TULSA — Former Oklahoma Congressman from Tulsa and now Administrator of NASA Jim Bridenstine sat down with KRMG Monday for an exclusive, hour-long interview on the upcoming 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon, ongoing developments in the exploration of Mars, and NASA’s search for life elsewhere in our planetary system.

The Apollo 11 lunar module, Eagle, touched down on the surface of the moon at 20:17:40 UTC on July 20, 1969.

NASA has big plans for the 50th anniversary of that historic moment, as well as all that led up to it.

But NASA’s much busier planning a return to the moon - this time, to stay.

“While that was a monumental achievement, we don’t want to just celebrate the history, we want to celebrate the future,” Bridenstine told KRMG. “We are celebrating the fact that the president has given us a direction to go back to the moon sustainably -  in other words, this time we’re going to stay - to go with international partners, to build a coalition of nations for a sustainable return to the moon, with commercial partners, and to utilize the resources of the moon.

“What does that mean? We’re going to utilize the water ice for air to breathe, for water to drink, for rocket propulsion. And then also, we’re going to take as much of this technology, we’re going to retire risk, and we’re going to replicate it at Mars, eventually.

“And so, what we’re doing right now, with the moon, is enabling the expansion of humankind throughout the solar system. The moon is the first step, it’s the proving ground, for everything we do next.”

Our entire, hour-long conversation can be heard by clicking on this link, or by utilizing the audio player below.