ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 12, 1996 TAG: 9606120039
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.
Stuck circling Earth with the same old shuttle, NASA is now thinking about returning astronauts to the moon within eight years.
In a study involving nearly 100 scientists and engineers in four NASA offices, the space agency is quietly looking at whether a moon trip makes economic sense.That's a new way of thinking for an agency that used to shoot for the moon and worry about money later. Cut for space.
"How much does it cost and why go are the first two questions we have to answer,'' said John Muratore, one of the managers of NASA's human lunar-return study. Researchers have not yet found the answers that would make the idea work, but they will, he said.
If the study ever turns into something more concrete, NASA engineers say, astronauts could get to the moon by the year 2004, mine it for valuable resources and do special astronomy research. Outside space experts say NASA is really trying to recapture the public attention and support it had during the Apollo program.
- Orlando Sentinel
LENGTH: Short : 30 linesby CNB