United States President Donald Trump on Friday said NASA should not talk about going to the moon and directed the space agency to focus on "bigger things" instead.
"For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!" he tweeted.
While Trump's tweet on the moon being part of Mars is unclear, he was possibly referring to the moon exploration serving as part of the broader end goal of reaching Mars and beyond, as detailed on NASA's "Moon to Mars" webpage, according to The Hill.
Last month, the US President had said that he was updating his budget proposal to include an additional USD 1.6 billion to focus more on space exploration.
"Under my Administration, we are restoring @NASA to greatness and we are going back to the Moon, then Mars. I am updating my budget to include an additional $1.6 billion so that we can return to Space in a BIG WAY!" he had tweeted.
In March, Vice President Mike Pence had announced an ambitious plan to accelerate a return to the lunar surface from 2028 to 2024, saying that the Trump administration is committed to landing American astronauts on the moon within the next five years.
Pence, who is also the head of the White House's Space Council, had asked NASA to work on the five-year goal "by any means necessary."
In December 2017, Trump had signed an order directing NASA to focus on returning humans to the moon. Apart from space exploration, the administration is planning to develop a military component known as the Space Force.
( With inputs from ANI )