Ok, I’m not even a scientist and I’m saying, “DUH!”
By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer
CRAWFORD, Texas – President Bush wants to make the moon a testing ground and jumping-off point for future missions to Mars and perhaps even to asteroids, administration officials said Sunday.To make way for the next generation of space exploration, the president will call for the retirement of space shuttle program by the end of this decade, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The shuttles are the only way to haul much of the equipment to the International Space Station , but by then, the United States would have completed its commitment to the orbiting facility, the officials said.
Bush’s new space initiative, to be made public in Washington on Wednesday, aims to pave the way for manned missions to other, more remote destinations such as Mars and asteroids. It also would make the costs of such explorations lower than they would be from Earth, administration officials said.
But they said the president doesn’t foresee a settlement on the moon for 10 to 15 years, and on Mars for 25 to 30 years.
The architects of Bush’s long-range space plan cite several advantages to setting up camp on the moon. Its gravitational field is about one-sixth that of Earth’s, meaning it would take less energy ? and money ? to launch spacecraft from there.
Looks like somebody’s making a Kennedy play. If it gets us back on the moon, I have little to bitch about.
