The presidents plan also will call for aligning other NASA programs to better support the new lunar exploration agenda. Details, the documents say, will be included in NASAs 2005 budget request, due to be submitted to Congress in early February.
The president is expected to formally announce the new space policy during a 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) speech at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The event will be broadcast on NASA TV and webcast by SPACE.com .
The documents -- written as official "talking points" or so-called "response to queries" -- were prepared by NASA for internal use and are meant to serve as the official answers to questions NASA and other government officials are likely to hear from reporters and the public during the days ahead.
Although they beg at least as many questions as they answer, they do lay out the broad outlines of the presidents plan.
The documents say that the United States still is committed to finishing the ISS.
And while the documents make clear that NASA is committing itself to retiring the shuttle within the next six years, there is not much detail on how NASA would deal with the employment consequences of taking such action.
"The job impact stemming from the shuttles retirement and the new focus on exploration will depend on what type vehicle systems and skill will be needed in the future," the documents say.
"It is premature to speculate on specific job impact. In general the requirements of the new vision will have a very positive impact on the aerospace sector and related sectors, and the vision will help talented people to science and engineering fields."
According to the documents, no firm timetable has been established for sending humans to Mars.
NASA plans to continue robotic exploration of the Red Planet with a new eye to setting the stage for a human expedition.
"Human missions to Mars will follow based on available budgetary resources, experience and knowledge gained from lunar exploration during the next decade, discoveries by robotic spacecraft at Mars and other solar system locations, development of required technologies and know-how," the documents say.
NASA also remains committed to Project Prometheus, a nuclear power and propulsion initiative begun in 2003. The agency also would appear ready to stay the course with the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, NASA's first planned demonstration of the new capabilities targeted for 2011.
The documents also insist that the proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle is not "just a new name for [Orbital Space Plane]" although it "may be able to perform some of the functions OSP would have performed."
However, there is no discussion of a specific role for an OSP within the documents.
NASA had planned as recently as last year to award a contract this summer to either Lockheed Martin or Boeing to build by 2008 an OSP capable of returning astronauts from the space station. The project was expected to cost around $15 billion.
While the documents hint at using the Moon's resources to support longer visits there, there is no mention of establishing a permanent lunar base.
According to the Associated Press, the president's plan will require boosting NASA's budget by about $1 billion over five years to get the new programs started.
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