| Share  To the Moon and Mars  In January 2004, President George
W. Bush announced the ambitious goal of putting humans on Mars.
The first stage involves returning to the Moon by the year 2020
and establishing a base there. Two staffed lunar missions per
year would have crews conducting long-term research on the
effects of extraterrestrial living on the human body as well as
training astronauts for the grueling Mars missions. NASA
director Michael D. Griffin is a gung-ho supporter of the
program, although he is critical of the cost, estimated at $217
billion through 2025.  With the problem-plagued space shuttle
program slated to be retired in 2010, a new system is being
developed. Two rockets are planned for the Moon trips: one for
cargo and one for the human crew. A booster rocket using some
beefed-up shuttle technology would take off with the new Earth
Departure Stage and the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). The
Earth Departure Stage would hurtle the CEV and a lunar lander
into orbit around the Moon. The CEV