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Panel says NASA should skip moon, fly elsewhere

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-23 03:04

WASHINGTON: A special independent panel says NASA's plan to revisit the moon is the wrong mission with the wrong rocket.

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Norman Augustine (Aw-Gus-TEEN) is chairman of the panel reviewing the agency's spaceflight plans. He said it makes more sense for NASA to consider landing on nearby asteroid or one of the moons of Mars. He said that could be done sooner than returning to the moon in 15 years as NASA has outlined.

Augustine's panel was created by the White House. The group's 155-page report on NASA's futures offers eight options and leaves the choice to President Barack Obama.