Speaking on Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence said that it is the administration's goal to eventually return American astronauts to the moon to create a moon base of sorts that would facilitate trips to Mars. Pence also said that there will be a "constant presence" in low-Earth orbit.
The International Space Station is a low-Earth orbit satellite. Currently, there are six people aboard, including three Americans.
Here's a clip of Pence speaking at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center:
We'll return astronauts to the moon to build the foundation we need to send Americans to Mars & beyond #NextFrontier https://t.co/S5gNDUVyCr
— Vice President Pence (@VP) October 5, 2017
The Trump administration has re-assembled the National Space Council, which was disbanded in 1993. Trump re-established the National Space Council in an executive order signed in June.
Pence tweeted that it is a "great honor" to serve as the National Space Council's chair.
To guide this new era of U.S space leadership, @POTUS relaunched Nat'l Space Council & it's my great honor to serve as chair. #NextFrontier pic.twitter.com/xqzLyIVHJ3
— Vice President Pence (@VP) October 5, 2017
Since the ending of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the only way to get to the ISS is via Russia's Soyuz spacecrafts, and there has not been a declared replacement for the shuttle fleet. Americans have not been to the moon since December of 1972.
It's certainly interesting to re-focus efforts on space exploration. I'm very curious to see what NASA is able to come up with.