Why the Trump administration wants to return to the moon in partnership with industry

WaPo ^ | October 5 at 1:12 PM | Christian Davenport

[BenLurkin]

Vice President Pence said Thursday that the United States would regain a leadership role in human space flight by embarking on a return mission to the moon, building the foundation to go to Mars.

Pence offered no specific timeline. Speaking before a group of cabinet members and the chief executives of several top space companies, he said the moon would be a “steppingstone, a training ground” that would eventually propel humanity deeper into the cosmos in partnership with the growing commercial space industry.

While he called for a renewed emphasis on exploration, he also said the council, designed to help guide U.S. policy in space, would need to create a more robust national security response to advances made by Russia and China in developing “jamming and hacking” capabilities that can “cripple” military and intelligence satellites.

Pence’s call to return to the moon was the official declaration of a much-discussed goal of the Trump administration. Its nominee to take over NASA has advocated returning to the moon. And NASA has said it would solicit proposals from industry to develop landers that could take cargo and experiments to the lunar surface by as soon as next year.

It also marked a reversal from plans pushed by the Obama administration. In 2010, Obama famously said of the moon that “we’ve been there before” and that NASA should instead focus on reaching an asteroid and Mars.

[ak267]

google is your friend

[txnativegop]

No It Isn't! /sarc