The Nation : $700-Billion Space Plan

A presidential panel is proposing a long-range, $700-billion space program that would put manned settlements on the moon in 30 years and that envisions an eventual 1 million space travelers a day, a published report said. The National Commission on Space, appointed by President Reagan a year ago, is to present the White House next month with a report setting forth an ambitious 50-year space program, Aviation Week & Space Technology reports in today’s edition. Under the commission’s plan, new spacecraft would place settlements on the moon and Mars, where they would be sustained by interplanetary factories and permanent spaceport supply depots, said Aviation Week, which obtained a final draft of the panel’s report. The report, “Pioneering the Space Frontier: Our Next 50 Years in Space,” is dedicated to the seven-member crew of the Challenger, killed when the space shuttle exploded Jan. 28.