Bush will present next week on the new American space policy, which will include sending astronauts to Mars in the future
US President George Bush is planning a change in US space policy, which will include a mission to the moon that will lead to a permanent US presence there, followed by a long-term mission to Mars.
Members of Congress are concerned about the progress of the US in the space race. "If we don't do it, someone else will," said Congressman Bart Gordon of Tennessee. "The Chinese, the Europeans and the Japanese - they all aspire to reach the moon. We don't want to wake up and see that they have a base there in front of us."
Congressional sources said that the administration is also planning greater cooperation between NASA and the Department of Defense. A few months ago, senior officials at NASA discussed with senior advisors of the White House new goals for the American space agency, after the explosion of the shuttle "Columbia" almost a year ago.
The advisers called for a public debate on space policy, but the matter was postponed due to the war in Iraq.
The White House spokesman said that after the Columbia explosion, Bush made it clear that he was interested in continuing the process of space exploration. Bush's announcement of the program in the election year was intended to present the president as a visionary, but may run into budgetary arguments from his opponents, who want him to focus on internal problems such as education and health. However, the ambitious proposal is also expected to appeal to a select few.
Coming soon: a training base on the moon
In the coming days, President Bush will announce: the Americans are returning to the moon, and this time for good
Alex Doron, Maariv, 11/1/04
After an American spacecraft landed on Mars a week ago, the dream of landing people on the Red Planet is back. The difficulties towards the realization of the plan are many, and a "small step for man" on Mars is not expected in the next twenty years. However, the first phase of the ambitious plan may begin soon, with the launch of a man to the moon where he has not set foot since 1972. Following a briefing for reporters held at the White House on Friday, the media in the United States is busy with the ambitious American intention to establish a permanent settlement base on the moon. According to the reports, President Bush is supposed to announce the plan to return to the moon, in the middle of the week. It is believed that at this stage it is only a general statement of intent without a detailed plan or timetable for implementation.
The base on the moon is part of the plan to land a man on Mars. According to the Americans, the moon is the most suitable training site for astronauts who will be launched to Mars, on which the technologies and the people who will have to stay on Mars can be tested, because of relatively similar conditions to those on Mars.
The idea of returning to the moon and establishing a permanent base there has already received enough criticism. This is a project that will cost a lot of money, at least 400 billion dollars, and this at a time when the budget of the space agency NASA is only 15 billion dollars. In addition, the deficit in the United States budget is expected to climb to 500 billion dollars this year, and the president has already pledged to reduce it by half within five years.
However, the return to the moon will probably be carried out in the next decade, with or without connection to the launch to Mars, but with a much more modest budget. Experts estimate that the return of the United States to the moon (the last people were there in 1972) will be around 2013, while the operation to circle Mars with a manned spacecraft will not be carried out before 2020. Space scientists told the American media that a flight to the moon will last about three days, while the flight to Mars Requires six months in a spaceship.
In the meantime, NASA scientists have to find a way to move the Spirit spacecraft, which has already landed on Mars. One of the airbags designed to soften the landing of the vehicle did not deflate enough, so at the moment it is not possible to lower the vehicle from its "landing pad" (ramp). Now the engineers have to see to it that the spirit starts to move, collect findings about the chemical composition of Mars, and send them to Earth.
