Even though I am generally interested in science and technology, I have found it impossible to get excited about Artemis II.
I'm not quite sure. Maybe it's because America isn't exactly my favourite country these days because ... well, you know why. Or maybe it's because, contrary to what I'd always assumed, these things are a lot more jingoistic than I thought. It's not "Mankind is going to the moon", it's "America is beating China to the moon".
Yup.
Related:
I never see any of the "I'm just excited about space progress and science!" crowd celebrating any of the Chinese space flight accomplishments.
They were silent when China landed a robot on the moon a few years ago. Silent when China landed a rover on Mars. Silent about the Chinese space station that's orbiting the planet. Silent about China's crewed mission to Mars that is on schedule to depart on 2033.
When they talk about space and science and exploration being "humanity's accomplishments," it's pretty clear who they're viewing as humanity. There's an era of cold war nationalism that feels yucky.
Here I would draw a distinction between those of us working on planetary & space science and the contingent you describe.
Since the professional communities worldwide all work with one another - even across the firewall (as my teachers worked with their Soviet counterparts across the curtain).
And I assume you meant to write "China's crewed mission to the Moon" there, which is what is planned for that time subject to the heavy Long March tests working.
No, I meant Mars. As recently as 2021, China said that 2033 is the planned date for the crewed Mars mission.
Unless that has changed since then?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/24/china-plans-for-first-manned-mission-to-mars-in-2033
And unlike Elon, China has hit most of their planned space exploration dates.
Current CMSA human spaceflight plans beyond Earth orbit are only for lunar missions in 2030-2035; with the timing depending on the outcomes of tests of the Long March 10 launch vehicle, the Mengzhou crew module, and the Lanyue lunar lander.
The next test in the series is the first orbital Long March 10 and Mengzhou launch, scheduled for late this year: https://spacenews.com/china-targets-2026-for-first-long-march-10-launch-new-lunar-crew-spacecraft-flight/
China targets 2026 for first Long March 10 launch, new lunar crew spacecraft flight China aims to conduct the first launch of its Long March 10 rocket and a lunar-capable crew spacecraft next year, according to a top official.
CNSA robotic Mars mission plans currently include only Tianwen-3, which plans to do a simpler but easier version of Mars sample return than NASA has attempted.
Launch of Tianwen-3 is 2030 *, which would have sample return to Earth no earlier than 2033: https://spacenews.com/china-targets-2030-for-mars-sample-return-mission-potential-landing-areas-revealed/
(Thanks go to @AndrewJonesSpace for his reporting, because I cannot read mission announcements in Chinese myself.)
* Addendum: Tianwen-2 may still make the 2028 launch window.
China targets 2030 for Mars sample return mission, potential landing areas revealed China is making progress towards a 2030 launch for its Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission and has narrowed down potential landing areas.
@michael_w_busch @davidnjoku @AndrewJonesSpace
@AndrewJonesSpace Did China de-commit from Mars in 2033? I see that they stated the planned Mars mission, then also announced lunar missions, but I didn't see where they de-committed or delayed the 2033 crewed Mars mission.
@mekkaokereke @michael_w_busch @davidnjoku China never committed to 2033 for humans to Mars. There was a presentation at a conference in which a CALT official updated space transportation plans, including distant notion of a mars base. He also assessed the best Mars launch windows, indicating that 2033 would be favourable in terms of efficiently launching payload mass. Reuters interpreted this as "China to send humans to Mars in 2033" when it was never, ever the case.
Tianwen-3, the Mars sample return mission, is currently scheduled for late 2028. Astronauts on the Moon before 2030, plans for a robotic moon base in the 2030s. Anything else is speculative.
@mekkaokereke @davidnjoku @AndrewJonesSpace
This is more a matter of an aspirational statement from one program manager not being an actual mission commitment in the first place.
A human Mars mission would require an extended period of building & testing crew and landing spacecraft that no one now knows how to make.
The PRC space program is not doing that yet and was not in 2021 (it was then some years into developing Mengzhou and Lanyue for lunar missions).
David Njoku
mekka okereke 
Michael Busch
Andrew Jones (AJ_FI)