Trump wants NASA to send astronauts to the Moon - but how exactly?

U.S. President Donald Trump steps from Air Force One for a visit to the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi, U.S., December 9, 2017.

President Trump signed a policy directive Monday confirming that the moon should be the next destination for astronauts.

At the event, Trump said the directive will re-establish American leadership in space, while creating jobs and enhancing the US's national security. "Today, we pledge that he will not be the last".

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the National Space Council, have previously vowed to restart moon exploration.

In a separate statement, NASA officials said that the directive also officially endsNASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), which would have sent robotic probes and then humans to an asteroid.

The US President has ordered NASA to plan a new manned mission to the Moon, 45 years since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. "We will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars and, perhaps, someday, to many worlds beyond". "And by your action today - with this clear vision [of] returning Americans to the moon, preparing to lead to Mars and beyond - you are ensuring, Mr. President, that America will lead in space in the future and for generations to come".

The announcement was made by White House spokesman Hogan Gidley and followed by a speech by Mr Trump.

"Unless this administration is taking a second term for granted, time is running out for it to meaningfully change the course of the USA spaceflight program", the website wrote, adding that "the next president could just as easily switch course away from the moon". We will engage the best and brightest across government and private industry and our partners across the world to reach new milestones in human achievement. "A lunar mission with today's technology would further our understanding of the moon's history and resources".

"And space has so much to do with so many other applications, including a military application", he said without elaboration.

Pence seconded the national security aspect, adding that pursuing these objectives would enhance USA national security and its capacity to provide for the common defense of its citizens. "With the Orion deep space vehicle and our prototype orbital lunar habitat making outstanding progress, we are ready to help the nation achieve this bold new vision".

The order declares NASA must lead USA astronauts in "an innovative space exploration program".

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