In his prepared remarks, Trump, a longtime backer of U.S.-led space exploration and exploitation, singled out Mars and left the moon hanging.

President Trump vowed to send American astronauts to the planet Mars in his inaugural address, envisioning a moment when the U.S. flag is planted on Martian soil. “We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars,

The president’s Inaugural Address linked landing on the Red Planet with Manifest Destiny, but left many of the specifics unclear.

In his inaugural address on Monday, new US President Donald Trump spoke about sending humans to Mars. "We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars,