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President Obama on Monday welcomed to the White House "three iconic figures" – Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin – in honor of the 40th anniversary of the 1969 voyage that marked mankind's first visit to the moon.

"I think that all of us recall the moment in which mankind finally was untethered from this planet and was able to explore the stars; the moment in which we had one of our own step on the moon and leave that imprint that is there to this day," said Mr. Obama, standing beside the three men.

He also struck a personal note.

"I grew up in Hawaii, as many of you know, and I still recall sitting on my grandfather's shoulders when those capsules would land in the middle of the Pacific and they'd get brought back and we'd go out and we'd pretend like they could see us as we were waving at folks coming home," he said. "And I remember waving American flags and my grandfather telling me that the Apollo mission was an example of how Americans can do anything they put their minds to."

Aldrin and the other astronauts have been pushing hard for the U.S. to send astronauts to Mars, a concept supported by a slim majority of Americans. The president did not touch on a journey to Mars, which his predecessor George W. Bush called for, in his remarks.

Instead, Mr. Obama hailed the potential of the space program to inspire young Americans "who are looking up at the sky and are going to be the next Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrins."

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Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

**President Obama intensifies health care push...

**40th anniversary of the Moon landing...

**Another sex scandal brewing?...

HEALTH CARE: With Congress facing President Obama's deadline to pass health care reform by its August recess and the president himself facing questions from Congress and sinking poll numbers on the issue, Mr. Obama will be using in full salesman mode this week.

Today, he heads to the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. for a roundtable discussion with health care providers before making a statement at 1:05 p.m. ET. Then, it's back to "Campaign Obama" as he holds a prime time news conference Wednesday night, before heading to Cleveland on Thursday to continue his push for health care reform.

"Senior White House aides promise 'an aggressive public and private schedule' for Obama as he presses his case for reform, including ... heavy use of Internet video to broadcast his message beyond the reach of the traditional media," report the Washington Post's Michael D. Shear and Shailagh Murray.

"'Our strategy has been to allow this process to advance to the point where it made sense for the president to take the baton. Now's that time,' said senior adviser David Axelrod. 'I don't know whether he will Twitter or tweet. But he's going to be very, very visible.' Another senior White House aide added: 'It's time to raise the stakes on this.'"

"The Senate Finance Committee, which is seeking a bipartisan compromise, has failed to reach an agreement even as two House committees and a Senate panel cleared their versions of the legislation with only Democratic approval," report Bloomberg News' Kristin Jensen and Laura Litvan.

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A slim majority of Americans believe the United States should send astronauts to Mars despite the current economic crisis, a newly-released CBS News poll finds.

Fifty-one percent of those surveyed back the journey to Mars. Forty-three percent opposed it. In 2004, 48 percent said the U.S. should sent astronauts to Mars, while in 1999 that figure was 58 percent.

As the country marks the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, meanwhile, there is widespread agreement that landing men on the moon was worthwhile. Seventy-one percent said it was worth the time, effort and money that went into the endeavor, while 24 percent said it was not.

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