VP Pence: US Will Put 'Boots on the Face of Mars'

The United States will one day have boots on the ground — on Mars, Vice President Mike Pence vowed Thursday.

"Here from this bridge to space, our nation will return to the moon, and we will put American boots on the face of Mars," Pence told NASA employees at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, CNN reported.

Hailing NASA for "making science fiction 'science fact,'" Pence also reaffirmed President Donald Trump's commitment to its mission of exploration and discovery.

"The American space program has a champion in the President of the United States," he said, asserting the Trump administration would "usher in a new era" of American space leadership.

"I can assure you that under President Donald Trump, American security will be as dominant in the heavens as we are here on Earth," he said.

Last week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to revive the National Space Council, which was originally established in 1989 by President George H.W. Bush, but discontinued in 1993. Pence was tapped to lead the Council.

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