美国将放弃登月改上火星

President Barack Obama is set to outline a revamped space policy that will use $6 billion in new funding to create 2,500 new jobs in Florida with the ultimate goal of going to Mars.

美国总统奥巴马将放弃旨在重返月球的“星座计划”，而将火星作为美国载人航天计划的最终目的地。美国政府将为这项火星计划增拨60亿美元，而与此同时，也将为佛罗里达州创造2,500个工作岗位。

Mr Obama has been facing criticism over the direction of space policy after NASA officials announced plans in March to kill the Constellation programme that had been designed to launch astronauts into orbit and return Americans to the moon.

“星座计划”的原计划任务是发射运载火箭，载宇航员实现第二次登月。而当美国宇航局官员宣布将取消这个计划时，人们纷纷置疑奥巴马的空间政策是不是走错了方向。

But White House officials said that President Obama wants NASA to begin work on building a new heavy lift rocket sooner than envisioned under the cancelled Constellation programme, with a commitment to decide in 2015 on the specific rocket that will take astronauts deeper into space.

白宫官员称，总统奥巴马要求美宇航局加快新型大型运载火箭的研发工作，在”星座计划”取消的情况下，要在2015年之前，完成新型火箭的研发任务，运载宇航员向宇宙更深处探索。

"This is a rocket that is going to happen two years earlier than would've happened under the past programme," a senior White House official said.

一位白宫高级官员称，与“星座计划”相比，新计划有望使新型火箭提前两年面世。

To ease the transition for workers dislocated while the new space strategy is being implemented, Mr Obama is proposing to dedicate $40 million to transform the regional economy around NASA's Florida facilities and prepare its workforce for the new opportunities.

执行新宇宙计划，取消“星座计划”和美国现役航天飞机群退役可能使9千名专业技术人员丢掉工作，为缓解这个矛盾，奥巴马计划拨款4000万美元帮助航天中心附近地区实施经济模式转型，并向劳动力提供培训。

"This new strategy means more money for NASA, more jobs for the country, more astronaut time in space, and more investments in innovation," said a senior White House official.

一位白宫高级官员称，这项新计划意味着美航天局会有更多资金，美国会增加更多就业岗位，宇航员能在太空停留更久，国家对鼓励创新的投资力度变得更大。