Mulitple studies by the national academies and other well respected groups have concluded that the US is losing its leadership in Human Space Exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). That leadership, by law, is vested in the President of the United States and Congress, not by the OMB and NASA itself (which can only follow the goals and budgets appropriated to it).
This petition urges the President, in the footsteps of President Kennedy, to fund a return of the US (men and women) to the surface of the Moon by 2020. This goal will do what the Apollo program did for the nation 50 years ago: inspire our youth to study STEM, develop technologies for the 21st century, and jump start our industries and economy. This will also test the technologies required for a future human mission to Mars.