The US will 'plant the American flag on the planet Mars and even far beyond,' Trump tells Congress
Trump again called on the United States to send astronauts to Mars in his speech to a joint session of Congress.
President Donald Trump told lawmakers that U.S. astronauts will one day carry the American flag to Mars and beyond during a speech before the joint session of Congress late Tuesday (March 5).
"We are going to conquer the vast frontiers of science, and we are going to lead humanity into space and plant the American flag on the planet Mars and even far beyond," Trump told Congress during his speech to a joint Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday night.
"And through it all, we are going to rediscover the unstoppable power of the American spirit, and we are going to renew unlimited promise of the American dream," Trump said.
Related: Presidential visions for space exploration
Trump's comments, which closed a nearly two-hour speech to Congress, echoed his past calls to send astronauts to Mars on the campaign trail. He also celebrated the space feats of SpaceX and its founder Elon Musk during his election night victory speech in November, and hailed the Red Planet again during his inauguration, when he said the United States would pursue its "manifest destiny into the stars."
Musk, who is overseeing dramatic federal cost-cutting efforts for Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), attended Tuesday night's speech and waved as Trump recognized him for his DOGE efforts. The SpaceX CEO has long said sending astronauts to Mars is a primary goal for his spaceflight company. SpaceX currently flies NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station and is building the giant Starship megarocket to land Artemis astronauts on the moon by 2027.
Related: The American flag in space — In photos
During Tuesday night's speech, Trump also called on Congress to approve the funding needed for a new missile defense shield to defend the country against future threats.
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"As commander in chief, my focus is on building the most powerful military of the future," he told Congress. "As a first step, I am asking Congress to fund a state-of-the-art golden dome missile defense shield to protect our homeland, all made in the U.S.A."
Such a missile defense system could be similar to the Iron Dome system Israel uses to defend against incoming ballistic missiles. Trump said a new "golden dome" system for the United States would realize the missile defense goals of the so-called "Star Wars" program proposed by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
"Ronald Reagan wanted to do it long ago, but the technology just wasn’t there, not even close. But now we have the technology. It’s incredible, actually," Trump said. "This is a very dangerous world. We should have it."
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Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.
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DarkMatterMuncher All politics aside, this is an AMAZING goal and space exploration is something that ensures mankind.Reply -
Grog Eisenbein They are going to «plant the flag far beyond Mars»? I hear some scientists say Jupiter does not have a solid surface, but I’m sure it’s all just fake news.Reply -
Vladyslav Derevianko
I disagree. Any expensive project, like human space travel beyond low earth orbit, cannot avoid politics. Because allocation of big money would strain the resources of the richest countries and even of all the humanity combined.DarkMatterMuncher said:All politics aside, this is an AMAZING goal and space exploration is something that ensures mankind.
People should set priorities of big projects: whether fight Russia and Axis ov Evil, or protect environment, or prepare for asteroid defense, or explore space using robotics, or invest in human spaceflight. -
contrarian
There are plenty of moons to plant a flag on!Grog Eisenbein said:They are going to «plant the flag far beyond Mars»? I hear some scientists say Jupiter does not have a solid surface, but I’m sure it’s all just fake news.
We already put up six of them on our own Moon.
The biggest issue is the cost. Where are they going to find all that money to build the spaceships? Perhaps all the DOGE cuts will help fund these projects. -
Ken Fabian
I would put projects like these near the top for wastefulness.contrarian said:Perhaps all the DOGE cuts will help fund these projects. -
Rick Badman
We could reach Mars in less than three days if we used my repulsion-drive engine. We could also reach Mars if we used my two Ground/Ship Launch/Propulsion Systems. It might be less expensive to use GSLP since the ground energy source is the big expense. My spaceplane I showed to NASA facilities from 1991 to 1997 used my injection reactor and repulsion-drive engines.Admin said:Trump again called on the United States to send astronauts to Mars in his speech to a joint session of Congress.
The US will 'plant the American flag on the planet Mars and even far beyond,' Trump tells Congress : Read more -
contrarian
All space flights with humans on board are "near the top for wastefulness", except for the Apollo missions. They had to be done just to prove it was possible.Ken Fabian said:I would put projects like these near the top for wastefulness.
The DOGE cuts are Musk's way of getting funding for his "occupy Mars" project. Doubtful that this will work out for him.