US won’t be returning to moon, NASA chief says

America won't be repeating that historic one small step anytime soon -- not according to NASA chief Charlie Bolden, anyway.

"NASA is not going to the Moon with a human as a primary project probably in my lifetime," Bolden told a joint meeting of the Space Studies Board and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board in Washington last week, according to Jeff Foust of SpacePolitics.com. "And the reason is, we can only do so many things."

Instead, he said the focus would remain on human missions to asteroids and to Mars. "We intend to do that, and we think it can be done." Meanwhile, interest in the moon has been growing in both the private sector and in foreign countries.

Last week, Russia rekindled its plans for a robotic moon exploration program, unveiling its first new moon mission since the Soviet Union launched Luna 24 in 1976. Russian space scientists are scripting a new plan to reconnect with the moon, one scientist explained.

"Exploration of the moon is an important part of the program," said Igor Mitrofanov of the Institute for Space Research during Microsymposium 54 on "Lunar Farside and Poles — New Destinations for Exploration," held in The Woodlands, Texas, on March 16 and 17.

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