Article Posted on : - Oct 23, 2009

A File Photo.

WASHINGTON (BNS): A special independent US panel has said that NASA's plan to revisit the moon is a �wrong mission� with the �wrong rocket�.

The US panel, headed by Norman Augustine, is reviewing the space agency's spaceflight plans.

Augustine has said it makes more sense for NASA to consider landing on a nearby asteroid or one of the moons of Mars. �That could be done sooner than returning to the moon in 15 years as NASA has outlined,� he said.

Augustine's panel was created by the White House. The group's 155-page report on NASA's future offers eight options and leaves the choice to President Barack Obama.