Bush Studies Proposal for Moon Base

President Bush has before him a recommendation to establish a permanent human outpost on the moon, to be used to launch a manned mission to Mars, it was learned Tuesday night.

The recommendation is contained in the draft of a major speech the President is to give on Thursday, the 20th anniversary of the day Neil A. Armstrong took his “giant leap for mankind” on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.

Bush said Tuesday that he had not decided what he would say on Thursday.

But if he accepts the speech before him, he will call for study to begin on a multibillion-dollar project that would entail building a permanent manned moon station and launching the first manned flight to Mars from it, said a knowledgeable Administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Bush also is expected to make a push for renewed funds for the Earth-orbiting space station, which is suffering congressional cuts to the budget Bush proposed for it.