{"id":17699,"date":"2020-05-30T20:24:46","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T12:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/after-seeing-milestone-launch-president-trump-hails-space-effort-as-a-force-for-pride-and-unity\/"},"modified":"2020-05-30T20:24:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T12:24:46","slug":"after-seeing-milestone-launch-president-trump-hails-space-effort-as-a-force-for-pride-and-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/after-seeing-milestone-launch-president-trump-hails-space-effort-as-a-force-for-pride-and-unity\/","title":{"rendered":"After seeing milestone launch, President Trump hails space effort as a force for \u2018pride and unity\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_566450\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-566450\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-566450\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-trump2-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"Donald Trump at NASA\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-trump2-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-trump2-1260x840.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-trump2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-trump2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-trump2.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-566450\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Donald Trump delivers remarks in Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Vehicle Assembly Building with a mockup of SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon capsule in the background. (GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>President Donald Trump held up America\u2019s space effort as a unifying endeavor for a divided nation after becoming only the third sitting president to witness the launch of American astronauts in person.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, along with Vice President Mike Pence and other VIPs, made the journey to NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida not just once but twice this week.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"callout clearfix\"><strong>\u2018Light this candle\u2019:<\/strong> SpaceX sends NASA astronauts on historic trip to space station<\/h4>\n<p>The first time around, Trump and other family members including his wife, Melania Trump, flew down from Washington for a launch attempt that ended up being scrubbed due to weather concerns.<\/p>\n<p>He returned today and watched SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket send NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on their way to the International Space Station&nbsp; in SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon capsule.<\/p>\n<p>It marked the first in-person presidential viewing of a crewed launch since President Bill Clinton watched John Glenn ride the shuttle Discovery to space in 1998. Before that, President Richard Nixon attended Apollo 12\u2019s launch in 1969. (President Lyndon Johnson saw Apollo 11 lift off after he left office, and President Barack Obama missed seeing the shuttle Endeavour\u2019s last launch due to a technical scrub.)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_566451\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-566451\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-566451\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-trump-630x316.jpeg\" alt=\"Watching the launch\" width=\"630\" height=\"316\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-trump-630x316.jpeg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-trump-768x385.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-trump.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-566451\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Donald Trump, at right, watches SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket rise with Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, beside him. (NASA Photo \/ Bill Ingalls)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After the SpaceX launch, Trump delivered remarks at NASA\u2019s cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building with VIPs, launch team members and journalists in the audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were filled with the sense of pride and unity that brings us together as Americans,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThat same spirit which powered our astronauts to the moon has also helped lift our country to ever-greater heights of justice and opportunity throughout our history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump didn\u2019t wear a mask during his visit, but he did acknowledge the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe same spirit of American determination that sends our people into space will conquer this disease on Earth [that] should\u2019ve never happened.\u201d he said. \u201cNothing, not even gravity itself, can hold Americans down or keep America back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The president also referred to the unrest that has roiled many of the nation\u2019s cities after police in Minneapolis killed a black resident named George Floyd during a streetside encounter.<\/p>\n<p>Trump said \u201cwe will stand with the family of George Floyd, with the peaceful protesters and with every law-abiding citizen who wants decency, civility, safety and security.\u201d But he also said \u201cmy administration will stop mob violence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"President Trump remarks after NASA\/Space X Crew Dragon Demo-2 launch\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KqlSMFXo3po?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He claimed that the violence was being led by \u201cradical left-wing groups\u201d \u2014 but authorities in Minnesota say it\u2019s not yet clear who\u2019s responsible for provoking the violence. Some have said far-right groups appear to have encouraged their followers to descend on the state and take advantage of the crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Trump talked up some coming attractions in space. \u201cWe have created the envy of the world and will soon be landing on Mars, and we\u2019ll soon have the greatest weapons ever imagined in history,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve already seen designs, and even I can\u2019t believe it.\u201d (That may be a reference to hypersonic weapons development.)<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, he talked down the policies of the Obama administration. \u201cWhen I first came into office, three and a half years ago, NASA had lost its way, and the excitement, energy and ambition, as almost everybody in this room knows, was gone,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee to run against Trump in November, took issue with that view. In a statement, Biden noted that NASA\u2019s commercial crew program was started up during the Obama administration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis mission represents the culmination of work begun years ago, and which President Obama and I fought hard to ensure would become a reality,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_566452\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-566452\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-566452\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-musk1-630x409.jpeg\" alt=\"Elon Musk in VAB\" width=\"630\" height=\"409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-musk1-630x409.jpeg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-musk1-1260x818.jpeg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-musk1-768x498.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-musk1-1536x997.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/200530-musk1.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-566452\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX CEO Elon Musk celebrates in NASA\u2019s Vehicle Assembly Building after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket put two NASA astronauts into orbit. (GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During a post-launch news briefing, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine took a middle-of-the-road course: He praised the work done during the Obama administration by his predecessor, Charles Bolden, as well as the initiative shown by the Trump administration in setting a course for the moon and Mars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is great about NASA is, we bring people together,\u201d said Bridenstine, who was a Republican congressman representing an Oklahoma district before he was chosen to head NASA.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"callout clearfix\"><strong>A new name in space:<\/strong> Crew Dragon\u2019s astronauts christen their spaceship<\/h4>\n<p>SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who received kudos from Trump at the Vehicle Assembly Building, agreed with Bridenstine\u2019s sentiment. \u201cWe need more positive, good things in this world,\u201d Musk said during the briefing.<\/p>\n<p>Musk also managed to get in a diplomatic dig at Russian space chief Dmitry Rogozin, who said during the 2014 Ukraine crisis that U.S. sanctions against Russia would have a negative effect on NASA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest to the USA to bring their astronauts to the International Space Station using a trampoline,\u201d Rogozin said via his Russian-language Twitter account.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Bridenstine noted that Rogozin sent out a statement that was \u201coverwhelmingly congratulatory towards NASA and SpaceX.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe trampoline is working,\u201d Musk quipped. \u201cInside joke.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump delivers remarks in Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Vehicle Assembly Building with a mockup of SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon capsule in the background. (GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota) President Donald Trump held up America\u2019s space effort as a unifying endeavor for a divided nation after becoming only the third sitting president to witness the launch [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[291,235,2539,1045,479,4434,316],"class_list":["post-17699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-crew-dragon","tag-donald-trump","tag-elon-musk","tag-falcon-9","tag-falcon-launch","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17699"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}