US presidential candidate John McCain says he wants to see humanity on Mars. He told a group of Florida newspapers that Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles have shaped his thinking on this issue.

“As a very young boy, I was intrigued by and read Ray Bradbury, and my favourite … is The Martian Chronicles,” said McCain (RawStory). “I am intrigued by a man on Mars and I think it would excite the imagination of the American people.”

He also said he would be a champion for NASA, and would consider running the Shuttle past the current 2010 cut off date (AP). Money, it seems is no object, so long as NASA has some firm priorities.

“Yes, I’d be willing to spend more taxpayers dollars,” he said (Washington Post’s The Trail blog).

Jeff Foust’s Space Politics blog says McCain’s comments sound “a little bit like what Barack Obama has been saying”.

Image: NASA Glenn Research Center (NASA–GRC)