Asteroid visits could prepare astronauts for Mars landing

October 13th, 2009 LONDON - Two independent scientific teams have found what may be the first direct evidence of water ice on the surface of an asteroid, a discovery that lends support to the idea that asteroids could have helped deliver water to the early Earth. Asteroids are generally considered to be rocky, and comets icy.

September 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a very rare finding, scientists have discovered an unusual kind of meteorite in the Western Australian desert and have uncovered that it came from the innermost main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Meteorites are the only surviving physical record of the formation of our Solar System.

September 9th, 2009 LONDON - In a new report, a panel of experts have suggested that humans could orbit Mars in the 2020s, provided NASA's budget is boosted. According to an article in the New Scientist, at its current funding level, the agency will be unable to leave low-Earth orbit for at least the next two decades, according to a summary of the panel's report.

July 23rd, 2009 LONDON - A new computer simulation has suggested that millions of objects in the solar system's main asteroid belt may be icy interlopers from beyond Neptune that were flung into their present orbits after a violent migration of the giant planets. The solar system's main asteroid belt is a diverse mix of objects that orbit between Mars and Jupiter.

July 21st, 2009 Obama meets astronauts; no promise of moon or MarsWASHINGTON — The same question that could have been asked 40 years ago moments after Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon is still being asked today: Now what? On the 40th anniversary of man's first moon landing, the Apollo 11 crew met with President Barack Obama, who used the opportunity to talk about inspiration and science and math education. He didn't talk about going anywhere in space, not the moon or Mars.

July 21st, 2009 New NASA boss: Astronauts on Mars in his lifetimeWASHINGTON — NASA's new boss said Tuesday he will be "incredibly disappointed" if people aren't on Mars — or venturing somewhere beyond it — in his lifetime. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Jr., who's 62, said his ultimate goal isn't just Mars — it's anywhere far from Earth.

July 20th, 2009 CANBERRA - Edwin "buzz" Aldrin, the second man on the moon, has said that it doesn't matter who was the first on the Moon, as the landing was more important than walking on the lunar surface. According to a report in The News, Aldrin made the statement at a book-signing recently, arguing that being second man on the moon behind Neil Armstrong was "just as significant".

July 20th, 2009 Obama honors first men to land on moonWASHINGTON — Hailing the Apollo 11 astronauts as "three genuine American heroes," President Barack Obama said Monday that exploration spurs ingenuity and inspires students in math and science. In an Oval Office ceremony commemorating the day 40 years ago when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took man's first steps on the moon, Obama compared their accomplishment to his goal of the United States having the highest college graduation rates in the world by 2020.

July 20th, 2009 LONDON - Captain Alan Bean, the fourth person to walk on the moon, says that it's time of the U.S. to forget about going back, and to join forces with the international community to focus on a mission to Mars instead.

July 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - It's been decades since they set foot on the moon, but the pioneers of the Apollo programme remain committed to exploring space with the goal of sending a human to Mars. Seven astronauts from the Apollo programme talked with journalists Monday to mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon.

July 20th, 2009 Apollo 11 crew: Moon less interesting than MarsWASHINGTON — The first astronauts to walk on the moon want President Barack Obama to aim for a new destination: Mars. On Monday, the Apollo 11 crewmen, fresh from a Washington lecture Sunday in which two of them expressed concerns about NASA getting bogged down on the moon, are meeting with Obama at the White House.

July 20th, 2009 Apollo 11 astronauts look beyond moon, toward MarsWASHINGTON — The astronauts who first landed on the moon aren't dwelling on their small lunar steps. Instead, two of them on Sunday urged mankind to take a giant leap to Mars.

July 19th, 2009 Aldrin: NASA should work to put people on MarsWASHINGTON — Former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin says NASA should set its sights on a bigger target in the future: Mars. Aldrin made the comments on the eve of the 40th anniversary of his landing on the moon on the Apollo 11 mission.

July 15th, 2009 Space invaders: Asteroid belt has rocks from afarWASHINGTON — A new astronomy theory says the solar system's main asteroid belt is littered with icy invaders from far away. The so-called invaders are asteroids that seem more like primitive frozen comets than the baked rocks that make up the overwhelming majority of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter.

April 30th, 2009 LONDON - NASA's acting administrator, Chris Scolese, has told lawmakers that the agency will probably not build an outpost on the moon as originally planned. According to a report in New Scientist, Scolese's comments also hinted that the agency is open to putting more emphasis on human missions to destinations like Mars or a near-Earth asteroid.