Trump wants to send men to Mars

The President of United States, Donald Trump announced on 25 April 2017 that he wants to send men to Mars during his first term.

Trump made the announcement while video conferencing from his Oval office with two NASA astronauts at the International Space Station.

He stated that he wanted to send men to Mars during his first term or at max during his second term. He said for that they will have to speed up the process a bit. Trump also expressed how proud he was about signing a bill committing NASA to the aim of sending America astronauts to Mars and claimed that they will do it sooner than planned.

Key Highlights

• NASA has currently scheduled to conduct its manned mission to Mars in 2030.

• Trump during the call asked the two American astronauts if they were ready to go to Mars.

• The astronauts, Peggy Whitson and Jack Fisher showed great eagerness for the mission and promised to give their best.

• Whitson recently broke the previous US record for most time spent in space. The record was set by NASA astronaut Jeff Williams who had completed 534 days, 2 hours and 48 minutes in space.

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Further, Trump stressed that the youth of America needed to recognise that real steps towards realising the goal are going to be taken in a few years and so, by studying math, science, engineering, any kind of technology they are also going to have a part in it.

Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and American astronaut Kate Rubins were also present in the Oval Office during the conference call.