increase the budget of the NASA by roughly 95% (about $17.8 billion), in order to fund a manned mission to Mars by 2020.

Many Americans remember the awe and zeal when President John F. Kennedy declared that, by the end of the decade, the U.S. would put a man on the Moon. We believe that the U.S. should increase NASA's budget and carry out a manned landing on Mars. Despite the current economic and political climate, we believe such an inspirational effort would unite the country as surely as the Apollo missions did. Not to mention the economic and educational benefit of funding several jobs in NASA and other related organizations. Other groups have turned their attention to space: China landed the Jade Rabbit lunar rover in 2013, and the Dutch non-profit group Mars One has stated a similar goal to ours. To quote JFK: "...that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills..."