Charles Bolden, the administrator of NASA, has described today’s children as the “Space Generation”, saying they will have the opportunity to travel beyond Earth.

In a speech to the Center for American Progress in Washington today, Bolden said that the mission to Mars, the plans for which were detailed by the space agency earlier this month, would involve his granddaughters’ generation.

“I’ve been blessed to be able to travel to nearly every corner of our world, and I’ve been blessed to have seen the planet from space over the course of four space shuttle missions,” he said. “I can honestly tell you, however, that there is nothing, not a single thing, quite as awe-inspiring as being able to look into the eyes of my three beautiful granddaughters.

“To me, American progress is all about the world in which they’ll grow up, the world where they’ll someday raise their own children and grandchildren when we talk about our journey to Mars, when we talk about the next giant leaps in space exploration, we’re talking about their generation.”

Bolden said that this generation would not only have far greater opportunities to visit new places, but have a different perspective on humanity’s spread into space.

“I like to refer to their generation as the Space Generation. Not only because of the places they’ll go, but also because of the expansive ways they look at our world, our universe and the possibilities that await them beyond life here on Earth,” he said.

“When I’ve told my granddaughters we’re on a journey to Mars, they always ask me: why stop there? In broader terms, that’s their attitude towards human possibility and American progress. Why stop there? Everything is possible.”

Bolden also put forward a compelling vision of the future, as aided by technologies developed on the journey to Mars.

“When I think of the world in which my granddaughters will be raising their own children, I see a world where their kids view human beings living and working on Mars as a fact of life, much as they view living and working on the International Space Station today,” he said. “A future where NASA and its international partners are using Mars as a stepping stone to the solar system.

“I see a future where a robust private space industry is launching human beings, cargo and satellites of all sizes to space at a significantly lower price point. A future where the next generation American company utilises technologies developed for space travel to develop a product that improves our quality of life right here on Earth.

“A future where flying from Washington to Los Angeles is a better experience both for people in the plane and on the ground. I see a future where our grandchildren’s children are drinking cleaner water, breathing cleaner air and making use of cleaner energy. I see a future where fewer Americans are losing a sister, a brother or a son because of the medical technologies we perfect to protect our astronauts from exposure to radiation on a long-duration space flight help revolutionise medicine and the medical field.”