Space

President Trump Is Getting Serious About Exploring Space

President Trump restarted the National Space Council to help devise space policy and actions. Two of the members still need to be appointed, though.

President Trump Is Getting Serious About Exploring Space
The White House
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On Friday, President Trump signed an order recreating the National Space Council.

"We are going to be leading again like we've never led before. We're a nation of pioneers, and the next great American frontier is space," Trump said. 

The council was first created by the Eisenhower administration, but it hasn't existed since 1993. It will be in charge of all U.S. policies and activities concerning outer space.

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Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot says the canceled missions were low-priority and duplicated the work of current satellites.

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We know Trump wants the U.S. to get to Mars, but it's unclear how he wants to get there. The council could favor helping private space companies like SpaceX or ask NASA to lead the way.

The signing ceremony included lots of NASA officials, but Vice President Mike Pence will be the chairman — and he's previously supported massive cuts to NASA's exploration program. 

But the council might have to wait before it makes that decision. It holds spots for NASA's administrator and the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, but neither have been appointed by Trump.