With polls showing Americans desire of space exploration, NASA has received the green signal from Congress to carry out voyages to Moon and eventually to Mars.
NASA had earlier requested $16.2 billion in funds from Congress. With their request granted, they are now in a discussion with President Bush’s to send robots and humans to the Moon and Mars. United States is seeking foreign partners to collaborate with them to save money and avoid wasteful duplication.
In a workshop conducted in Washington last week, space officials from 17 countries, including China, Russia and Japan discussed on the future plans on space exploration. Presently, NASA scientists are concentrating on Moon rather than planning a manned voyage to Mars. According to them, space lovers have to wait for another 15 years before they get to see it close up.
NASA has put forward proposals for a series of unmanned missions to moon between 2008 and 2011 to collect data and pick a landing site. They are later planning to send robots between 2011 and 2015 that will further help to prepare the site for a permanent manned base between 2015 and 2020.
Meanwhile, a British spaceship recently entered lunar orbit for a two-year scientific reconnaissance mission. Countries like Japan, China and India also announcing their plans to launch lunar orbiters in coming years.
