In his prepared remarks, Trump, a longtime backer of U.S.-led space exploration and exploitation, singled out Mars and left the moon hanging.

The president’s Inaugural Address linked landing on the Red Planet with Manifest Destiny, but left many of the specifics unclear.

President Trump vowed to send American astronauts to the planet Mars in his inaugural address, envisioning a moment when the U.S. flag is planted on Martian soil. “We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars,

President Donald Trump made a bold promise to America minutes after taking the Oath of Office: pledging that an American flag would be planted on Mars.

The Red Planet reaches its best position all year this week on January 15. Here’s how and when to get out and see it.

As Mars approaches opposition this week, it will become a dazzling spectacle in the night sky. See it at its best now, or wait until 2027.

It’s a term used by astronomers to describe when Earth, Mars and the Sun align. When this happens, Earth sits directly between Mars and the Sun, positioning the red planet directly opposite of the Sun in the sky.

During his inaugural address, Donald Trump said the United States would consider itself a growing nation under his presidency and he would bring the nation's flag "into new and beautiful horizons." Trump went on to say American astronauts would "plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars,