Science / Medicine : NASA Aims for Moon, Mars

Acting on President Bush’s charge to fly to the moon and Mars, NASA said last week that American astronauts could establish a lunar base by the first decade of the 21st Century and go to the red planet 10 years later.

In an address to employees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA chief Richard Truly said a moon base housing four astronauts for up to 30 days could be completed by the early years of the next century and would be followed by more sophisticated bases that could house 12 astronauts for a year. A flight to Mars would be possible in the second decade of the next century, Truly added, and would lead to permanent colonies on the planet.

A former shuttle astronaut, Truly drew a parallel between these ambitious space goals and the Apollo missions to the moon in the 1970s. “In a sense this is like Apollo because it is a leadership initiative and one that is going to take the very best of American spirit and know-how to do,” Truly said.