WASHINGTON: The Trump administration will direct NASA to land people on the Moon and identify presence on the lunar surface earlier than sending astronauts to the Red Planet and past, US Vice President Mike Pence has said.
Pence made the administration's intentions identified in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, in addition to a speech he gave all the way through the inaugural assembly of the National Space Council -- a newly resurrected government staff aimed at guiding the United States area time table, The Verge reported on Thursday.
"We will return NASA astronauts to the Moon -- not only to leave behind footprints and flags, but to build the foundation, we need to send Americans to Mars and beyond," he instructed reporters on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
Pence made it transparent that area is a countrywide priority, acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot said in a statement after the first assembly of the Council.
"The vice president also announced a call for renewed U.S. leadership in space - with a recommendation to the president that NASA help lead and shape the way forward," Lightfoot said.
"Specifically, NASA has been directed to develop a plan for an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system, returning humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations," Lightfoot added.
The Council said the strategic importance of cis-lunar area -- the region around the Moon -- which will function a proving ground for missions to Mars and past, Lightfoot added.
Pence made the administration's intentions identified in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, in addition to a speech he gave all the way through the inaugural assembly of the National Space Council -- a newly resurrected government staff aimed at guiding the United States area time table, The Verge reported on Thursday.
"We will return NASA astronauts to the Moon -- not only to leave behind footprints and flags, but to build the foundation, we need to send Americans to Mars and beyond," he instructed reporters on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
Pence made it transparent that area is a countrywide priority, acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot said in a statement after the first assembly of the Council.
"The vice president also announced a call for renewed U.S. leadership in space - with a recommendation to the president that NASA help lead and shape the way forward," Lightfoot said.
"Specifically, NASA has been directed to develop a plan for an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system, returning humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations," Lightfoot added.
The Council said the strategic importance of cis-lunar area -- the region around the Moon -- which will function a proving ground for missions to Mars and past, Lightfoot added.
NASA to put humans on the Moon again: Pence
![NASA to put humans on the Moon again: Pence]()
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October 23, 2017
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