re: 2009
2009 will be the 40th anniversary of the first Moonlanding!
Certainly some reason to celebrate it! Anniversaries are often used to boost for new ideas!
I don't see why going to the moon would result in the development of mostly incompatible (for Mars) lunar program hardware (except the booster).
How about the spacesuits and a Moonbus? Both can be tested on the Moon and later their technology and know-how used on Mars and any other world?
Raoul