Bush to announce plan for returning Americans to moon

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 09, 2004

Bush to announce plan for returning Americans to moon

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US President George W. Bush will make a major space policy announcement next week that may include returning Americans to the moon, establishing a permanent presence there and sending men to Mars in the long term, US media reported Thursday.

However, "Bush won't propose sending Americans to Mars anytime soon, rather, he envisions preparing for the mission more than a decade from now," the Associated Press reported, quoting senior administration officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

In the aftermath of the Columbia tragedy, which killed all seven astronauts on board when the space shuttle broke up on Feb. 1, 2003,the White House initiated an interagency review of the country's space policy.

A bold new space mission will not only help reinvigorate the US space program, it is also part of the administration's efforts to rally Americans as Bush campaigns for re-election, analysts said.

Bush's announcement could come in the middle of next week, officials said.

The era of US lunar exploration began in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy announced plans to land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth within a decade. As a result, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first men ever landed onthe moon surface in the US Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

Source: agencies

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