ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609200067
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
The White House released a revision of its space policy Thursday, sweeping away George Bush's goal of landing a human expedition on Mars by the year 2019. Instead it calls for an ongoing series of small vehicles to explore the Red Planet.
The old plans, announced by President Bush in the 1989 euphoria of the 20th anniversary of the first moon landing, never got off the ground. He envisioned colonizing the moon first, then sending expeditions to Mars. The estimated price tag was more than $500 billion; not a penny of it was ever appropriated.
Clinton's space policy calls for continuing with the International Space Station, work on a new generation of launch rockets, continued scientific activity that includes ``the sustained robotic exploration of Mars.''
``We're going to continue to expand our knowledge of the universe,'' Clinton said in Washington state, which has a lot of aerospace jobs. ``In December, we're going to launch a long-planned robotic mission to the surface of Mars.''
``And believe it or not, if you've seen the movie, it lands on Independence Day 1997.''
This summer's hit movie was ``Independence Day,'' the story of an alien attempt to take over the world. ``We thought we'd go visit them first and try to get around that blowing up the Capitol and the White House business,'' Clinton said.
Alan Ladwig, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's associate administrator for policy and plans, said Clinton's announcement ``supports the track NASA has been on.'' The small robotic missions, proclaimed by Clinton, have been in the planning and building stages for years.
LENGTH: Short : 41 linesby CNB