Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacco. My guest today is a geologist

whose fascination with rocks and volcanoes has taken him far beyond the confines of planet Earth.

Jacob Bleacher has used cutting-edge technology to deepen our understanding of the geological past

and present of the moon and Mars.

And in his current post as chief exploration scientist at the US Space Agency NASA,

he is a key player in the planning of a major revival of the American manned space program.

The ambition set out by the Trump administration is to have

astronauts, including the first woman, back on the moon, by 2024. Now, that would be the beginning

of a ramped up commitment to space exploration, culminating in a manned mission to Mars. Well,

that's the theory.

But already there are massive doubts about Congress's willingness to pay

and the public's appetite for prioritizing space exploration

above more earthly concerns.

There are other questions, too.

Can the private sector, led by billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk,

deliver the right technology at a better price? Could China and other rival powers seek to match

and overtake America's space ambitions? Well, Dr. Jacob Bleacher joins me now from Washington,

D.C. Welcome to Hard Talk. Hey, thanks for having me.

Glad to be here. It's a real pleasure to have you. And I want to begin with that NASA announcement of

little more than a week ago where we learned that you guys have discovered a form of water on the

sunlit part of the moon's surface it seems extraordinary to

me that we're still learning such basic things about the moon so just explain what this actually

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