Donald Trump, through his vice-president, has expressed his willingness to send American astronauts on the moon, launched by American rockets.
US Vice President Mike Pence announced on Tuesday that US official policy is to return US astronauts to the moon within five years.
American rockets launched from American soil. "By order of the President, the official policy of this administration and the United States of America is to bring American astronauts back to the moon in five years," said Mike Pence during a speech in Huntsville, Washington. Alabama, where part of American rockets have been manufactured for decades. "The first woman and the next man on the moon will be American astronauts, launched by American rockets from American soil," said Mike Pence.
Call on the private, a planned track. The timing so far was a comeback in 2028, but the Donald Trump government has expressed frustration at the delays and budget overruns of NASA's program to build its next big SLS rocket, whose first flight has been pushed back recently to 2021. The vice-president strongly criticized the space agency during his speech, criticizing the agency's "bureaucratic inertia" and calling for a "new state of mind". He threatened to give private launchers future missions if NASA was not ready in time. "If private rockets are the only way to bring American astronauts back to the moon in five years, then it will be private rockets," he said.
NASA boss Jim Bridenstine recently said that a woman would probably be the next to walk the lunar ground, where no human has returned since 1972.