Bush's NASA vision draws cost questions

WASHINGTON -- Skeptical senators grilled NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe Wednesday on whether President Bush's vision of returning astronauts to the Moon and exploring Mars is feasible in light of strained federal budgets. "Space flight is costly," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. "I don't want to be a wise guy, but we've been promised the Moon before." The president has announced a goal of returning to the Moon by 2020 in preparation for manned missions to Mars and beyond. To pay for the project, Bush plans to request a 5-year, $1 billion increase in NASA's budget with an additional $11 billion diverted from other NASA projects. O'Keefe said details of the budget are due to be released Monday.

Opportunity rover sends back its first color photos

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA on Wednesday released the first color photographs taken by the rover Opportunity of layers of martian rock that could indicate whether the outcropping on the Red Planet was formed by water. The horizontally striped and fractured slabs of bedrock are just a short drive from where the six-wheeled robot sits atop its lander. Opportunity is expected to be able to reconstruct the geologic events that created the fine layers with its complement of scientific instruments. Scientists also reported progress in unfolding the rover from its landing position and preparing it to leave the lander.

Homeland Security offers free e-mails, warnings

WASHINGTON -- Aiming to increase Internet security, the government is now offering Americans free cyber alerts and computer advice from the Homeland Security Department. Anyone who signs up with the new National Cyber Alert System will receive e-mails about major virus outbreaks and other Internet attacks as they occur, along with detailed instructions to help computer users protect themselves. The program, which started Wednesday, represents an ambitious effort by the government to develop a trusted warning system that can help home users and technology experts.

Contractors may write rules for nuclear safety

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is moving to replace safety requirements at federal nuclear facilities with standards written by contractors -- after Congress directed the government to start fining the contractors for violations. Long-established government minimum standards at the more than two dozen nuclear weapons plants and research labs around the nation would become unenforceable guidelines under the Energy Department proposal. Energy Department officials said they have not made a final decision on the proposal and emphasized that the government would retain the authority to approve or reject the contractor-written safety requirements.

James Brown charged with domestic violence

AIKEN, S.C. -- Soul singer James Brown was arrested Wednesday on domestic violence charges, authorities said. Brown, 70, was booked into the county jail and was to appear at a bond hearing, said jail supervisor Nicholas Gallam. Brown, who lives in South Carolina, served a 2 1/2-year prison term after a 1988 arrest on drug and assault charges and was convicted of a drug-related offense in 1998. He was granted a pardon by the state in May.

Florida gay adoption ban withstands challenge

MIAMI -- Four gay men lost a federal challenge Wednesday to the only blanket state law banning homosexuals from adopting children, a statute passed at the height of Anita Bryant's anti-homosexual campaign. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the men, who are foster parents seeking to adopt children in their care despite the 1977 law. Gov Jeb Bush said he was "pleased" by the ruling. Florida is the only state in the nation with a complete ban on adoption by gays, whether married or single.

-- From wire reports