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Article: U.S. Planning Base on Moon To Prepare for Trip to Mars; Scientists Hard at Work On Technological Hurdles
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- March 26, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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For the first time since 1972, the United States is planning to
fly to the moon, but instead of a quick, Apollo-like visit,
astronauts intend to build a permanent base and live there while they
prepare what may be the most ambitious undertaking in history --
putting human beings on Mars.
President Bush in 2004 announced to great fanfare plans to build a
new spaceship, get back to the moon by 2020 and travel on to Mars
after that. But, with NASA focused on designing a new spaceship and
spending about 40 percent of its budget on the troubled space shuttle
and international space station programs, that timetable may suffer.
Still, NASA's moon planners are closely following the spaceship ...