On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bush announced A Renewed Spirit of Discovery: The President's Vision for U.S. Space Exploration, a new directive for the Nation's space exploration program. The fundamental goal of this directive is 'to advance U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests through a robust space exploration program.' In issuing this directive and in accordance with the NASA Authorization Act of 2005, the President and Congress committed the Nation to a journey of exploring the solar system and beyond: completing assembly of the International Space Station using the minimum number of Space Shuttle flights until its retirement by 2010; flying the Crew Exploration Vehicle no later than 2014, and potentially much sooner; having astronauts return to the Moon by the end of the next decade followed by future human missions to Mars and beyond. Along with this, NASA would continue a robust program of scientific discovery and aeronautics research within the resources provided. The President and Congress further challenged NASA to establish new and innovative programs to enhance understanding of our Earth, other planets, asteroids, and comets in our solar system, as well as the search for potential life around other stars. NASA's scientific inquiry is to answer questions that are as old as mankind and to ask new questions in the process. As President Bush said during a speech at NASA Headquarters, 'Mankind is drawn to the heavens for the same reason we were once drawn into unknown lands and across the open sea. We choose to explore space because doing so improves our lives, and lifts our national spirit. So let us continue the journey.' Over the past two years since that announcement, NASA has made great progress in implementing the Vision for Space Exploration and carrying out national priorities of scientific discovery and aeronautics research. The FY 2007 budget for NASA identifies the resources necessary to carry out those priorities identified by the President and Congress.


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