Technology - story - canada.com network: "Hope on horizon 100 years after first flight as U.S. president considers new course

MARCIA DUNN
Canadian Press
Saturday, December 13, 2003

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - On the centennial of the world's first flight, high-speed travel seems to be at an all-time low.

The Columbia is gone. So is the Concorde. The remaining space shuttles are grounded. The space station is stalled.

Yet hope is on the horizon as President George W. Bush considers what might put the United States on a new course of space exploration. After three decades of sticking close to the home planet, astronauts may be headed back to the moon. The prize, this time around, may also include Mars. "
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Global space rush targets the moon: "Dec. 11 — NASA may be left in the lunar dust as other nations launch their own moon plans. There is growing moon fever in China, Japan, India and Europe as lunar orbiters and robot lander missions are plotted out. The global attraction to the moon is stirring up the prospect that expeditions from various countries are keen to plant flag and footprint on the barren and foreboding world."

Delta IV Shuttle: Decatur rocket could be future of manned space flight program: "Delta IV Shuttle
Decatur rocket could be future
of manned space flight program

By Dawn Kent
DAILY Business Writer
dkent@decaturdaily.com
340-2355
Decatur may soon play a major role in the future of manned space flight, as the loss of space shuttle Columbia brings the next generation of space transportation into sharper focus.
At least 15 concepts for an orbital space plane have emerged, but all are tied to a product like one built in the River City."