Future space travel shoots beyond moon

PROMONTORY, Box Elder County — As the first astronauts to walk on the moon criticized the less-than-stellar record of U.S. space exploration since the historic giant leap for mankind 40 years ago Monday, the flagship of America's future manned lunar explorations and beyond was being unveiled here at ATK Space Launch Systems.

Limiting space exploration to a winged vehicle in the shuttle program and the low-orbit International Space Station isn't much of a legacy for the country that put the first man on the moon and followed up with six successful lunar landings, Apollo astronauts told reporters after a White House news conference to commemorate the July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 mission.

To be the country to put the first men to stand on ground other than the Earth ought to have more to show more than four decades later, Apollo 13 mission commander Jim Lovell told reporters.

The comments add fuel to growing "been there, done that" criticism of NASA's scheduled return to the moon by 2020 and to Mars a decade later and were addressed head on by Alex Priskos, NASA manager of the first stage portion of the Ares I rocket, after unveiling the rocket's motor at ATK on Monday.

"This fleet of next-generation launch vehicles isn't about going to the moon, it's about going to Mars," Priskos told the Deseret News. "And I don't know who is saying 'been there, done that?' When my 10-year-old hears about going to the moon, he's certainly not thinking that. He's as excited as I was 40 years ago. And when we land on Mars, kids will be just as excited as when we landed on the moon. They'll just be watching it on their cell phones instead of on a black-and-white TV."

If all goes well — and Priskos insists that despite some news stories to the contrary that the project is on schedule and under budget — exploration of space will begin crewed missions to the moon and beyond starting 2015.

The in-line, two-state rocket — the Ares I first stage — will provide the 3.5 million pounds of thrust to get the missions in NASA's Constellation Program literally off the ground.

"In 1969, we were about getting to the moon," Priskos said. "This is about taking advantage of all we've learned since, all the technology, the safety aspects and beginning the next stage of crewed exploration of the solar system."