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IS THIS FOR REAL? Rep. Nick Lampson is introducing a bill titled the Space Exploration Act of 2002, which among other things directs NASA to establish as its post-ISS goals the creation of reusable vehicles of various descriptions (Earth to LEO, LEO to GEO, LEO to L1 or L2, etc.), and the formal establishment of humans on Mars as the long-term goal of the U.S. space effort:

SEC. 4. HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT INITIATIVE.

(a) GOALS. – The Administrator shall set the following goals for the future activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s human space flight program:

(1) Within 8 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the development and flight demonstration of a reusable space vehicle capable of carrying humans from low Earth orbit to the L 1 and L 2 Earth-Sun libration points and back for the purposes of assembling large-scale space structures such as would be required for scientific observatories, to the Earth-Moon libration points and back, and to lunar orbit and back.

(2) Within 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the development and flight demonstration of a reusable space vehicle capable of carrying humans from low Earth orbit to and from an Earth-orbit crossing asteroid and rendezvousing with it.

(3) Within 15 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the development and flight demonstration of a reusable space vehicle capable of carrying humans from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back, as well as the development and deployment of a human-tended habitation and research facility on the lunar surface.

(4) Within 20 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the development and flight demonstration of a reusable space vehicle capable of carrying humans from low Earth orbit to and from Martian orbit, the development and deployment of a human-tended habitation and research facility on the surface of one of the moons of Mars, and the development and flight demonstration of a reusable space vehicle capable of carrying humans from Martian orbit to the surface of Mars and back.

It specifies that commercial sources and services are to be used, that the infrastructure to be created is to be real (ie: open-ended, marketable) infrastructure, and that competitions for part or all of the mission elements and services are to be held among business, academia, etc.

It sounds too good to be true. Wow. More later when I have some time to go through it all in detail.

(link via NASAWatch)