When people first saw news about humans reaching the moon, it was a feeling that we today can't even fully understand. It was the unimaginable becoming true, the thing from science fiction. It was a great display of what our science and technology were capable of. People were in awe, shocked, in disbelief, all at the same time, for a long time.

Now, the empire is so decadent, that the only thing they can try is a remake of the same feat. They think they can choose how history will be written, but future historians will very likely describe this as a desperate move from a crumbling power.