Trump wants to send U.S. astronauts back
to moon, someday Mars
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[December 12, 2017]
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At a time when China
is working on an ambitious lunar program, President Donald Trump vowed
on Monday that the United States will remain the leader in space
exploration as he began a process to return Americans to the moon.
"We are the leader and we're going to stay the leader, and we're going
to increase it many fold," Trump said in signing "Space Policy Directive
1" that establishes a foundation for a mission to the moon with an eye
on going to Mars.
"This time, we will not only plant our flag and leave our footprint, we
will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars," Trump
said. "And perhaps, someday, to many worlds beyond."

Back in June, China's space official said the country was making
“preliminary” preparations to send a man to the moon, the latest goal in
China’s ambitious lunar exploration program.
Trump's signing ceremony for the directive included former lunar
astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Harrison Schmitt and current astronaut Peggy
Whitson, whose 665 days in orbit is more time in space than any other
American and any other woman worldwide.
The ceremony also featured a moon rock 3.8 billion years old collected
by Schmitt's Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Trump said he was taking a giant step toward "reclaiming America's proud
destiny in space."
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President Donald Trump holds a space astronaut toy as he
participates in a signing ceremony for Space Policy Directive at the
White House in Washington D.C., U.S., December 11, 2017.
REUTERS/Carlos Barria

"And space has so much to do with so many other applications,
including a military application," he said without elaboration.
In approving the new policy, Trump abandoned what had been a goal of
his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, who in 2010 backed a plan to
send humans to a near-earth asteroid.
NASA said initial funding for the new policy would be included in
its budget request for fiscal year 2019.
“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,” said acting
NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot in a statement.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Lisa
Shumaker)
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