New Nasa chief faces a tough mission to get a man on Mars
By Victoria Griffith
Published: July 11 2005 03:00 | Last updated: July 11 2005 03:00

In 1989, when President George H.W. Bush urged Nasa to build a base on the Moon and send astronauts to Mars, the plan was quickly suffocated by its $400bn estimated price. Now President George W. Bush wants his own Moon-to-Mars proposal to avoid the same fate. In a decision designed to head off failure, he appointed respected engineer Michael Griffin in March as Nasa's new head.

"Griffin is devoted to the goal of human space exploration, which is why he was picked for the job," says Louis Friedman, executive director of the Planetary Institute, a private group that promotes space exploration.

Mr Griffin has wasted little time focusing his attention on trying to turn the Moon-to-Mars dream into a reality. Within the next few weeks the Nasa administrator is expected to outline the specifics of the missions, which the White House spelt out only in the vaguest terms last year.

More at: Financial Times UK