I saw this article on CNN this morning: "President Bush next week will lay out his "vision for expanding the space program," which is expected to include long-term proposals for manned missions to the moon and an eventual manned mission to Mars, senior administration officials say."

The proposed date for the next moon flight would be 2018.

Also rumoured is an eventual manned flight to Mars.

The current shuttle fleet would be retired and replaced with more modern technology and the current international space station phased out.

We will have to wait a week for the actual announcement, but I find even the rumour to be inspiring! The last manned lunar flight was in 1972.

The key to a manned presence in space will be for us to find new technologies and commercial possibilities that will make it cost effective. If we can find ways that manned flight and even bases can generate revenue, new technologies that are only possible in space, a whole new vista opens up for the human race.

The late science fiction write Robert Heinlein said "The Earth is too small a basket for the human race to keep all its eggs in."