Trump and NASA

In 2017 Trump announced that NASA would focus on building a base on the moon.

The previous plan (made under Obama) was to focus on traveling to and building a base on mars.

Q: Which idea is better? Why did Trump change the goal?

In 2019 Trump announced that he would send astronauts to the moon within 5 years. (NASA’s plan was by 2028)
Q: Why did he want to do this?

Trump created Space Force

Army, Navy, Air Force and now Space Force!

Q: What do you think the Space Force will do?

Most tasks are already handled by the Air Force. Is a Space Force necessary?

Responsibilities:

• monitor any asteroids that may hit earth

• protect American and ally Satellites - Russia has been testing suspected anti-satellite technology

• develop military technology to be used in space

Downsides:

• unnecessary offices / admin teams - the airforce could have been used instead

• Netflix owns the copyright for “Space Force” and has a comedy show about it already

What do you think of their uniform and logo?

Trump pressured NASA to stop monitoring earth’s weather and cut their budget in this department. Why?

Answers:

The cost of going to mars may be too expensive. It was an unrealistic goal.
Trump may have realized this but, a more likely reason is, he doesn’t want to follow an Obama plan and he wants to accomplish something while he’s president.

Trump wants to create a LEGACY for himself. He wanted astronauts to land in the final year of his presidency (if he was reelected)
Note: The head of NASA only knew of Trump’s plans one month before.

The Space Force is responsible for

Sources:

• https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/02/tech/nasa-jim-bridenstine-report-card-scn/index.html