NASA on returning to the Moon for Yuri's Night 2019

Happy Yuri's Night, the day of the year when I celebrate the promise of space!  On that theme, I am updating NASA's plan to return to the Moon, which featured prominently in 2018 at NASA.  Without any further ado, I present NASA Administrator Bridenstine Speaks at 35th Space Symposium on the Moon to discuss NASA's five-year plan to return humans to the Moon.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine delivered a keynote address April 9 during the 35th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During his speech, Bridenstine outlined NASA’s accelerated plans to send American astronauts to the Moon’s South Pole by 2024. The president’s direction from Space Policy Directive-1 galvanizes NASA’s return to the Moon and builds on progress on the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, collaborations with U.S industry and international partners, and knowledge gained from current robotic assets at the Moon and Mars.

As I repeated last Moon Day, "As I wrote first in Trump pulls a Gingrich on space and again in Bill Nye and I get our wish from Trump on Mars, sort of, 'space policy is the one area where Trump might actually be good for the country.'  I hope I'm right."

Of course, the reason that it's Yuri's Night on April 12th is that this is the date when Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space (in fact, he was the first to orbit the Earth).  With that in mind, watch the Interview with Yuri's Night Los Angeles Organizers by KTLA 5, broadcast the same day that Bridenstone gave his presentation above.


My readers can watch a video of last year's celebration in Science fact and science fiction for Yuri's Night 2018 and the year before's at Celebrate Yuri's Night 2017 with 'Star Trek' actors and NASA.  Both of them look like they were great fun.

That's it for Yuri's Night.  Stay tuned for this year's celebration of Apophis Day, when I observe the perils of space.  Asteroids!