President Bush's plans for a return to the moon in 2020, with a trip to Mars to follow, were all well and good, but now NASA has finally fleshed out the details of the moon visits, and it seems a permanent international moon base is in the cards.

ENGADGET: NASA planning to set up shop on the moon in 2024

Russia says it also remains committed to sending cosmonauts beyond Earth's orbit in the future, including to a permanent base on the moon that it says could be used as a future launching pad for flights to Mars.

ENGADGET

"We are planning to build a permanent base on the moon by 2015 and by 2020 we can begin the industrial-scale delivery... of the rare isotope helium-3, " said Nikolai Sevastianov, head of Russian space vehicle manufacturer Energia, at a seminar in Moscow in January.

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We have the technology and ability to exploit the resources found on the moon and in the asteroid belt as well as sending a manned mission to Mars to set up a permanent base.

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