In his inauguration speech last month, President Trump said America is entering a new “Golden Age.” He reminded us that Americans are “explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers” and challengeed us to “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars,” and plant our flag on the surface of Mars.

Trump can deliver a revival of the pioneer spirit by following in the footsteps of John F. Kennedy and setting a goal of establishing a robotic colony on Mars within the next decade. We should choose to go to Mars and do the hard things, “not because they are easy but because they are hard.”

Kennedy entered office in 1961 when the country was bitterly divided and global power was reorganizing. The U.S. was fighting a two-front war: one hot in Vietnam and the other cold with the Russians. Kennedy exuded American exceptionalism and set the nation on a “New Frontier,” focusing on space exploration, civil rights, economic reforms and global diplomacy. He inspired us to be great, and America rose to the challenge.

Taking up the call was his vice president, Lyndon Johnson, who was named chairman of the Space Council. As Douglas Brinkley wrote in his book “American Moonshot,” Johnson “championed NASA as a potential bonanza of tech-driven wealth for numerous states.” He played the inside game of pork and patronage that lubricates the wheels of government. At the same time, Kennedy inspired the American people to become........

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