Trump Unveils US Space Academy Plan, Praises Anil Menon
WASHINGTON, DC- President Donald Trump praised NASA astronaut Anil Menon and his crewmates as “great Americans, great patriots, brave people” while announcing plans for a new US Space Academy to train a new generation of space professionals for missions to the Moon and beyond.
Menon, a NASA astronaut and colonel in the US Space Force, was among the astronauts Trump spoke with during a call to the International Space Station from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“This is a great honor, to be with you is a great honor and I just want to thank Jessica, Anil, Jack, great Americans, great patriots, brave people,” Trump said, referring to Menon, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway.
Menon responded, “Thank you, sir. And I would like to say, as a colonel in the Space Force, that I am very proud to serve in the largest domain imaginable,” Menon said.
“And last week, I got the great honor of doing a spacewalk and got to look at the space station from the robotic arm and saw the incredible ingenuity that we are capable of,” he said. Menon said he was “so proud and excited” that the United States was preparing for missions beyond low-Earth orbit. “We are going to pave the way to our next journey to the Moon, Moon Base and Mars,” he said. “And thank you for propelling us in that direction.”
Menon’s wife Anna joined Trump at the space center and briefly addressed the astronauts. Menon was born and raised in Minneapolis to Indian and Ukrainian immigrant parents.
The call followed Trump’s announcement of plans for a US Space Academy. He said the United States needed to train an entire generation of skilled service members, engineers and civil operators as the US Space Force and commercial space industry grow and the country’s ambitions expand to the Moon and beyond.
Trump signed the order during a ceremony at the Johnson Space Center. The order creates a Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will chair the commission, while NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson will serve as its executive director.
Trump said the institution should rank alongside America’s established service academies.
The United States currently operates five federal service academies. Establishing another permanent academy would require decisions on funding, admissions, degree programs, service commitments and, where necessary, congressional action. (IANS)
