During his Inaugural Address on Monday, President Donald J. Trump again promised to launch American astronauts to Mars.
Seated nearby, Elon Musk, a political benefactor of Mr. Trump who founded SpaceX in the hope that it would one day be able to send colonists to Mars, beamed with enthusiasm and offered two thumbs up. The gargantuan Starship rocket that Mr. Musk’s company is currently developing is meant for that task.
Mr. Trump left a number of specifics unsaid, including what the new initiative would mean for NASA’s existing moon program, when astronauts would get to Mars and what other NASA programs might be cut to pay for it.
What Trump has said about Mars
Mr. Trump has mentioned landing on Mars before. During a campaign rally in Reading, Pa., on Oct. 9, he promised that this would occur during his presidency. “We will lead the world in space and reach Mars before the end of my term,” he said.
He did not specify whether he meant landing American astronauts on Mars by Jan. 20, 2029, his last day in the White House, or whether just sending a prototype of the spacecraft that would take astronauts someday further in the future would suffice.
On Monday, he said that American astronauts would “plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars,” but left out when.