Trump White House Reveals New Plan to Put Americans Back on the Moon

The Trump administration on Monday is expected to proclaim its commitment to space exploration.

According to CNN, the White House confirmed President Donald Trump will authorize new manned NASA missions to the moon, leading to an eventual flight to Mars.

Deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley explained that Trump will sign “Space Policy Directive 1” during a ceremony, Reuters reported.

“The President listened to the National Space Council’s recommendations and he will change our nation’s human spaceflight policy to help America become the driving force for the space industry, gain new knowledge from the cosmos, and spur incredible technology,” he said.

Gidley described the move as one that will put pressure on NASA to “refocus” its work toward “its core mission of space exploration.”

It has been 45 years since the Apollo 17 mission transported the last astronauts to the moon.

The declaration Trump is expected to sign Monday re-affirms his campaign promises to revitalize the space agency.

In an October 2016 campaign speech in Florida, then-candidate Trump elaborated on his plans, taking a jab at the Obama administration for NASA’s focus on matters aside from space exploration.

“Over the last eight years, the Obama-Clinton administration has undermined our space program tremendously,” he said.

As it existed at the time, Trump alleged NASA acted more as a bystander than an innovator.

“Did you ever see what’s going on with space, with Russia and different places?” he asked the crowd. “And us? We’re like, we’re like watching.”

He promised “everything will change” if he won the election, telling voters to “think about what we can accomplish in 100 days.”

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Though Monday’s action comes well after his administration’s 100-day mark, many Trump supporters see it as evidence that he plans to keep his word on the topic.

Like Gidley in his announcement this week, Trump pledged in his Florida speech last year that he would “refocus” NASA.

He said he would free the agency “from the restriction of serving primarily as a logistics agency for low-earth orbit.”

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