Jun 11, 2019 - Science

NASA chief addresses Trump Moon mission tweet: Nothing has changed

Rebecca Falconer

This 20 July 1969 file photo released by NASA shows astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. saluting the US flag on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo 11 lunar mission. — Buzz Aldrin on the Moon in 1969. Photo: NASA/AFP/Getty Images

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told a town hall at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, Monday that the space agency still aims to return humans to the Moon by 2024 — despite President Trump's tweet appearing to suggest otherwise.

Details: The moderator asked Bridenstine if Trump's tweet that NASA shouldn't be talking about going to the Moon and "should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part)" meant the space agency's mission had changed.

Nothing has changed. ... The Moon is valuable because it's a proving ground for how to get to Mars, and that's exactly the case that the president made."

Go deeper: Trump tweet muddies the waters regarding NASA's Moon mission

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NASA chief addresses Trump Moon mission tweet: Nothing has changed

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