If you think NASA is returning to the Moon because “exploration is in our DNA,” then you might be wrong.
This is a narrative that the American government tried to sell before they put a man on the Moon against the Soviets, and they’re selling it again as a new rival has emerged – China.
While NASA officials and industry experts are determined to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2028, they’re worried about being beaten by the Chinese who want to do the same before 2030. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman‘s polished words do inspire at times but his obsession with the idea of outracing China slips out every now and then.
It seems as if America’s “for all humanity” phrase when it comes to the Artemis program doesn’t apply to the Chinese.
“We are absolutely in a race with China to the Moon, and the margin between first and second could be measured in months,” Isaacman had said in March before the Artemis II crewed Moon mission launched.
We are absolutely in a race with China to the Moon, and the margin between first and second could be measured in months.
That is why we will be launching Moon rockets more often, strengthening our partnerships with industry, and executing President Trump’s plan to return… pic.twitter.com/66ZqrpVahI
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) March 13, 2026
During a recent Congressional hearing, Isaacman said that “when you do have a competition, you do not want to lose.” This fear of losing has inspired serious changes in the Artemis Program which will now involve launching Moon missions every 10 months to “build muscle memory.” Issacman also revealed in March that NASA will attempt two Moon landings with astronauts in 2028.
Senator Ted Cruz also shares with Isaacman the fear of losing the space race to China. While speaking with reporters before the Artemis II splashdown on April 11, Cruz, Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said the following per Space.com – “I’ve told President Trump this… I don’t want to wake up one day and look up at the moon and realize the Chinese have beat us there, that we’ve lost to the Chinese communists. I think the blow to America from that would make Sputnik look mild.”
NASA is currently staring at a steep budget cut as the Trump administration has proposed slashing 23% of the total for fiscal year 2027 – which includes a 47% reduction of the agency’s science funding.
Despite serious pushback from scientists and experts, Isaacman has surprisingly backed the proposal.
During U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on April 22, Isaacman justified his stance saying – “American exceptionalism is being challenged in the high ground of space. To win, we cannot establish programs that are designed to be too big to fail but at the same time too costly to succeed. Nor should it be throwing more money at the problem, but rather fixing the problems and concentrating resources on the mission and delivering outcomes.”
All things considered, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson words should be considered seriously when he says NASA is returning to the Moon after 50 years because there’s a new rival around the corner. In multiple interviews and episodes on his Startalk YouTube channel, he has pointed out how NASA scrapped the Apollo program after Apollo 17, shelving flight ready parts of the Saturn V rocket and Moon landers, when it realised the Soviet Union wasn’t chasing after them anymore.
Tyson believes that America wants to reclaim space under geopolitical pressure, it’s not curiosity or the explorer gene. Same goes with Mars. Trump wants to put American boots on Mars and this also, Tyson says, won’t happen without geopolitical pressure.
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