The Washington Post is reporting that the U.S. aerospace and energy industries stand to reap billions of dollars in contracts if the country proceeds with president Bush’s new space plans. Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Halliburton, are among the companies who may profit most. The Post notes that in 2000 a Halliburton scientific advisor wrote an article for the Oil & Gas Journal about the importance of exploring Mars. Halliburton is hoping to develop new drilling techniques on Mars that could then be used to improve oil drilling on Earth.