A space where Trump’s Moon mission chief was

WASHINGTON: Mark Sirangelo was appointed in April to oversee Donald Trump’s ambition to be the second US president to land a man on the Moon. Just six weeks later, he has quit.

President Trump’s idea may be grand, but paying for it is a problem. Vice President Mike Pence declared in March the White House was “committed” to putting astronauts back on the Moon within five years.

President Trump also declared the US was “going back to the Moon, then Mars” before announcing an additional $2.3 billion funding for NASA for just that purpose. China has already put landers on the surface at the Moon’s south pole in preparation for a planned manned launch. And Russia is also claiming to have plans to put astronauts on the Lunar surface in the next decade or two. But US Congress has refused to grant NASA the extra long-term cash flow it needs to get the program up and running. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says it was this funding challenge that caused Sirangelo to leave.

“We are exploring what organisational changes ... are necessary to ensure we maximise efficiencies and achieve the end state of landing the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024,” he said.