From: Damien Broderick (thespike@earthlink.net)
Date: Sat Jan 18 2003 - 15:45:07 MST
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/01/18/1042520819544.html
NASA plans two-month manned dash to Mars
January 19 2003
By Duncan Campbell
Los Angeles
Mars looms large in Project Prometheus's vision of slashing travel time with
nuclear-powered engines.
The United States was hoping to send an astronaut to Mars in a
nuclear-powered rocket within eight years, said a senior NASA official.
Under the space agency's ambitious plan, the project would involve a
two-month journey to Mars in a spaceship travelling at three times the
present speed of space travel.
President George Bush may announce the plan, termed Project Prometheus, in
his State of the Union address on January 28, the Los Angeles Times
reported.
The plan would commit the US to the exploration of Mars as a priority, and
herald the development of a nuclear-powered propulsion system.
The first voyage could be as early as 2010.
====
Hmm. If this is not just a beat-up, I wonder what's got them all hot under
the collar suddenly. An opportunity to break nukes in space treaties in a
big way? (Are they still active?) Something a probe found? Simple PR value
either for NASA-in-the-doldrums, or the US as the dollar sags?
Damien Broderick
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