President Donald Trump marked the 50th anniversary of the first human steps on the moon at an Oval Office meeting Friday with former Apollo 11 astronauts .
Flanked by Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins and the family of mission commander Neil Armstrong in the Oval Office, Trump was briefed on his administration's plans to send astronauts back to the moon and onto Mars, as well as advances in commercial spaceflight and the reusability of space systems.
"We are bringing the glamour back" to the space program, Trump said Friday, at the event where he was joined by First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.
President Donald Trump, accompanied by Apollo 11 astronauts Michael Collins, second from left, and Buzz Aldrin, second from right, with Vice President Mike Pence and first lady Melania Trump, speaks during a photo opportunity commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, July 19, 2019, in Washington. (AP PhotoAlex Brandon)
Trump directed Bridenstine to listen to the "other side" of his Mars exploration plan, referencing concerns by some that the most efficient way to the red planet doesn't begin with a lunar visit. NASA's current plans include a moon as a celestial stepping-stone to Mars.
Aldrin told Trump he was disappointed that even more advancements haven't been made in space over the last decade.
Aldrin and Armstrong, who died in 2012, made history when they landed on the moon 50 years ago Saturday, as Collins orbited overhead in their command module.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins, left, with Vice President Mike Pence, during a photo opportunity commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, July 19, 2019, in Washington. (AP PhotoAlex Brandon)
Vice President Mike Pence will mark the anniversary Saturday with a visit and speech at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February, according to an official familiar with the determination.
While U.S. officials believe Putin was ultimately responsible for the death of Navalny, who endured brutal conditions during his confinement, the intelligence community has found “no smoking gun” that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death — which came soon before the Russian president's reelection — or directly ordered it, according to the official.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
Soon after Navalny’s death, U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin was ultimately responsible but did not accuse the Russian president of directly ordering it.
At the time, Biden said the U.S. did not know exactly what had happened to Navalny but that “there is no doubt” that his death “was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did.”
Navalny, 47, Russia’s best-known opposition politician and Putin’s most persistent foe, died Feb. 16 in a remote penal colony above the Arctic Circle while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he rejected as politically motivated.
He had been behind bars since January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
Russian officials have said only that Navalny died of natural causes and have vehemently denied involvement both in the poisoning and in his death.
In March, a month after Navalny’s death, Putin won a landslide reelection for a fifth term, an outcome that was never in doubt.
The Wall Street Journal first reported about the U.S. intelligence determination.
FILE - Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny gestures while speaking during his interview to the Associated Press in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 18, 2017. U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn't order the death of Navalny, the imprisoned opposition leader, in February of 2024. An official says the U.S. intelligence community has found "no smoking gun" that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death or directly ordered it. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
