The U.S. Artemis mission, which will send four astronauts to the Moon, comes at a politically turbulent time and could offer Trump's administration a boost by providing a rare moment of national unity. Beyond its symbolic value, the mission is part of a broader competition with China over space dominance and access to potentially vast lunar resources, including helium-3, water ice and rare earth minerals.

Former NASA administrator and University Professor Emeritus Sean O'Keefe says the nations that land on the Moon will have the advantage of exploring and developing the resources that are there.

“After all these years of thinking it was nothing more than a dust bowl, we have come to realise it has a significant amount of helium 3,” he says, adding that the element can be potentially used to operate small, compact nuclear fusion reactors with relatively long lifespans. “That opens up all sorts of other opportunities.”

Read more in the BBC News article, “Trump sees 'America First' opportunity in Nasa mission to Moon.”