US President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday, that wants to send astronauts to the moon as soon as possible, postponing missions to Mars until later. In an executive order on his space policy, Trump said, that wants to get Americans to the moon before 2028 year as part of the NASA Artemis program, launched during his first term in the White House.
The decree states, that such a landing on the moon would “affirm America's leadership in space, would lay the foundations for the economic development of the Moon, would prepare a trip to Mars and inspire the next generation of American explorers".
It is also noted, that the American space agency NASA hopes to create the initial elements of a permanent lunar outpost to 2030 and confirms plans to deploy nuclear reactors on the moon and in orbit. Americans currently plan to return to the surface of the moon in the middle 2027 year as part of the Artemis mission 3, but the deadlines were repeatedly postponed.
Industry experts say, What is it, probably, will be postponed again, since the lunar lander, which is being developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX, not ready yet. Trump's executive order puts increased pressure on both NASA, and on the private space sector to achieve the goals of the administration. The United States seeks to bypass China, which also intends to send a crew to the Moon before 2030 year and create a base there.
Prioritizing a lunar mission represents a policy change from that, that Trump said earlier this year. When he returned to the White House in January, the Republican stated, that wants to plant the American flag on Mars by the end of its four-year term, not mentioning any such plans for the moon.
The announcement cast doubt on the administration's priorities in space and raised concerns, that NASA will abandon lunar exploration altogether. But now, although Washington has long stated, that wants to be the first country, which will send people to Mars, this reality seems even more distant.
Controversy in June between Trump and Musk, who is passionate about Mars exploration, along with other pressing geopolitical issues, perhaps, moved from the place of Trump's ambitions.
Source: https://www.spacedaily.com