four-day journey to the moon.
  • During the Artemis II mission, the astronauts will lose radio communication with Earth for approximately 40 minutes as they pass behind the moon, observing parts of the lunar far side never before seen by human eyes in daylight.
  • Artemis II is considered an 'old-school NASA' production, with the agency designing and operating the spacecraft, but future missions like Artemis III will integrate private companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin for lunar landers.
  • The Apollo 8 mission in 1968, the equivalent of Artemis II, orbited the moon during a turbulent period in US history, with its astronauts reading from Genesis on Christmas Eve, providing a moment of hope and calm.

Also from this episode:

Science (1)
  • Helium-3 is considered valuable for future fusion reactors and quantum computers, with an estimated cost of approximately $3 million per pound on Earth.
Politics (1)
  • A federal judge ordered former President Trump to halt construction of a ballroom at the White House until Congress approves the project.
Business (2)
  • The average price of gasoline in the United States surpassed $4 per gallon for the first time since the start of the war in Iran.
  • A gas station manager in Jacksonville, Florida, raised prices to $4.29 per gallon, reflecting an increase of over 50% since the war began, with prices expected to remain high until oil flows freely through the Strait of Hormuz.
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