Posted on 11/27/2004 12:49:19 PM PST by demlosers
With polls showing Americans desire of space exploration, NASA has received the green signal from Congress to carry out voyages to Moon and eventually to Mars.
NASA had earlier requested $16.2 billion in funds from Congress. With their request granted, they are now in a discussion with President Bush’s to send robots and humans to the Moon and Mars. United States is seeking foreign partners to collaborate with them to save money and avoid wasteful duplication.
In a workshop conducted in Washington last week, space officials from 17 countries, including China, Russia and Japan discussed on the future plans on space exploration. Presently, NASA scientists are concentrating on Moon rather than planning a manned voyage to Mars. According to them, space lovers have to wait for another 15 years before they get to see it close up.
NASA has put forward proposals for a series of unmanned missions to moon between 2008 and 2011 to collect data and pick a landing site. They are later planning to send robots between 2011 and 2015 that will further help to prepare the site for a permanent manned base between 2015 and 2020.
Meanwhile, a British spaceship recently entered lunar orbit for a two-year scientific reconnaissance mission. Countries like Japan, China and India also announcing their plans to launch lunar orbiters in coming years.
"Earth Times" needs to hire a high-school graduate to proofread their articles! LOL!
Yes, heehee...
Too bad the US gave up moon exploration 30+ years ago, when it held a tremendous advantage over all other countries and had the structure in place to accomplish the task. Now the engineers and others have retired and the knowledge and skill needed has been lost or compromised.
I have a close relative who believes in the "Moon Hoax" - that we never landed a man on the Moon. He is convinced (a la Capricorn One) and simply chuckles quietly when the subject comes up. This latest plan by NASA, with a 10-15 year window, makes him smile more broadly. He asks, if we already landed men on the Moon so many times, why will it take a decade or more of research, robots, etc. At a minimum, can't we reuse (w/upgrade) the technology from 40 years ago?
Yes. OTOH the new program is a fresh start and will go on much longer than Apollo, Surveyer, Ranger. The technology will be all new, especially robotics. Much more will be done, and the work will build toward Mars.
Yes. The "Moon Hoax" is itself a hoax.
It's about time. We should have had a permanent prescence established on the moon 15 or 20 years ago. We've wasted 30 years farting around in low earth orbit, and not capitalizing on the momentum we built up with the Apollo program. I think the space shuttle was an overpriced boondoggle that was obsolete as soon as it hit the launch pad. God bless the likes of Burt Rutan, and others who are showing the world that the GOVERNMENT is not the answer to getting things done successfully and efficiently.
Respectfully. Nonsense! We know how to go to the moon. Its a matter of will and leadership. With the re-election of Bush and the very well thought out new space iniative, We are on the road back to stay. We do not need to reinvent the wheel. We are better at many things now. Its always been a question of will. NASA has been victim to the whims of visionless politicians like Clinton and NASA budget butchering democrats. No more. Bush has provided the long term goals so desperately needed by NASA and another four years to cement the plans in place. Its not a race. its a journey. We are nation of explorers and risk takers. Always has been, always will be. Its why all of us are here today.
Where your relatives alive between 1968 and 1972? And if so, did they watch the moon landings on TV?
where = were
Recipe for moon base: Strap rockets onto the International Space Station and land it on the moon. It's about time we started thinking beyond low earth orbit.
That beast is not needed for moon flight. The new system will be more efficient and especially cool.
Ditto. Well said.
That could have been done with Mir. Getting some constructive use out of it is a different question.
Hmph.
BTTT
Not two men. Not two landings. Not a permanent presence. Mission accomplished.
This is the problem with government programs. The government should just get out of the way and let private enterprise take over. It has to happen sooner or later, why not now?
And Saturn 5 wasn't cool?
That was designed back in the days when we still needed electricity to operate toasters, for goodness sake.
How about the Fed gov't withdrawing from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty and taking claims for private property rights on the moon?
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