President Bush through "officials, speaking on condition of anonymity" has
floated a trial balloon about sending humans to Mars after a return to the Moon
and the construction of a lunar base.

With the air literally going out of the ISS program and color pictures coming
back from the surface of Mars this is a tipping point moment.

I was just at the Habitation 2004 conference. Both the concierge at my hotel
and the bell hop at the conference hotel upon hearing that I was attending a
conference on living in space engaged me in surprisingly well informed
discussions on what the Mars rover would do and what it may help us learn about
Mars. This is on people's minds.

I personally have no strong objections to Bush's floated plan, my only real
objection is that so far there are some goals being mentioned, but no
Kennedyesque hard deadlines for achieving them.

Don't let Bush's trial balloon deflate!

It is important that right now people who support sending humans to Mars phone,
fax, email, or snail mail the White House to express support. President Bush
may be reached at president@..., 202-456-1111, or by writing
President George W. Bush, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington,
DC 20500. Bush has floated trial balloons before, such as Retirement Savings
Accounts as part of Social Security reform, only to let them disappear until the
time seems more appropriate.

The Democratic front runner, Howard Dean, is running on a platform of all things
not Bush. His inclination will be to object to this proposal, but he has made
statements in support of humans to Mars:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A58372\
-2003Nov3&notFound=true
If you are a scientist you can register your opinion at Scientists for Dean:
http://scientistsfordean.org/taxonomy/view/or/24
Note that the registration page for this site is currently running a poll:
"Should Dr. Dean emphasize his position in support of aggressive human Mars
exploration" at this page:
http://scientistsfordean.org/?q=user/register
As of this morning only 40 votes had been cast running 63% in favor.

Also on the Democratic side, Wesley Clark, has asked for input on America's
space future and you can give your two cents at: http://space.forclark.com/

I believe our goal has to be to get all the candidates supporting the idea of
humans to Mars and only arguing about the details. A vigorous debate is needed
to raise awareness of the issue to the point where public opinion tips (we hope)
towards a consensus that this is a good and necessary goal.

The two major candidates have publicly endorsed the idea of Humans to Mars. The
press spotlight is on them. We have to find ways to get them to publicly make
the case for why this is a good idea. Write your newspaper's editors, contact
the networks, e.g., http://www.cnn.com/feedback/ and ask them to ask the
candidates about this issue. The press is our proxy - get them to get the
candidates and the talking heads talking about Mars.

Surely, there must be many in the press who are tired of covering Brittany and
Paris, Neverland Ranch, and the sensational murder du jour and want an excuse to
cover a serious subject other than Iraq. Make them feel the demand.

Tip it.
Regards,
Gary Fisher