On Monday, December 11, President Trump held a ceremony where he signed a new directive for America’s space program. The goal? Putting American astronauts back on the moon to “establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars.”
Now where have we heard something like this before? Oh yes, former Speaker of the House and Republican Presidential Candidate, Newt Gingrich, mentioned colonizing the moon on the campaign trail, claiming in 2012 that if he were elected, by the end of his second term, “we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American.”
Well it seems that the idea resonated with the Trump administration as well. And while there was no talk of fitting a giant laser on the moon and pointing it at North Korea, President Trump didn’t rule out weaponizing the moon. “Space has so much to do with so many other applications,” he said. “Including a military application.”