From Matt Law, your Editor and Guide

EDITOR'S NOTE  Later today, U.S. President Bush is expected to announce an ambitious plan to return to the moon and send astronauts to Mars. Reports say he will ask for an additional $1 billion for NASA's budget to fund this new round of space exploration. I wasn't around when Americans first went to the moon, but I'm told the nation rallied around the cause. It seems more people are just scratching their head this time and saying, "um, why are we doing this?"

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 ------------------------- IN THE SPOTLIGHT-----------------  Returning To The Moon

 -Space/Astronomy Guide Nick Greene  Space/Astronomy Guide Nick Greene looks back at the decline of space exploration through the '70s and offers some additional details on what the future holds.

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 Did Politics Fuel the Space Race?

 -U.S. Gov Info/Resources Guide Robert Longley  Audio recordings from the Kennedy White House seem to indicate that the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union was more about politics than science. Could the same be said today? I'll leave that up to the pundits to debate. U.S. Gov Info/Resources Guide Robert Longley has more on these revealing tapes.

slclk.about.com   The History of Spacesuits -Inventors Guide Mary Bellis

 I bet the scientists at NASA say, "trust us, it'll be fine" a lot. Take space suits, for example. The astronauts headed for the moon or Mars will rely on these garments to protect them from the elements. Inventors Guide Mary Bellis goes back to 1959 to tell the history of the first space suit.

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