This presentation provides a detailed examination of President Bush's new space exploration initiative which calls for a return to the Moon and a human mission to Mars. Addressed are the changes to NASA,
the planned phases and components, and associated issues. The reasons why such goals are vital to our future are examined as well as the political and technological difficulties associated with their attainment.

Jim Plaxco is the Vice President of Chapter Affairs for the National Space Society and a Director of the Chicago Society for Space Studies. He currently serves as a NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador providing educational presentations to schools, museums, and various organizations and space interest groups. He is also the creator and webmaster of Astrodigital (www.astrodigital.org), an educational web site. Mr. Plaxco received a Bachelor’s in Economics and a Master’s in Computer Science from Northern Illinois Univ. Professionally, he is employed as a Database Administrative Specialist.