![]() Hundreds of NASA employees, space experts and private contractors–including Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon–gathered in the gigantic Vehicle Assembly Building. space policy and gave general outlines of the Trump Administration’s vision for space exploration. Mike Pence gave a 25-minute speech about the perspectives of the U.S. Last Thursday, merely a week after the re-launch of the NSC, Mike Pence, visited the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida where he took a look at the space vehicles of NASA’s private subcontractors.ĭuring his tour at the KSC, Pence also got to see NASA’s Orion capsule that will fly in 2019 with the monster rocket SLS ( Space Launch System). It might be too early to judge Mike Pence and the NSC, however, as the new chairman seems to have immediately shifted into high gear. Or, it could be just another bureaucratic move. It depends on how you look at it, but a Vice President chairing over the council could be seen as an evidence of White House support for space exploration. Space Race 2.0: Making the American Space Dream Great Again! In a statement, Robert Lightfoot, NASA’s acting administrator–The White House has yet to appoint a permanent administrator–said he was pleased with the presidential order that reestablishes the NSC, and that he was looking forward to working with the council. officials.Īs an advisory group within the Executive Office of the President, the NSC would define priorities of the White House space policy and oversee the materialization of the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and other top U.S. Mike Pence will serve as the chairman of the NSC, which is composed of members including U.S. On Friday, June 30, Trump was surrounded by Congress members, and representatives from NASA and commercial space contractors when he signed the executive order that revives the National Space Council after two decades in limbo. ![]() ![]() President Trump has officially re-launched the National Space Council that would seek to reestablish the American space leadership. The NSC remained operational until 1993 when it was disbanded and the National Science and Technology Council took over its function.ĭuring his presidential campaign, Barack Obama had promised to re-establish the council but failed to deliver on his promise over two terms. Bush created the National Space Council, on the ruins of the defunct National Aeronautics and Space Council (1958-1973). ![]() Now, Pence is the chairman of the American Space Council, and he’s taking his new mission very seriously. Click To Tweetīack in 2005, Pence was at the head of a group who demanded the cancellation of the NASA’s Constellation Project which sought to return to the Moon no later than 2020, and then expand into the solar system.īudgetary concerns led to the cancellation of the Constellation Project in 2011, which Charles Bolden, NASA ’s former administrator has compared to “ a death in the family” as multi-year effort and billions of dollars went to waste. would put “ American boots” back on the moon and also on Mars.Īs we near Space Race 2.0, it seems that a lot has changed since Mike Pence, current Vice President, was not a big fan of NASA’s space projects. Vice President Mike Pence, promising a new era of space exploration, said that the U.S.
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