Absolutely! This Is Way Overdue: Moon or Bust

NASA Planning Return to Moon Within 13 Years
By WARREN E. LEARY
New York Times
Published: September 20, 2005

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 - Combining an old concept, existing equipment and new ideas, NASA gave shape on Monday to President Bush's promise to send humans back to the Moon by the end of the next decade.

Michael D. Griffin, the agency's new administrator, detailed a $104 billion plan that he said would get astronauts to the Moon by 2018, serve as a steppingstone to Mars and beyond, and stay within NASA's existing budget.

The plan would use a new spacecraft similar to the Apollo command capsule of the original Moon program, and new rockets made up largely of components from the space shuttle program.

"It is very Apollo-like," Dr. Griffin said, "but bigger. Think of it as Apollo on steroids."

The plan drew a mixture of praise and criticism from lawmakers and space experts. (News Analysis)

The chairman of the House Science Committee, Representative Sherwood Boehlert, Republican of New York, said it appeared to be "the safest, least expensive and most efficient way" of moving forward in space exploration, but added that current cost overruns in other NASA programs might make it hard to develop the new vehicle on schedule.

The outlines of the plan had been disclosed informally over the last two months by NASA officials and space experts. But Dr. Griffin's announcement laid out a timetable and a budget, putting flesh on the bones of a proposal that Mr. Bush announced in January 2004 but had never described in detail.

Dr. Griffin said that after adjusting for inflation, the program would cost just 55 percent of what it cost to put a dozen men on the lunar surface from 1969 to 1972.

Space exploration is one of the most important endeavors we can undertake. Without a "Frontier" to explore, without a goal for which to strive, we grow weaker, duller, less adventurous. We need a great national goal which will inspire our next generation to pursue science and mathematics in school. This is a wise expenditure for the future of our nation.

Full Story: Space Now!

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