Donald Trump storms the internet on
Thursday in yet another tweet on NASA that says the Moon is a part of Mars.
'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
(NASA) should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars
(of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!'
The 72-year-old US President’s
propensity for Twitter gaffes is very well known and documented. However, in
his latest tweet which claims the moon is actually a part of Mars, he simply
outdone himself. Though he was trying to
question NASA’S decision to spend money on another moon mission simply exploded
the social media and backfired.
Trump’s tweet is
not just in contradiction to a well-established universal fact about the moon’s
identity as being planetary body, but also to his own statements in 2017 when
he showed tremendous interest on the Mars missions. He had actually asked NASA
to accelerate plans to return to the Moon and to land humans on the surface
again by 2024.
After showing
such interest, why is he questioning NASA, which is a significant change of his
support of Mars missions? As a part of political commentary and as a political psychologist, I can
say that this is not the first time when he has made such a cynical statement.
By resorting to such comments, he either tries to grab attention, which he
surely does, or he tries to manipulate public opinion in the most vacuous
manner.
What Trump says
and what he means are not always in sync. It is reasonable to ascertain that
what he meant was that while Mars should be the focus, our moon should also be
included in space exploration plans. But, it’s not what he actually said. And
that something being hotly debated on social media by anit-Trump and pro-Trump
Americans.
Trump has not
only given scientists sleepless nights over the Moon-Mars conundrum, but also
shattered NASA’s Mars mission plans. yet, this is nothing new for Trump. If he
aims to win the 2020re-election, then he must rise above his conceited attitude
and work for the welfare of Americans, and show leadership instead of just
blabbering. USA politics
is going under tremendous fluctuations, and he has much else to worry about.
North Korea is still a threat. Iran is a serious rising concern. While his
tariffs are causing significant harm to the economy as farmers are going
bankrupt at an alarming rate.
-Dr. Bart Rossi Ph.D
-Dr. Bart Rossi Ph.D
