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UPI Exclusive: Bush OKs new moon missions
By Frank Sietzen Jr. and Keith L. Cowing
United Press International
Published 1/8/2004 7:30 PM


WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- American astronauts will return to the
moon early in the next decade in preparation for sending crews to
explore Mars and nearby asteroids, President Bush is expected to
propose next week as part of a sweeping reform of the U.S. space
program.

To pay for the new effort -- which would require a new generation of
spacecraft but use Europe's Ariane rockets and Russia's Soyuz
capsules in the interim -- NASA's space shuttle fleet would be
retired as soon as construction of the International Space Station
is completed, senior administration sources told United Press
International.

The visionary new space plan would be the most ambitious project
entrusted to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration since
the Apollo moon landings of three decades ago. It commits the United
States to an aggressive and far-reaching mission that holds
interplanetary space as the human race's new frontier.

Sources said Bush's impending announcement climaxes an unprecedented
review of NASA and of America's civilian space goals -- manned and
robotic. The review has been proceeding for nearly a year, involving
closed-door meetings under the supervision of Vice President Dick
Cheney, sources said. The administration examined a wide range of
ideas, including new, reusable space shuttles and even exotic
concepts such as space elevators.

To begin the initiative, the president will ask Congress for a down
payment of $800 million for fiscal year 2005, most of which will go
to develop new robotic space vehicles and begin work on advanced
human exploration systems. Bush also plans to ask Congress to boost
NASA's budget by 5 percent annually over at least the next five
years, with all of the increase supporting space exploration. With
the exception of the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security,
no other agency is expected to receive a budget increase above
inflation in FY 2005.

Along with retiring the shuttle fleet, the new plan calls for NASA
to convert a planned follow-on spacecraft -- called the orbital
space plane -- into versions of a new spaceship called the crew
exploration vehicle. NASA would end substantial involvement in the
space station project about the same time the moon landings would
begin -- beginning in 2013, according to an administration timetable
shown to UPI.

The first test flights of unmanned prototypes of the CEV could occur
as soon as 2007. An orbital version would replace the shuttle to
transport astronauts to and from the space station. However, sources
said, the current timetable leaves a period several years when NASA
would lack manned space capability -- hence the need to use Soyuz
vehicles for flights to the station. Ariane rockets also might be
used to launch lunar missions.

During the remainder of its participation in space station
activities, NASA's research would be redirected to sustaining humans
in space. Other research programs not involving humans would be
terminated or curtailed.

The various models of the CEV would be 21st century versions of the
1960s Apollo spacecraft. When they become operational, they would be
able to conduct various missions in Earth orbit, travel to and land
on the moon, send astronauts to rendezvous with nearby asteroids,
and eventually serve as part of a series of manned missions to Mars.

Under the current plan, sources said, the first lunar landings would
carry only enough resources to test advanced equipment that would be
employed on voyages beyond the moon. Because the early moon missions
would use existing rockets, they could deliver only small equipment
packages. So the initial, return-to-the-moon missions essentially
would begin where the Apollo landings left off -- a few days at a
time, growing gradually longer. The human landings could be both
preceded and accompanied by robotic vehicles.

The first manned Mars expeditions would attempt to orbit the red
planet in advance of landings -- much as Apollo 8 and 10 orbited the
moon but did not land. The orbital flights would conduct photo
reconnaissance of the Martian surface before sending landing craft,
said sources familiar with the plan's details.

Along with new spacecraft, NASA would develop other equipment needed
to allow humans to explore other worlds, including advanced
spacesuits, roving vehicles and life support equipment.

As part of its new space package, sources said, the administration
will convene an unusual presidential commission to review NASA's
plans as they unfold. The group would consider such factors as the
design of the spacecraft; the procedure for assembly, either in
Earth orbit or lunar orbit; the individual elements the new craft
should contain, such as capsules, supply modules, landing vehicles
and propellant stages, and the duration and number of missions and
size of crews.

Sources said Bush will direct NASA to scale back or scrap all
existing programs that do not support the new effort. Further
details about the plan and the space agency's revised budget will be
announced in NASA briefings next week and when the president
delivers his FY 2005 budget to Congress.

--

Frank Sietzen Jr. covers aerospace issues for UPI Science News.
Keith L. Cowing is editor of NASAWatch.com and SpaceRef.com. E-mail
sciencemail@...


Copyright © 2001-2004 United Press International

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