🚀 Axios PM: New NASA Moonshot

♻️ Plus: "Plogging" walks | Wednesday, April 01, 2026

View in browser   PRESENTED BY AMAZON   Axios PM By Mike Allen · Apr 01, 2026 ✡️ Chag Sameach to all those celebrating Passover tonight. Today's newsletter, edited by Alex Fitzpatrick, is 697 words, a 2½-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing. 📺 Situational awareness: President Trump plans to address the nation on Iran at 9 p.m. ET. Watch live. The U.S. and Iran are discussing a ceasefire in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Barak Ravid reports. Go deeper. Axios' Marc Caputo adds: Trump wants a de-fanged and non-threatening Iran. This speech will indicate how he hopes to get there.     1 big thing: Back to the Moon   Artemis II sits on pad 39B at Florida's Kennedy Space Center yesterday. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Just a few hours remain in the countdown for Artemis II, NASA's mission to return astronauts to lunar orbit for the first time since the Apollo era, Alex Fitzpatrick writes. The agency's new Moon hopes and dreams are sitting on pad 39B at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, in the form of a 322-foot-tall rocket set to launch four astronauts on a 10-day flyby of Earth's nearest celestial companion. 👨🏿‍🚀 The mission — a "dress rehearsal" for a lunar landing, like Apollo 8 and 10, decades ago — will set several space milestones. NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch will become the first person of color and woman, respectively, to travel beyond low Earth orbit. Canada's Jeremy Hansen will become the first non-American to voyage beyond that mark. Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images ⏱️ The two-hour launch window opens at 6:24 p.m. ET. If needed, the next window opens tomorrow at 7:22 p.m. ET. 🔧 The Artemis II "stack" — that's the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket plus the Orion spacecraft — had to be rolled back into its hangar in late February to fix technical issues. The SLS is a NASA-led Boeing/Northrop Grumman/United Launch Alliance/Aerojet Rocketdyne endeavor. Orion is a Lockheed Martin/Airbus Defense and Space effort. Graphic: NASA 🌖 NASA once planned a Moon landing with Artemis III, but recently rejiggered its schedule. Artemis III will now involve testing one or both of SpaceX and Blue Origin's lunar lander vehicles in low Earth orbit. A Moon landing is targeted for Artemis IV in 2028. 🏗️ NASA eventually hopes to return to the Moon annually, if not more often, with the ambitious goal of building a lunar base. But first: A quick visit to check out the cosmic neighborhood before getting into the real estate market. Go deeper ... Watch live.     2. 📺 Dimon on Trump, Iran and running for office   Photo: Christopher Gill for Axios JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon defended the Iran war, dismissed the idea of running for office and pointed at plans for his post-CEO future in a new episode of "The Axios Show." 🏦 The head of the country's biggest bank was reluctant to criticize President Trump across several issues. On the Iran war, Dimon dismissed the criticism that there was no imminent threat facing the U.S. He told Axios CEO Jim VandeHei: "They've been killing people around the world for 45-plus years. They've killed a lot of Americans. They've funded Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis ... they have terrorist cells here." 🙅 Asked for his single biggest disappointment about Trump, Dimon said: "I don't want to say here." He did indicate he's considered some Trump moves heavy-handed: "I just think sometimes he raises some wonderful issues — things that universities should have been doing a better job at. But I'm not in favor of taking away all their R&D." Go deeper ... Subscribe on YouTube.     A MESSAGE FROM AMAZON Amazon publishes new report on safety performance     Amazon has invested more than $2.5 billion in safety efforts since 2019. Here's why: When it comes to safety, there is no such thing as "good enough." That's why Amazon is constantly looking for new ways to improve employee safety. Read the full report.     3. ⚡️ Catch me up   President Trump's limousine leaves the Supreme Court earlier today. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images 🧑‍⚖️ President Trump attended Supreme Court oral arguments today over his executive order restricting birthright citizenship — the first time a sitting president has done so. Go deeper. 🚀 SpaceX has confidentially filed to go public, Axios' Dan Primack reports. It could be the biggest IPO ever, with the company looking to raise around $75 billion at a $1.75 trillion valuation. Go deeper. 🍎 It's Apple's 50th birthday, marking Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak signing partnership documents on April Fool's Day 1976. CEO Tim Cook, posting on X: "Thank you to our teams, our users, and everyone who's been part of the journey." Highlight reel.     4. 🚶Now trending: "Plogging" walks   Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios You've heard of jogging. You've heard of picking up litter. Combine the two and you get "plogging," Axios Kansas City's Travis Meier reports. 🇸🇪 The term comes from the Swedish phrase "plocka upp," meaning "to pick up." That got combined with the word "jogging" for a fun portmanteau. Let's go plogging ... Get Axios Local.     A MESSAGE FROM AMAZON Assistive technologies help Amazon employees do their jobs safely     Amazon uses assistive technologies in our warehouses to make jobs safer for our employees by handling repetitive, heavy-lifting tasks. An example: Technologies like Robin and Cardinal sort, lift, and place packages, while Sequoia brings inventory directly to employees. Find out more.   📬 Thanks for reading! Please invite your friends to join PM. 👆 Like this comms style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Bring it to your org — via hands-on training or internal comms software — to harness its power and impact.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Advertise with us. Axios, PO Box 101060, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: