WORLD: Barack Obama salutes Apollo 11 crew and pledges NASA support

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President Obama has pledged to continue supporting NASA's space programs as he met with Apollo 11's astronauts to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing.

Mr Obama said America "continues to draw inspiration" from the achievement of Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins accomplished in 1969.

In a White House meeting Mr Obama hailed their historic achievement, saying he thinks "all of us recall the moment in which mankind finally was undeterred from this planet and was able to explore the stars."

He said the courage and heroism of the entire NASA family helped lift the sights of the US and the world.

Mr Obama, who has ordered a review of all US manned space flight programmes, said the US would try to "continue the inspirational moments of NASA."

The space agency is planning to return to the moon by 2020 in a next generation spacecraft now being developed. He said: "It's fair to say that the touchstone for excellence in exploration and discovery is always going to be represented by the men of Apollo 11."

Obama said his efforts at education reform for US schools are critical to continuing the work of NASA. "One of the things that I've committed to doing as president is making sure that math and science are cool again, and that we once again keep the goal by 2020 of having the highest college graduation rates of any country on Earth, especially in the math and science fields," Obama said.

And the president said "The touchstone for excellence in exploration and discovery is always going to be represented by the men of Apollo 11."

Earlier seven Apollo astronauts, including Buzz Aldrin, used a news conference to talk about their desire to go to Mars and not linger on the moon as long as NASA plans.

"All of us here are pretty much convinced that Mars is a goal to shoot for," said Tom Stafford,
commander of Apollo 10. The president is waiting for recommendations from a panel examining the
policy to return to the moon that started under the previous administration.