Posted on 07/21/2015 7:21:44 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The study, performed by NexGen Space LLC and partly funded by NASA, concludes that the space agency could land humans on the Moon in the next five to seven years, build a permanent base 10 to 12 years after that, and do it all within the existing budget for human spaceflight. The way for NASA to do this is to adopt the same practice that it's using for resupplying the International Space Station (and will eventually use for crew transport) — public-private partnerships with companies like SpaceX, Orbital ATK, or the United Launch Alliance.
NASA can cut the cost of establishing a human presence on the Moon "by a factor of 10," according to Charles Miller, NexGen president and the study's principal investigator. Savings of that magnitude would allow NASA to expand its ambitions for lunar exploration without reaching beyond the almost $4 billion per year it receives for human spaceflight.
The NexGen study references SpaceX's ISS resupply costs as an example of where these savings will come from. SpaceX currently charges NASA about $4,750 for every kilogram sent to orbit aboard its Falcon 9 rocket, far less than the price of the Apollo-era Saturn V ($46,000 per kilogram) or even the space shuttle ($60,000 per kilogram). This Evolvable Lunar Architecture plan would also stir a new economy by mining the Moon for hydrogen in the polar water ice. The hydrogen would be processed and turned into cryogenic propellant, which would be stored in a propellant depot craft which orbits the Moon. That fuel would be sold to NASA or others looking for a way to fuel up for a trip to Mars.
(Excerpt) Read more at theverge.com ...
The reusable Space Shuttle cost more than the Saturn V????? How much would it have cost if it wasn't reusable?
Boy did NASA sell a bill of goods when they retired the Saturn V. I get that the Shuttle could carry more and bigger objects but still.
Will they be Muslims?
Why establish a colony in a place with no breathable atmosphere where any meoteorite strike can puncture your habitat and kill everyone. Oh, they really don’t plan on doing that? Its for the grant $$$...
I remember a Reader’s Digest article from the 70s about that.
Its the natural stepping stone to deeper space.
With Newt, we would have been there soon and shortly to mars if I remember correctly. Who knows if it would have happened, but he at least wasn’t going to use nasa for muslim outreach.
And deeeeeeeeeeeper debt.
Unfortunately Newt has a new friend named Van Jones and they’re gonna get all the wrongly convicted black folks out of prison first.
been there. Done that. Let’s pay off some debt for our kids!!!! ???
Don’t forget some of the politicians! After all, what self respecting lunar colony would NOT need government, and especially a _resident?
Or Clintons, Bushes or Obamas?
I like you!
Ah, yes- let’s not forget about Kramden launch solutions, LLC.
=^)
CC
Hopefully, we can vote on who should go to the Moon:
Alice, Her Thighness, Algore, Olberman, Barack Hussein Obama Hmm Hmm Hmm, Schumer, Harry the Hat, Tingle up his leg, Nanny Peloser, ....name your own favorites
Go Back? Go Back? They were never there, unless they’re talking about Moon Acres, Nevada.
*LOL* You beat me to it, Joe...
“To the moon, Alice!!!!! To the moon!!!!!!
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