Over the moon excitement

It's a big day at NASA as astronauts are preparing to lift off for a slingshot around the moon. Bloomberg News space reporters Sana Pashankar and Loren Grush give us a look at what the excitement is like today in Florida. Plus: The Iran war has this Asian country struggling with fuel rationing (free link), and antisemitic violence has sparked $765 million in security spending in the US.

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All systems seem go-for-launch. At NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the muggy Florida air buzzes with anticipation as journalists, NASA employees and industry executives prepare for the launch of Artemis II, NASA's return to the moon for the first time in over half a century. 

The 10-day mission, which will carry astronauts around the moon without landing, is slated to take off as early as 6:24 p.m. local time. It's the latest leg of a high-stakes race with China, key to NASA's ambitious plans for a moon base, and an opportunity for legacy contractors like Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin to demonstrate a rocket years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. A lot is on the line. 

Leading up to Wednesday, it seemed as if the stars had finally aligned for the long-delayed mission. A growing crowd of journalists from around the country, and the globe, spent hours at the press center typing away on their laptops, attending daily briefings and dashing out to interview executives from the space agency and industry. TV outlets set up white tents on the lawn to capture the perfect frame of the giant Space Launch System rocket. Astronauts in blue flight suits stood chatting around a countdown clock and a simulator of the control systems of the Orion spacecraft.

Photographer: Gregg Newton /AFP/Getty Images

Even Florida natives wanted to get in on the excitement. Tortoises were seen roaming the lawns around the center, and a family of manatees loitered in the waters near the press site. On L-2 (two days until launch), a vibrant rainbow appeared, an eerily good sign from the universe, some speculated. 

Artemis II will set the stage for a planned moon landing in 2028, folding in newer space companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, which are responsible for developing the vehicles that land on the surface. In the weeks before the launch, NASA administrator and fintech billionaire Jared Isaacman announced a slew of changes at the space agency, aimed at shaking up the $93 billion Artemis program and ramping up the pace of future missions to the moon. 

Speculation about what that means for the space program and its stakeholders seemed to weave its way into every conversation this week. But on Wednesday morning, everyone was laser-focused on the first step, the mission ahead. 

Even though the day seems particularly promising—blue skies with the morning temperature a mild 73F—space is historically unpredictable, and today is April Fools' Day. Anything can happen in the hours before takeoff. We'll be watching. 

Read more: Billions of Dollars and More Than 50 Years Later, NASA Prepares to Return to the Moon

Go inside: NASA's Astronaut Training for a Historic Moon Mission

More space news: SpaceX Is Said to File Confidentially for IPO Ahead of AI Rivals

And subscribe now: The Business of Space newsletter delivers the inside stories of investments beyond Earth, from satellite networks to moon landings.

In Brief

Where Gasoline Is in Short Supply

Photographer: Thomas Cristofoletti for Bloomberg Businessweek

In Myanmar's military-controlled capital, Naypyidaw—an isolated city of more than 800,000 where oversize government compounds are separated by almost-empty highways—drivers stand in line for hours waiting for fuel that many won't get. Each time the queue inches ahead, 36-year-old Phyu Thi wheels her motorbike forward by hand, trying to avoid the worst of the sun as the mercury spikes toward 100F.

For Phyu Thi, who works as a delivery driver, the ordeal has become routine since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US and Israeli airstrikes. With official decrees strictly limiting fuel purchases, she has to repeat it two or three times a week. Today she's already waited two hours and is still in the middle of the snaking line, nowhere near the pumps. "No one wants to queue up here," she says. "It is really time-consuming and making things more difficult for our family."

Myanmar is perhaps the worst place in the world for energy shortages right now. Philip Heijmans, Khine Lin Kyaw and Matthew Campbell see how long the lines can get (🎁). Hint: Some families are spending the night.

A Wellness Premium

Guarding American Jewish Institutions

Source: Courtesy Magen Am

The week before Passover, Bill Ganley delivered a grim presentation to congregants at Beth Israel, a synagogue near the coastal San Diego enclave of La Jolla: How to survive an active shooting. "Where can you HIDE?" read one of his slides. "What weapons can you use to FIGHT?" A young mother raised her hand. "One of my biggest fears is something like this happening," she said, her voice quivering. "Even talking about it is going to make me cry." In the event of an attack, security experts like Ganley advise a sequential protocol of "run, hide, fight." But how could she best protect her children? "Try to scoop them up as quickly as you can and get out," he replied.

Ganley, a retired Irish Catholic police officer who relocated to Southern California from New Hampshire in 2018, works for Secure Community Network, the largest Jewish security nonprofit in North America. He hosts regular workshops like this one at Jewish institutions across San Diego County—synagogues, day schools, museums. Since 2018, when a gunman killed 11 congregants at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, SCN has grown from a handful of employees to 130, its $1.2 million budget swelling to $35 million.

One insider, Brent Crane writes, calls that "the Jewish security tax." See how protecting against antisemitism is driving millions in spending on guards and more.

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