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The cover of Volume Volume XXVIII, Number Number 2
From The Editor

We like to look back at the time of Apollo and remember how, for a brief moment, the people of Earth pulled together to place a man on the Moon.

Memories can be faulty. Opinion polls taken at that time repeatedly showed that the public was never solidly behind the space program. Among political leaders, scientists, and engineers, there was never consensus on the right path to take. Books were written chronicling the decisions, from John F. Kennedy's political resolve to land a man on the Moon to the engineering choice to use lunar orbit rendezvous.

Nearly a half-century later, we are wrestling again with how to move humanity into space. Four years ago, U.S. President George W. Bush laid out his Vision for Space Exploration and tasked NASA with finding the best path back to the Moon and onward to Mars. This new vision would be bigger than Apollo, be far more expensive, and last many more years.

Figuring out how to do that—and get the fractious community of scientists, engineers, and policy makers to agree—has been, as they say, like herding cats. The Planetary Society, with Stanford University, brought together representatives of the space community in a workshop called "Re-examining the Vision." This spring, through a series of town hall meetings, we are inviting the public to contribute their views.

To explore space is difficult. We must choose to do what is hard. Join us as we seek a way back to the Moon—and on to Mars.

—Charlene M. Anderson


Features

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On the Road to Mars: Three Stepping-Stones and a Stumbling Block
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A Message to the Future: Visions of Mars
by Peter Hollingsworth Smith

Annual Report to Our Members

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Members' Dialogue