Editor’s Note, April 1, 5:00 pm ET: The interview in this piece was conducted when NASA first revealed the crew for Artemis II in 2023. With the launch now taking place, Vox is republishing the piece. The crew taking part in the Artemis II launch includes two historic firsts: the first woman, Christina Koch, and the first person of color, Victor Glover, to go on a lunar mission. Hailed by NASA spokespeople as “pioneers” and “explorers,” they have been greeted with fanfare befitting “humanity’s crew.” But behind the Artemis II program are much more corporate goals. It’s not just that private industry helped build the program’s spacecraft. Space mining companies competing for government contracts want to turn the moon into a cosmic gas station. The vision is to mine the lunar surface for rocket fuel that can then propel us all the way to Mars — and beyond, as humanity takes its self-appointed place in the stars. Mary-Jane Rubenstein told me that vision makes her want to throw up.…