Trump wants to send astronauts back to the moon 45 years later

Trump wants to send astronauts back to the moon 45 years later

The president signs a directive, with no timetable and budget details, for a new mission to the satellite and eventual exploration of Mars

American President Donald Trump gave the green light this Monday to a new space strategy that aspires to re-send astronauts to the moon and hypothetically to Mars. The date of the announcement could not be more symbolic: on the 45 anniversary of the last time a human stepped on the satellite. However, the directive signed by the Republican does not detail either the deadlines or the budget for that mission, keys for the promise to become a reality.

Space Policy Directive 1 urges us to re-take American astronauts to the Moon for "long-term exploration and utilization," and also to pursue the "human exploration" of Mars and the rest of the solar system. "We will not only plant our flag and leave our mark, but establish the basis for a possible mission to Mars. And perhaps, one day, many more worlds beyond, "Trump said during the brief signing of the directive at the White House.

Despite the nationalist emphasis on the mission, the document notes, without going into detail, that the United States will collaborate with other countries and the private sector to displace astronauts to the moon and "develop the technology and means" necessary for a human exploration of Mars and other planets. The text advances that incentives for cooperation with private industry will be promoted.

Trump's government had already implied that he was betting on a return to the moon. The new policy, based on recommendations of the National Space Council, is a shift from the previous administration of Barack Obama, which prioritized the exploration of Mars. In a myriad of portfolios, Trump has dismantled one by one the main measures of his predecessor.

The space race embodies the concept of American exceptionalism. Twelve astronauts, all Americans, descended to the lunar soil between 1969 and 1972. In the midst of the cold War, it was a geopolitical milestone in America's rivalry with the Soviet Union. The astronauts of the Apollo 17 mission, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt (who attended the event at the White House), were the last to step on the satellite: on December 11, 1972.

In his return to Earth, Cernan trusted that it would not be necessary to wait for a "far future" to return to the moon. It has been prevented, however, by a combination of lack of political will, budgetary cuts and technical problems.

In his speech, Trump underlined the importance of American leadership in the space race in the same way, he argued, that Washington is reinforcing its hegemony in other sectors thanks to its presidency. "We are no longer the undisputed leader in the human exploration of space," laments the directive. The text recalls, for example, that the United States depends on Russian rockets to displace astronauts to the International Space Agency.