VISION TARGETS HEAVENLY BODIES

Abstract

IN 1961, A YOUNG NATIONAL AERONAUTICS & Space Administration was charged with the mission of putting a person on the moon. With hard work and ample funding, NASA achieved that goal in July 1969. Forty years later, NASA is being asked to return to the moon. The revival of the moon mission is part of the new U.S. space exploration policy delivered to NASA by President George W Bush on Jan. 14. The plan sets a retirement date for the space shuttle and refocuses research on the International Space Station (ISS) and also provides a fiscally responsible, milestone approach to future human missions beyond low Earth orbit. While the objectives of the plan have some people questioning its viability others are welcoming it as the guidance that NASA has been without for decades. This plan is way overdue, says John M. Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University Logsdon was a member ...