Obama Sets Mars Goal for America

US President Barack Obama says it should be possible to send astronauts to orbit the planet Mars by the mid-2030s and return them safely to Earth. He made the claim in a major speech to staff and guests at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, laying out the details of his new policy for the US space agency.

According to BBC News Obama said he was giving Nasa challenging goals and the funding needed to achieve them, including an extra $6bn USD over the next five years.

"By 2025, we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first-ever crewed missions beyond the Moon into deep space," he told his audience. "So we'll start — we'll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history."

And then he added: "By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth. And a landing on Mars will follow. And I expect to be around to see it."

Obama hopes his new timetable for action can win wide approval.