Bush announces plans for human return to moon

US President George W. Bush yesterday announced plans to send humans back to the moon as early as 2015 and eventually to Mars - an election-year initiative that critics have derided as a costly extravagance that could renew a military "space race."

"We will build new ships to carry man forward into the universe, to gain a new foothold on the moon, and prepare for new journeys to the worlds beyond our own," Mr Bush said at the headquarters of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The announcement followed a major space-policy review triggered by the re-entry breakup of the space shuttle Columbia last February. The accident killed all seven astronauts, and Mr Bush said the remaining space shuttles would be retired in 2010.

The White House said the initiative would be a peaceful effort in which the United States intended to cooperate with other countries such as Russia.

But supporters and critics alike said the initiative would also help extend US military supremacy further into space, at a time when China, a growing strategic power, is planning a series of lunar exploration missions.