Mars Is Still a Priority Under Trump. Earth, Not So Much.

The president-elect seems to favor a strong human spaceflight program--but monitoring our own planet from space is likely not on his agenda. Trump and his team seem to favor plans to move humans deeper into space and perhaps to Mars. Recently, it seemed as though support for space exploration, both human and robotic, was reaching a crescendo. Last year's Pluto flyby, a new mission to Jupiter, and a planned mission to the icy moon Europa showcased NASA's commitment to exploring deep space, while major announcements from President Obama and Elon Musk made it sound like efforts to send humans to Mars might finally escape the realm of science fiction. All this activity fueled an optimistic view that exploring space may once again be a national priority.