Company for the Man in the Moon

The man in the mooon may expect company before too many years pass.

Posted 9/19/2006 9:42 AM ET

The Orion crew capsule, seen in this artist’s illustration, will carry astronauts back to the moon. Orion’s first flight to the moon is planned for no later than 2020.

By H. Josef Hebert, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A panel of scientists strongly endorsed NASA’s plans (Shirley’s note: lots of neat stuff in the NASA link) to return to the moon, saying in a report Tuesday that lunar exploration will open the way toward broader studies of the Earth and solar system.

“The moon is priceless to planetary scientists,” declared the special National Research Council panel of the National Academy of Sciences.

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