Mars instead of Moon? Report demands NASA plans be overhauled

A new report suggests that NASA should prepare a major overhaul in the national space exploration program, which could lead to boosting cooperation between nations in space, space expert John Manber told RT.

“The first thing that is really good news for Europeans and the Russian community is that we are going to keep our involvement, more than likely, in the [International] Space Station until 2020,” he said.

He went on to say that the Bush administration program had implied ending the cooperation in 2015 and allowing a perfectly good Space Station to fall into the Pacific Ocean.

“And second, we are going to rely on Russia to send our astronauts, during what is called the gap, to and from the Space Station for probably more than seven years,” he added.

Also, according to a review of the American space program written by the White House-appointed panel, instead of preparing to return to the Moon in 15 years, NASA should consider landings on asteroids or even on the moons of Mars.