The US should be aiming to put astronauts on Mars in the long term and on asteroids in the short term, according to a new from the .
Instead of trying to recapture the thrill of the Apollo era of lunar exploration by putting people back on the Moon by 2020 鈥� the outlined by President Bush in 2004 鈥� the space advocacy organisation is urging the incoming Administration and Congress to set its sights farther beyond Earth.
NASA should begin a new era of human exploration with relatively modest excursions to nearby destinations, such as asteroids, before stepping up to more ambitious missions, including to Mars, the society says.
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鈥淲e鈥檇 like to see a human exploration programme with specific milestones that gets people out above low-Earth orbit, out to other destinations,鈥� says society president Jim Bell of Cornell University.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not against going to the Moon,鈥� Bell told New 杏吧原创, 鈥渂ut there鈥檚 perhaps a more logical flow that could be developed. Going to the Moon may make sense at the right time.鈥�
Mars is 鈥渘ew and different and exciting. Scientifically, it also has the potential to be very rewarding鈥�, Bell added (see NASA urged to focus on sending people to Mars).
International collaboration
NASA is facing a gap in its access to space, since the space shuttles are now scheduled to be retired in 2010 and their replacements will not be ready until 2015.
While some experts have proposed postponing the shuttle鈥檚 retirement to bridge that gap 鈥� a move estimated to cost $2.5 billion to $4 billion per year, the Planetary Society says NASA should stick to the 2010 retirement date. A US government oversight office said last week that unless NASA鈥檚 budget was increased, extending the shuttle鈥檚 lifetime could delay the development of its replacement.
The agency鈥檚 budgetary pressures could be relieved with more international collaboration, including with relative newcomers to the space scene like China, South Korea and Brazil.
鈥淪ome nations may choose to participate, some may not,鈥� Bell says. 鈥淟et鈥檚 get it out there and leave the door open to those possibilities. Pragmatically, it may save NASA some money.鈥�
The new report also stresses the importance of robotic missions, such as the Mars rovers, and NASA鈥檚 Earth observation programmes. The 鈥渋nternational spirit of cooperation鈥� that the Planetary Society hopes to see for space exploration 鈥渃an also be applied to other problems like climate change,鈥� Bell says.
