The Apollo 11 flag did not stand long. It was blown over during takeoff by the ascent engine's exhaust Photograph: NASA
Barack Obama will today unveil plans to cut back 120 government programmes to help rein in the US deficit, including Nasa's plans to send a manned mission to the moon. According to reports the Obama administration plans to shelve the Constellation programme, which was laid out by George W Bush and which called for a return to the moon by 2020. It also anticipated human landings on Mars by the middle of the century.
The search for life on Mars has long been high on Nasa's agenda, with missions to the planet every 26 months, 23 orbiting spacecraft and three successful landings, but last September the agency announced that "no plan compatible with the … 2010 budget profile permitted human exploration to continue in any meaningful way".
Given the sorry state of the US economy – with its soaring unemployment and huge debt – was Obama right to call a halt to Nasa's programmes? Or is his view not visionary enough?
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