President Donald Trump launches new US space mission to the moon and Mars

President Donald Trump holds a space astronaut toy as he signs the new space policy directive.
REUTERS
Francesca Gillett11 December 2017

Donald Trump has announced he is launching a new US space mission to send humans to the moon and Mars.

The US President signed a new space policy directive directing NASA "to lead an innovative space exploration program to send American astronauts back to the moon, and eventually Mars."

He will sign the new order on Monday, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley

The new mission will be a bid for the US to “reclaim America’s proud destiny in space”, Mr Trump said.

"The directive I'm signing today will refocus America's space programme on human exploration and discovery.

"It marks an important step in returning American astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972 for long term exploration and use.

"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."

He said: “Imagine the possibility waiting in those big beautiful stars if we dare to dream big. That's what our country is doing again, we're dreaming big.”

The US had only just put humans into space when President John F. Kennedy announced he wanted Americans to be the first to land on the moon.

The famous Apollo 11 mission in 1969 saw Neil Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldrin become the first people to land on the moon. Their fellow astronaut, Michael Collins, stayed in orbit and did experiments.

A US flag was positioned on the moon alongside a sign which read: "Here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind."

The Kepler space telescope is used by NASA in the search for planets outside of our solar system, known as exoplanets.

The mission has so far discovered 21 Earth-sized planets known to orbit within the habitable zones of their stars, and the latest announcement is likely to reveal NASA's best study of alien planets.

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