Men on the Moon by 2015, Men on Mars by 2020. I'm Lovin it!

[Woodrow]

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040114_1719.html

WASHINGTON Jan. 14 — President Bush beckoned the nation "forward into the universe" on Wednesday, outlining a costly new effort to return Americans to the moon as early as 2015 and use it as a waystation to Mars and beyond.
Bush said he envisioned "a new foothold on the moon...and new journeys to the world beyond our own," underscoring a renewed commitment to manned spaceflight less than a year after the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and a crew of seven.

In a speech delivered at NASA headquarters a few blocks from the White House, Bush unveiled a plan to withdraw the United States from the International Space Station by 2010 and retire the aging space shuttle fleet at about the same time. In its place, he called for development of a new Crew Exploratory Vehicle, capable of carrying astronauts to the space station and the moon.

Bush said early financing would total $12 billion for exploration over the next five years, only $1 billion of it in new funds. That meant that even if he wins a second term in office, his successors in the Oval Office would be responsible for finding the rest of the money for a program likely to run into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

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http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040114.wbush0114/BNStory/International/


Bush lays out vision for space exploration
 
The United States will build a base on the moon that will serve as a launching pad for manned exploration to Mars and beyond, President George W. Bush said Wednesday.

Laying out an ambitious vision reminiscent of John F. Kennedy's pledge to put a man on the moon within a decade, Mr. Bush said that NASA would finish building the International Space Station, retire the space shuttle fleet, develop a new spacecraft and return an astronaut to the moon -– all within the next 10 or 15 years.

Details of his space plan -– released by the White House before his speech Wednesday at NASA headquarters -– call for an established human presence on the moon that will make further exploration cheaper.

“The extended human presence on the moon will enable astronauts to develop new technologies and harness the moon's abundant resources to allow manned exploration of more challenging environments,” the statement said. “ The experience and knowledge gained on the moon will serve as a foundation for human missions beyond the moon, beginning with Mars.”

Mr. Bush reportedly wants to increase NASA's budget by $1-billion (U.S.) over the next five years. He would also shift $11-billion in federal money from other NASA programs to make way for these plans.

If it all goes according to plan, unmanned spacecraft similar to the Mars expedition would begin exploring the lunar surface within four years, laying the groundwork for human presence. The goal would be humans living and working on the moon “for increasingly extended periods,” though not necessarily on a permanent level
 
I can't wait!

[HIPPI]

Yay, another picture of Mars.

[Trizz]

osama go blow up yourself in some mudhole in russia aight
you a fake wannabe muslim you a evil confused sad little man and so is the one who plays this alias

and to the nigga who made this threat fall back homie
this aint star trek duke

[Trauma-san]

Shit, it is now, lol.  


This is actually pretty great, I'm kinda getting behind it now, even though it's expensive as fuck.  In the end, our existance on earth is about learning, or at least that's something we should always strive for.  This is the ultimate in bettering ourselves, and this isn't just for the U.S., this is for the entire human race, to show what it's possible to accomplish if we only wish for it.  

[mauzip]

This is actually pretty great, I'm kinda getting behind it now, even though it's expensive as fuck.

[Jay ay Beee]

Bush said early financing would total $12 billion for exploration over the next five years, only $1 billion of it in new funds. That meant that even if he wins a second term in office, his successors in the Oval Office would be responsible for finding the rest of the money for a program likely to run into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Great politics.

[HIPPI]

^^^ Yup. Let's use our tax dollars so that corporations can make more money at our expense.

[white Boy]

how would we be going back to the moon, if we were never there...

[Immortal]

ITS A GREAT MOMENT FOR SCIENCE.