This article appears in the April 5, 2019 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
[Print version of this article]
President Donald J. Trump Is Boldly Putting Americans Back on the Moon
The following was released on March 26, 2019 by the White House. The statement is available here.
This time, we will not only plant our flag and leave our footprint, we will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars and perhaps, someday, to many worlds beyond.
ACCELERATING AMERICA’S SPACE EXPLORATION: President Donald J. Trump is setting a bold goal to put Americans back on the Moon by 2024.
• President Trump has received five recommendations, unanimously approved by his National Space Council, to accelerate America’s space exploration program.
• President Trump also received four recommendations on streamlining export control regulations that followed a year-long review.
• The NASA Administrator will provide an update on the implementation of Space Policy Directive-1 (SPD-1) and the recommendations at the next Space Council meeting.
• The United States will seek to land on the Moon’s South Pole by 2024, establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon by 2028, and chart a future path for Mars exploration.
• NASA’s lunar presence will focus on science, resource management, and risk reduction for future missions to Mars.
• NASA will create a Moon-to-Mars Mission Directorate and make all necessary efforts to achieve Exploration Mission-1, a foundational uncrewed mission around the Moon.
• Exploration Mission-1 will take place no later than 2020 and a crewed mission around the Moon, Exploration Mission-2, will take place no later than 2022.
• NASA will unleash American industry, including through public-private partnerships, to enhance innovation and the sustainability of its space activities.
• To implement SPD-1, NASA will continue to improve its structure and management, and improve cost and schedule performance, seeking legislative authorization as necessary.
• The United States will engage with international partners to enable a sustainable lunar exploration and development program.
DARING AGAIN: President Trump is building a space program worthy of our great Nation and the American spirit.
• An American has not walked on the Moon in 47 years, but President Trump is working to change that.
• To achieve this goal, President Trump is taking action to ensure that American astronauts get to their destination quickly and sustainably.
REIGNITING AMERICA’S SPACE LEGACY: President Trump is keeping his promise to restore America’s proud legacy of leadership in space.
• These recommendations follow President Trump’s bold call for America to go back to the Moon and establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars.
• In December 2017, President Trump signed SPD-1, “Reinvigorating America’s Human Space Exploration Program.”
• The President’s Space Policy calls for NASA to lead an innovative space program with commercial and international partners.
• Americans will return to the Moon for long-term exploration, followed by missions to Mars and beyond.
• President Trump has signed three additional SPDs to restore American leadership in space.
