Trump Orders NASA to Send Astronauts to the Moon
The current U.S. administration may have sent mixed messages in the past concerning the country's space program, but this newest directive is official. On Monday, Dec. 11, President Trump signed a new directive that shifts NASA's priority towards putting an American on the moon again.
It's also another shift from the Obama's policies, as well. The Space Policy Directive 1 puts the focus back on the moon again after the previous administration pointed at Mars as the NASA's main objective.
The president noted how the new order would "restore American leadership in space," as he signed the document surrounded by a few dignitaries and astronauts in attendance, according to Space.com.
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It was a move that was welcomed by several important players in the aerospace industry, starting from NASA's acting administrator Robert Lightfoot.
"NASA looks forward to supporting the president's directive strategically aligning our work to return humans to the moon, travel to Mars and opening the deeper solar system beyond," Lightfoot said in the agency's statement.
The directive will eventually lead to Mars, as President Trump emphasized during the signing. The foundation for that goal, however, will have to do with an important step that his administration feels has been much needed.
"The directive I am signing today will refocus America's space program on human exploration and discovery. It marks a first step in returning American astronauts to the Moon for the first time since 1972, for long-term exploration and use," Trump said.
The plan to do just that is currently a hope that public-private partnerships will achieve the goal. It looks to be an extension of NASA's ever-increasing reliance on commercial and international partners like SpaceX and Roscosmos, as TechCrunch pointed out.
The video below shows the first time a man walked on the moon, 45 years ago. It's now a matter of getting a concrete plan together for the current U.S. administration to make it happen again.
