The problem, of course, is that budgets need congressional approval -- and there's no guarantee the budget will go through Congress unaltered. A House subcommittee recently put forward a bill that would push the Moon landing to 2028 and shift the focus to a Mars orbital mission in 2033. And it wouldn't be surprising to see politicians contend that those billions should go toward addressing lingering problems here on Earth rather than space missions with limited initial utility.

Should the budget go through, however, it would represent a considerably deeper commitment to Artemis than in the past. While some of the pieces are already falling into place, this would clearly make room for much more.