“Mars, Bitches!”
From Engadget:
President Bush’s plans for a return to the moon in 2020, with a trip to Mars to follow, were all well and good, but now NASA has finally fleshed out the details of the moon visits, and it seems a permanent international moon base is in the cards. NASA hopes to return to the moon starting in 2020 with short stays to get things prepared, and to have the base ready for extended stays by 2024. The lunar outpost will most likely be placed on the lunar south pole, which is lit by the sun three-quarters of the time, and has possible resources to mine nearby. Two vehicles will be employed, the Orion exploration vehicle, and an all-purpose “pickup truck” of a landing vehicle which attaches to the Orion and can bring cargo and/or crew to the lunar surface in a manned or unmanned manner. It’ll cost a whoppin’ $104 billion to get back to the moon for the first trip, and we’re sure carting supplies up there won’t be cheap, but in the long run NASA hopes to be able to harvest hydrogen, oxygen and other nifty moon resources for the operation of the outpost, tasks which could eventually become simple enough to turn over to a commercial supplier. In an effort to keep costs down and build good will, NASA is welcoming other countries to join the effort, though NASA will be doing the actual design work. “This is not your father’s Apollo,” says John Logsdon of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. “This is not a flag-and-footprints. This is the idea of starting an outward movement that includes long stays on the moon.”
A few choice comments:
Xavier Gill
“…$104 billion…” Wow it’s a good thing there aren’t 37 million people living below the poverty line in the USA…oh wait
G. Snyder
“Comments about poverty lines are idiotic, as these are long term investments…investments which will secure the continuation of the human race (sounds like being a doom sayer, but someday the sun will blow up and take earth with it. It is not up for debate - that is what stars do.)”
OMAC
Yeah people are going to whine and moan about poverty this and environment that. What they fail to realize is that there will always be poverty, disease and environmental concerns. There will always be the haves and the have-nots. I think it’s a safe bet to say that every democratic country on the face of this planet has its homeless, poverty, racial strife, AIDS issues and envirionmental concerns. These things are not going anywhere. It is our responsibility, as citizens, not the governments, to end, or at least mitigate these things.
…
All very valid points. That said, let’s go! I think this will be the first step to A. store information about our history on the moon, B. understand and possibly start to implement terraforming, C. build a telescope on the moon for better research, and D. get more answers to aid our planet back to health
Will it bring all of this? Maybe, maybe not. who knows. It’s a great concept though.
Add comment December 5th, 2006
