The Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) was a plan for space exploration announced on January 14, 2004 by President George W. Bush. It was conceived as a response to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster

 

 

March 20, 2003

• Space shuttle Columbia's data recorder ("black box") was found near Hemphill, Texas. [44] [45]
• Mary Ann Wright, a U.S. diplomat in Mongolia, resigned out of disagreement with George W. Bush's Mideast policy, his approach to North Korea and the domestic consequences of the War on Terrorism.
• 2003 Iraq war: The 2003 invasion of Iraq begins as land troops from United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland attack.
• 2003 First Mayoral election: first mayoral election held for the Sylhet city corporation.
• March 20, 2003 anti-war protest

August 26, 2003

• War on Terrorism: President Bush, speaking to American Legion veterans convention, defends the Iraq policy, declaring the United States had hit terrorism in overthrowing the government of Saddam Hussein. President Bush vows "no retreat" from Iraq. President Bush also states that the United States may carry out other pre-emptive strikes. [213] [214] [215] [216] [217]
• Space Shuttle program: Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) releases 200 page final dossier over the space shuttle Columbia's destruction (and the death of its seven astronauts). It states the cause is from NASA's cultural traits, lack of funds, and insufficient safety program. [218] [219] [220] [221]
• Technology: California Supreme Court rules that publishers could be barred from posting DVD descrambling code (DeCSS) online without infringing on free speech rights. [222] [223]
• O.J. Simpson, giving an interview to Playboy, states that he is still innocent, but says "dream team" lawyers saved him. Without the money to pay for a "dream team" of lawyers, he says he would not have prevailed by being acquitted. In the interview, he also states that after his acquittal he smoked marijuana to get to sleep. [224] [225] [226] [227]
• Former British Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath is flown home from his holiday in Salzburg, Austria, to receive treatment in London for pulmonary embolism. [228]

August 27, 2003

• Astronomy: Mars passes Earth at a distance of under 55.76 million kilometers, the closest it has been in approximately 60,000 years [229] [230]
• Private Jessica Lynch, whose rescue from an Iraqi hospital has been surrounded by controversy, is honourably discharged from the United States Army National Guard.
• Occupation of Iraq: According to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans polled say the war in Iraq was worth fighting. [231]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat calls on militant groups to reinstate a ceasefire they formally ended last week after a Hamas leader was killed by Israeli gunships. [232]
• Separation of church and state: The controversial Ten Commandments monument in Alabama's Supreme Court building is removed from public view, following a court order stating that the monument's location in the court building breaches the separation of church and state. The monument, nicknamed Roy's Holy Rock, was installed two years ago by the conservative Christian Chief Justice Roy Moore. [233] [234] Only one in five (20%) Americans approve of the federal court order under which workers removed the Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of Alabama's state judicial building Wednesday, according to a new poll. [235]
• Crime: Seven people, including the gunman, are killed in a shooting in Chicago as a worker opens fire on his colleagues at a car parts store. The police shoot the gunman dead. [236]
• Crime: A painting by Leonardo da Vinci, the Madonna with the Yarnwinder is stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in Scotland, the home of the Duke of Buccleuch.
• Crime: A body of a woman is found in a shallow grave on a beach near Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland. It is suspected to be the body of Jean McConville, a young Belfast woman and mother of ten children kidnapped and murdered by the Provisional IRA in the mid-1970s. The IRA had suggested two years ago that McConville was buried in the vicinity. Previous attempts to find her remains had failed. [237]
• Crime: Two bombs explode at the Emeryville, California, corporate offices of Chiron (corporation); electronic mail sent to reporters from Revolutionary Cells (RCALB) claims responsibility.

August 28, 2003

• 9/11: Nearly two years after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, transcripts of World Trade Center emergency calls are released. Voices of victims are identified on emergency calls and radio transmissions. [238] [239] [240] [241] [242]
• United Kingdom – London blackout: A 34 minute power outage causes major disruptions in rail and Tube services in London and the South East when one of the National Grid circuits that feeds south London fails at about 6.15 pm. [243]
• Nuclear program: North Korea announces that it is in possession of nuclear weapons, has the means to deliver them, and will soon be carrying out a nuclear test to demonstrate this capability. [244], [245], [246], [247]

 

"It's funny, they named

 Mars after the God of War

 Have a look at Earth."

 - MAVEN winning message to Mars (haiku payload)


Mars is featured in manned space mission patches in response to the Columbia disaster:

 

 

The Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) was a plan for space exploration announced on January 14(114), 2004 by President George W. Bush. It was conceived as a response to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster

 

STS 114

STS-114 was the first "Return to Flight" Space Shuttle mission following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The Space Shuttle Discovery launched at 10:39 EDT (14:39 UTC), 26 July 2005. The launch, 907 days (approx. 29 months) after the loss of Columbia, was approved despite unresolved fuel sensor anomalies in the external tank; those anomalies had prevented the shuttle from launching on 13 July, its originally scheduled date.

 

Introduction of Earth/Moon/Mars:

 

Landed on 8/9 but was set for 8/8-88

 

8 August

• 03:20 EDT: T+12:16:41 Mission Control waves off the first of two landing opportunities for Space Shuttle Discovery due to low clouds over Kennedy Space Center
• 05:04 EDT: T+12:18:25 Mission Control waves off the second landing attempt, delaying the landing for another day. Landing is now tentatively scheduled for 05:07 EDT 9 August at Kennedy Space Center. In the event of inclement weather in Florida, NASA will land Discovery at Edwards Air Force Base in California, or, as a last resort, White Sands, New Mexico.

 

STS 118 Payload Patch

 

 

 

STS 120

 

On the right, the moon and Mars can be seen representing the future of NASA. The constellation Orion rises in the background, symbolizing NASA's new exploration vehicle

 

 

STS 126

 Near the center of the patch, the constellation Orion reflects the goals of the human spaceflight program, returning us to the Moon and on to Mars, the red planet, which are also shown

Payload Patch

 

 

STS 129

 

 

 

 

STS 131 Payload Patch

 

STS 132 Payload Patch

 

 

 

 

STS 135 Payload Patch

 

 

 

Soyuz TMA-9

"Simple design of Soyuz TMA-9 patch includes the following elements: the docking target on the ISS to which the Soyuz will align itself, element of symbol of 6th Faculty of MAI, which graduated by Soyuz TMA-9 pilot-commander Mikhail Tyurin, three cosmic stars according three Soyuz flight Team members (M. Tyurin, M. Lopez-Alegria both ISS-14 crew and Daisuke Enomoto-flight participant from Japan). Soyuz TMA-9 emblem also includes Luna and Mars."

 

EXP 12

 

 

 The vision of exploration is depicted by the moon and Mars. The star symbolizes mankind's destiny in space and is a tribute to the space explorers who have been lost in its pursuit. The Roman numeral XII in the background signifies the 12th expeditionary mission to the ISS.

 

 

 

 

 

EXP 13

 

 

 

EXP 14

 

 

 Elements of this symbol merge into a unified trajectory destined for the moon, Mars, and beyond, much as science and operations aboard the ISS today will pave the way for future missions to our celestial neighbors. The five stars honor the astronauts and cosmonauts of missions Apollo 1, Soyuz 1, Soyuz 11, Challenger, and Columbia, who gave their lives in the pursuit of knowledge and discovery.

 

EXP 21

 

 

 

EXP 31

 

 

 

EXP 33

 

 

 

 EXP 36

 

 

EXP 37.5

 

 

 

EXP 38

 

 

 

 

EXP 43

 

 

 

 

 

Astronaut Pacthes

 

Group 13

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Astronaut Group "The Peacocks" patch

 

 

When NASA's 2004 astronaut candidate class unveiled its patch, it included elements that symbolize the unique aspects of the class.

The astronaut class of 2004 is the first since the announcement of the Vision of Space Exploration, which calls for NASA to return humans to the moon and then to send humans to Mars. To symbolize the Vision, the patch features the moon and Mars.
There are also 14 stars, representing the class members. The stars are arranged in the constellation of Carina, the keel of the Argonauts' ship. Like the Argonauts, the astronauts will explore the unknown.

 2004

 

 

Group 16

 

 

 

 

Group 17

 

 

 

 

Group 20