AN ODYSSEY FOR THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIA

President Bush has called for a return to the Moon and manned expediti ons to Mars, implementing a goal of U.S. national space policy to ''ex pand human presence and activity beyond Earth orbit into the solar sys tem''. These missions will involve Space Station Freedom and robotic s pacecraft. They will require advances in technology and will result in significant advances in science. Opportunities for international coop eration are substantial, and the U.S. will seek an exploratory dialogu e with other nations on the Space Exploration Initiative, the American term for the expeditions to the Moon and Mars. The strategy for the M oon/Mars initiative has been established. Initial reconnaissance will begin with utilization of robotic space craft, to be followed by empla cement of an outpost. Subsequent activities will consolidate the outpo st into a permanent self-reliant settlement. Current efforts in the U. S.A. are expected to lead to the development of two or more significan tly different reference mission architectures, while prioritizing the development and demonstration of applicable technologies. These will r esult from a Synthesis Group activity initiated by NASA in the spring of 1990 to review results from a special ''Outreach Program'' undertak en to secure additional ideas about how best to carry out the Presiden t's vision.