ABC.com – NASA’s new boss said Tuesday he will be “incredibly disappointed” if people aren’t on Mars — or venturing somewhere beyond it — in his lifetime.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Jr., who’s 62, said his ultimate goal isn’t just Mars — it’s anywhere far from Earth.
“I did grow up watching Buck Rogers, and Buck Rogers didn’t stop at Mars,” Bolden said in an interview with The Associated Press. “In my lifetime, I will be incredibly disappointed if we have not at least reached Mars.”
That appears to be a shift from the space policy set in motion by the Bush administration, which proposed first returning to the moon by 2020 and then eventually going to Mars a decade or two later. Bolden didn’t rule out using the moon as a stepping stone to Mars and beyond. But he talked more about Mars than the moon as NASA was still celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing.
