Translation: We might, might have Americans on the moon again by the time I am 40, just short of half a century since the last Apollo landing on the moon in 1972. Forgive me for not holding my breath.

NASA to Unveil Plans to Send 4 Astronauts to Moon in 2018: "WASHINGTON - NASA briefed senior White House officials Wednesday on its plan to spend $100 billion and the next 12 years building the spacecraft and rockets it needs to put humans back on the Moon by 2018."

(Via SPACE.com.)

The real issue of course is that any NASA plan that extends more than two presidencies away is meaningless. This is part of a long line of plans to go to the moon or Mars, extending back over the past forty years, which have gone nowhere due to budget cuts.


My favorite slashdot response:

The Plan (Score:5, Funny)

by halcyon1234 (834388)Alter Relationship
on Thursday September 15, @02:10PM (#13568576)

"to put humans back on the Moon by 2018."

... where they will be greeted by the Chinese, Indians, Japanese, Russians, Canadians, and every college student with a "Build Yourself An Interplanetary Space Craft" kit ordered from craigslist.