Should NASA explore the moon or look farther to Mars? President Trump boosted his plan to return American astronauts to the moon when he announced his fiscal year 2021 budget proposal in February. The White House requested roughly $25 billion for NASA, a 12% increase from what the space agency received just a year before. “The reinforced support from the president comes at a critical time as we lay the foundations for landing the first woman and the next man on the South Pole of the Moon by 2024,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote in support of the proposed funding….

On August 9, Vice President Pence laid out an ambitious plan to establish a “Space Force” by 2020 as the sixth branch of the U.S. military. The new branch would be the first since the Air Force was formed shortly after World War II. Pence stated: “The space environment has fundamentally changed in the last generation. What was once peaceful and uncontested is now crowded and adversarial. Today, other nations are seeking to disrupt our space-based systems and challenge American supremacy in space as never before.” Pence cited he pursuit of new space weapons by Russia, China, North Korea, and…