Trump vows to plant flag on Mars, omits mention of Moon return

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump vowed on Jan 20 to “plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars” but made no mention of Nasa’s planned return to the Moon, heightening speculation about his space strategy.

During his first term, the Republican launched the Artemis programme to return astronauts to the Moon as a stepping stone to the Red Planet – yet even then he expressed doubts about the Moon’s necessity.

“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars,” he said in his inauguration speech at the US Capitol in Washington, remarks unlikely to quell the idea he wants to skip the Moon.

Mr Trump is thought to be joined in his desire by his close ally Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, who envisages colonising Mars with the help of his prototype rocket Starship.

Mr Musk retweeted a clip of himself with two thumbs up, grinning and clapping wildly as Mr Trump made his remarks.

“We’re going straight to Mars. The Moon is a distraction,” Mr Musk wrote on X earlier in January.

Such a shift would be seismic for a programme projected to cost more than US$90 billion (S$122.3 billion).

It is also likely to meet stiff opposition in the US Congress, where both Republicans and Democrats have an interest in preserving jobs in their constituencies linked to exploring the Moon.

Much of this revolves around the Space Launch System, Nasa’s heavy-lift rocket with contractors and suppliers spread across the country.

China, meanwhile, has set its sights on landing in the lunar south pole by 2030, a move the United States is unlikely to let go unchallenged.

On the other hand, the next Nasa chief is slated to be Mr Jared Isaacman, a billionaire private astronaut who has had business dealings with SpaceX, raising questions of possible conflicts of interest. AFP