Trump signs executive order to support moon mining, tap asteroid resources

[Absolute Kelvin]

Source: Space.com

By Mike Wall 5 hours ago

The water ice and other lunar resources that will help the United States establish a long-term human presence on the moon are there for the taking, the White House believes.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order today (April 6) establishing U.S. policy on the exploitation of off-Earth resources. That policy stresses that the current regulatory regime — notably, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty — allows the use of such resources.

This view has long held sway in U.S. government circles. For example, the United States, like the other major spacefaring nations, has not signed the 1979 Moon Treaty, which stipulates that non-scientific use of space resources be governed by an international regulatory framework. And in 2015, Congress passed a law explicitly allowing American companies and citizens to use moon and asteroid resources.

The new executive order makes things even more official, stressing that the United States does not view space as a "global commons" and sees a clear path to off-Earth mining, without the need for further international treaty-level agreements.

Read more: https://www.space.com/trump-moon-mining-space-resources-executive-order.html?utm_source=notification

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I'm a total space nerd, but an executive order does not equal funding. Also, I've a feeling the resources Trump wants to focus on are very...carbony.

[exboyfil]

1. Asteroids are a better shot

Don't have to deal with the Moon's gravity well. I think possibly the hydrogen and helium isotopes might have potential for future fueling stations for spacecraft, but we are a long way from that.

[Onyrleft]

2. But; what if the moon breaks out of Earth's orbit?

[dameatball]

3. Jared must have suggested he build "Moon-A-Lago."

[ffr]

4. lol, he's got so much time on his hands, he can tackle Covid-19 & everything else?

[TeamPooka]

5. Trump will break the moon and destroy the earth.

Space 1999 here we come.

[pazzyanne]

13. +1

Anything tRump touches dies.

[dbonds]

6. Any other time this might be interesting...

Any body else they might could pull it off. HG Wells forsaw this...

[Alacritous Crier]

10. Beat me to it.

[Deep State Gnostic]

7. Foreseen by Canned Heat...

[llmart]

8. He's too freakin' stupid to even know what he's signing.

Someone probably just sticks a piece of paper in front of him, gives him some b.s. about what it is and he signs it.

What a jackass.

[Warpy]

9. What, he's living in a sci fi fantasy world now?

That's one EO that will either hit the circular file or be framed at the Smithsonian in the future in the Mad King Don exhibit.

I guess with the Space Force and its Star Trek ripoff logo, he thinks the money will just roll on in, no competition will dare arise.

[CaptYossarian]

12. Why not in a Ripley's museum?

I got to the last sentence still expecting the satire, but was disappointed.

What? Isn't this due to a cheese shortage?

Will Jared team up with Shatner to go where no Trump has gone before? (Grad school qualifies, but so does a battlefield.)

[bucolic_frolic]

11. Grand Canyon is next

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. tRump should be mooned. . . . nt

[Judi Lynn]

15. He'll fix things so that whatever anyone finds there must be offered to him in a "taste" every time,

as in tribute, like Tony Soprano.

[htuttle]

16. He wants to be the man who sold the moon

[dhill926]

17. why did I think this was The Onion....

jesus christ...

[raccoon]

22. I thought so too. Nt

[Lonestarblue]

18. Could we just send Trump and his entire family to the moon an leave them there?

I am so sick of this Trump nightmare. He is a monster, and a stupid monster at that.

[DeminPennswoods]

19. Definitely on board with that idea

either the moon or, preferably, Mars. The cultists can go with him.

[rickyhall]

21. How 'bout half way?

[Bengus81]

24. I was thinking the Sun for the Trump grifters. They can travel at night

[spudspud]

20. Somebody should remind him we're renting space on Soyuz rockets...

for God's sake, to just get to the ISS. With funding cuts, and canned programs to replace the shuttle, his EO means squat. And I don't think we'll see much from NASA on this front any time soon, without another space race. It'll be up to the private sector, like SpaceX to get anything of practical significance done in the next couple of decades, I believe.

[Paladin]

23. Beyond pathetic. (nt)

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

25. We should give him a one way ticket to the moon