Bush to unveil human space plans
news.bbc.co.uk
By Dr David Whitehouse
BBC News Online science editor
It is more than 30 years since Americans landed on the moon
President George W Bush is to set out ambitious space exploration plans, which include a permanent base on the moon and a manned mission to Mars.
In a speech on Wednesday, he is expected to announce a $800m boost to Nasa's budget to start the programme.
But critics say such plans will cost a great deal more and that America cannot afford such ambitious ideas.
They also claim Mr Bush is only making the proposals in a bid to boost his re-election chances later this year.
'New horizons'
White House officials say the president's announcement will reinvigorate the US space programme following setbacks, including the Columbia shuttle disaster.
The new focus will be manned exploration, first to the Moon and then to Mars. For the first time in decades astronauts will be going somewhere.
"The spirit is going to be one of continued exploration... seeking new horizons and investing in a programme that... meets that objective," Mr Bush told reporters in Mexico on Tuesday.
To detail his plans, President Bush will be making a rare visit to the US space agency's headquarters in Washington.
The new plan will call for:
the space shuttle to be retired in 2010
A new manned spacecraft that will be cheaper and more reliable than the shuttle
The International Space Station to be curtailed after its next phase of construction. After 2016, Nasa will leave it to its international partners, the European Space Agency, Russia, Canada and Japan.
A return to the Moon in 9-12 years, with a manned Moonbase soon after Plans for manned missions to Mars. Already the White House has earmarked an extra $800m to get things underway, and there may be an extra 5% per annum increase for Nasa in its budget.
Rover success
But critics, including conservatives, say the idea is irresponsible at a time when the federal budget deficit is soaring.
"I think it's total fiscal absurdity. Bush has been spending money like we've got money to burn and we don't," said Stephen Moore, President of the Club for Growth, a politically powerful conservative group that supports Mr Bush.
The president's father proposed sending men to Mars when he was in office in 1989, but did not mention a moon base.
The project went nowhere after its cost was estimated at up to $500bn.
However, the current president's announcement comes as the US space programme celebrates the successful landing of its robot rover Spirit on Mars.
As well as sending back images of the Red Planet's surface, Spirit is also due to start exploring the terrain and collecting data.
At the same time as President Bush is visiting Nasa's headquarters, his Vice President Dick Cheney will go to the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California - the home of unmanned planetary exploration - to tell them about the new direction. |
