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Some unique aspects to the Artemis Project make this project significantly different from what we, the body of space activism, have done before.
For one, the Artemis Project is designed to be a profit-making enterprise from the first launch. For two decades we've tried wheedling the government to do it, and we've tried the begging approach. That didn't work. But we've never really tried to use the economic power of the entertainment industry and do it as show business. (Show business is what space travel means to Joe Sixpack; and Joe is our main audience.) We've even flirted with the megaprofits-in-the-long-run approach, but business isn't set up for that kind of long run.
The other difference is that we can pump current spacecraft design experience into the project. Space enthusiasts often leap into designing spaceships only to be daunted by the detailed design work. The Artemis Project works because nearly all parts of the spacecraft are space-proven, off-the-shelf components.
And finally, we have people with experience in both the commercial aerospace industry and the way the government does it. Without experience in both arenas, people just don't realize that spacecraft don't need to be as expensive as they are today. All the cost models are based on the historical costs of space programs instead of looking at how much of that money is spent on maintaining the fixed assets and infrastructure inherent in a government operation.
Incidentally, lots of times folks have suggested to me we should all get together behind one space project, but I disagree. The Artemis Project fills in a niche between the Space Access Society and Return to the Moon's lunar prospectors, and the Mars and space colonies enthusiasts. (These are all projects I enthusiastically support.) I don't see any gain in spending another two decades trying to get organized when we're actually doing great the way we are.
Which brings us to the most significant difference between the Artemis Project and other space activism projects: We're actually doing it, instead of just talking about it!
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