In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Florida saw the launch of a project that already feels out of its time. Sitting on the cutting edge of obsolescence, the large orange vehicle took flight on a mission that its supporters believe will make America great again.
Also, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Florida saw the launch of Artemis-1, the large orange rocket that marks the start of NASA’s return to the Moon.
The former event was, of course, Donald Trump’s long-heralded announcement from Mar-a-Lago that he’s seeking the Republican nomination for 2024. Yet, of the two, it’s Artemis that stands the greater chance of success. The world’s largest rocket might be competing against Elon Musk’s Starship, which leverages dexterity and reusability against Artemis’s hugely expensive one-shot approach, but some of the technology is repurposed from the Space Shuttle. In this case, what came before is a useful foundation for the next leap forward.
The opposite is true of Trump’s re-election campaign, which already feels like we’re going to experience a journey to the dark side of the moon. Ivanka Trump’s statement about prioritising her family over politics feels like a useful bellwether. If Trump’s loyal daughter isn’t up for the two-year round trip, what hope does he have of carrying the country?
