WASHINGTON, Jan. 14, 2004 — President Bush proposed on Wednesday
to develop a new spacecraft to carry Americans back to the moon
as early as 2015, and to establish a long-term base there as an
eventual springboard to Mars and beyond. "Inspired by all that
has come before and guided by clear objectives, today we set a
new course for America's space program," he declared during a
speech at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Although the
president sketched out a time line that extended to 2020, he
spelled out the financial details only through 2008, and said
NASA would receive just $1 billion in new money over that time.
That meant the bulk of the space initiative would be in the
hands of future administrations. Under Bush's plan, the space
shuttle fleet would be retired in 2010, after the completion of
the international space station. Studying the health effects of
human spaceflight would become the overarching theme of U.S.
research on the space station, he said. Bush said America would
turn its focus from low E