Donald Trump hit Twitter from Air Force One on Friday and said NASA should not be focused on going to the moon despite his own administration’s support for the effort, saying the agency should instead prioritize “much bigger things,” like going to Mars.
“For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon – We did that 50 years ago,” the president tweeted from aboard Air Force One while flying back to the U.S. from a week in Europe.
“They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!” he added.
For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon – We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2019 [1]
Trump’s tweet on Friday is at odds with his own administration’s focus on returning to the moon.
Trump signed a directive in December 2017 that formally directed NASA to focus on returning humans to the moon.
Less than a month ago, Trump said he was updating his budget proposal to include $1.6 billion for NASA to focus on space exploration. The president said in the May 13 tweet that the country is “going back to the Moon, then Mars.”
Under my Administration, we are restoring @NASA [2] to greatness and we are going back to the Moon, then Mars. I am updating my budget to include an additional $1.6 billion so that we can return to Space in a BIG WAY!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2019 [3]
And then can we talk about the fact that the moon is not part of Mars?
Twitter quickly called out the “stable genius”:
Mars has its own moons. They’re called Phobos and Deimos. But the moon that Trump refers to orbits the Earth and has nothing to do with Mars other than being part of our solar system.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) June 7, 2019 [4]
Because who better to advise NASA on how to do science than a guy who thinks vaccines cause autism and windmills cause cancer.
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) June 7, 2019 [5]
The moon is a part of Mars????
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) June 7, 2019 [6]
OFFICIAL DNC STATEMENT:
The moon is not part of Mars.
— DNC War Room (@DNCWarRoom) June 7, 2019 [7]
WTF? The moon is a part of Mars? pic.twitter.com/S3D9hERvdy [8]
— Tina -#ImpeachTrump (@trcfwtt) June 7, 2019 [9]