American and European space agencies are in stiff competition in a race to send a manned mission to Mars within the next 30 years. U.S. President George W. Bush wants to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 and then send them on to Mars about a decade later. Michael McKay, the European Space Agency’s ground manager for the Mars Express program, said “We’re not sitting back resting in our laurels. . .we’re looking at putting the first human on Mars in the year 2030.”