The
Constellation Program (abbreviated
CxP) was a
human spaceflight program developed by
NASA, the
space agency of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. The major goals of the program were "completion of the
International Space Station" and a "return to the
Moon no later than 2020" with a crewed flight to the planet
Mars as the ultimate goal. The program's
logo reflected the three stages of the program: the Earth (ISS), the Moon, and finally Mars—while the Mars goal also found expression in the name given to the program's booster rockets:
Ares (The Greek equivalent of the Roman god
Mars). The technological aims of the program included the regaining of significant
astronaut experience beyond
low Earth orbit and the development of technologies necessary to enable sustained human presence on other planetary bodies.