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JesusLopezViejo
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Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Posts: 581
Location: Tri-State
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 Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:21 pm Post subject: Back to the moon within 15 years... |
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Human beings are to go back to the Moon within the next 15 years and this time they will stay, according to ambitious plans to establish a lunar base announced by Nasa.
The first manned mission to Earth’s satellite in two generations will blast off by 2020 to start work on an outpost that eventually will be occupied permanently, the US space agency said.
At first, crews of four will make week-long runs to the Moon, before larger missions make progressively longer trips to build up living modules and power plants. The goal is to establish a full-time human presence by 2024, with astronauts spending six-month tours at the lunar base.
The station will operate chiefly as a science laboratory preparing for manned missions to Mars, developing and testing survival technology and serving as a staging post for flights to the Red Planet. Scott Horowitz, the associate administrator for exploration systems at Nasa, said: “With such an outpost, Nasa can learn to use the Moon’s natural resources to live off the land, make preparations for a journey to Mars, conduct a wide range of scientific investigations and encourage international participation.”
The plan to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time since Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt left aboard Apollo 17 in December 1972 was announced by President Bush two years ago.
Nasa has decided now that this should involve a permanent base after canvassing the opinions of more than 1,000 scientists from 14 countries, including Britain, and is open to the idea of making the outpost an international project.
Nasa officials said that the scheme would have to be accomplished within the agency’s existing budget, though they would not be drawn on how much it would cost. The hope is that funds made available by the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2010 and the completion of the International Space Station could be diverted to the lunar base, and that other nations will also invest.
It is certain to be very expensive, with a total cost running into hundreds of billions of pounds. Last year, Nasa said that the cost of planning an initial return to the Moon would exceed $100 billion (£51 billion).
Michael Griffin, the agency’s administrator, has likened the project to the exploration of Antarctica during the last century. The first explorers, such as Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton, went there only for short missions, and the continent was then largely ignored for decades after their accomplishments. It was only in the second half of the century that scientists returned to establish research stations.
Appropriately, the most likely location for the lunar base is the Moon’s south pole, which is among the more hospitable places for human habitation and one of the most interesting for scientists to study.
Both poles are under consideration because they have more moderate temperatures and receive more sunlight than the equatorial regions visited by the Apollo missions. The sunlight is particularly important as a base would have to rely on solar power, at least in its early years before nuclear power could be used.
One attractive site is the Shackleton Crater, close to the south pole, which is almost permanently sunlit. It is also thought to hold deposits of oxygen and hydrogen, which could be extracted to provide the station with resources that would not then have to be ferried from Earth.
Shana Dale, the Nasa deputy administrator, highlighted the Shackleton Crater as a promising option. “It’s exciting. We don’t know as much about the polar regions.”
Before astronauts make the trip, Nasa will first explore the Moon further with robotic missions to scout suitable landing sites. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is scheduled to be launched in 2008 to survey the lunar surface, and robotic landers are planned for 2010 and beyond.
Human crews would then fly to and from the Moon using the Orion exploration vehicle that will succeed the space shuttle. This will be launched by Nasa’s new Ares rockets.
A suitable lunar lander, however, has yet to be designed. It is likely to be a hybrid craft, capable of landing and acting as the first habitation module for the permanent base.
Some scientists, however, have questioned whether a lunar base is the best use of Nasa’s resources. “There’s a great temptation to jump on the bandwagon completely as some people say the train’s leaving the station and we’ve got to be on it,” Dan Lester, of the University of Texas, told the website Space.com. “We are saying that might be a little naive.”
Lunar goals
# Human civilisation Extend human presence to the Moon to enable eventual settlement
# Scientific knowledge Pursue scientific activities that address fundamental questions about the history of Earth, the solar system and the universe, and about our place in them
# Exploration preparation Test technologies for future missions to Mars
# Global partnerships Provide a challenging, shared and peaceful activity that will unite nations
# Economic expansion Conduct lunar activities with benefits to life on Earth
# Public engagement Help to develop a high-tech workforce Source: Nasa
Source: Nasa |
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Guido
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Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 33
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| Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Wow, these are some impressive ideas they have going on. I wonder if this is such a good idea at this moment in history... I mean, its not like we could gain very many significant outcomes from this, there’s likely to be many 'cock ups' from the beginning. But I really do like the contemplation of a moon outpost. |
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JesusLopezViejo
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Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Posts: 581
Location: Tri-State
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| Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Guido wrote: | | Wow, these are some impressive ideas they have going on. I wonder if this is such a good idea at this moment in history... I mean, its not like we could gain very many significant outcomes from this, there’s likely to be many 'cock ups' from the beginning. But I really do like the contemplation of a moon outpost. |
As do I...
However, I can smell a lunar nuclear missile launch site in the making... |
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Guido
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Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 33
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| Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Oh yes, that’s one of the first things I could smell too. But isn’t it against international treaties to have non-terrestrial nuclear silos? Or is that just non-orbital? If so, then they could twist it so the silos are classed as 'lunar' and not 'orbital' whatsoever. |
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Johnguitars
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Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 48
Location: Scotland
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:09 am Post subject: Moon base |
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A missile launched from the Moon would not be much of a threat to the USA or Russia. It would take days to get here and would be visible to telescopes and radar all the way. Meanwhile the target country would have ample time to wipe out its opponent here on Earth.
The Pershing missiles based in West Germany were what had the Russians really worried at the end of the cold war. Their flight time of a few minutes to their targets meant that politicians would no longer be in direct control, there would just not be enough time to consult them. MAD and how. |
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Lester
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Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 4650
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:54 am Post subject: |
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I think this is a great idea, brilliant really, I mean, why should worry about problems on earth? Let's just spread them out over large distance so they seem like less.
Seriously though, it is a good thing, we need to start expanding into space as soon as possible, the amount of resources we could find on Mars is amazing, the whole planet is red because of iron! 2024 gives me enough time to complete my law degree, I could be the first Lunar Lawyer, just call me the Space Solicitor. They would need some kind of law up there surely.
Not that any of tis matters, the world's going to end in 2012 anyways. |
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Oolon Colluphid
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 133
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Lester wrote: |
Not that any of tis matters, the world's going to end in 2012 anyways. |
Well, in that case, w'd better make this project job 1 so we have time to populate Mars....Screw ground zero, start producing iron on mars for skyscrapers there!! That'll show those terrorists!! |
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Lester
Forum Elder
Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 4650
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| Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:51 am Post subject: |
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| Oolon Colluphid wrote: | | Lester wrote: |
Not that any of tis matters, the world's going to end in 2012 anyways. |
Well, in that case, w'd better make this project job 1 so we have time to populate Mars....Screw ground zero, start producing iron on mars for skyscrapers there!! That'll show those terrorists!! |
Terrorists on a red planet, the sequel to snakes on a plane. |
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Oolon Colluphid
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 133
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Lester wrote: |
Terrorists on a red planet, the sequel to snakes on a plane. |
HA!.. More like a future Govt. propaganda fear tactic against communism on mars.
"Red terror!! Don't let it spread to the red planet!! Freedom is on the march!!" |
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Lester
Forum Elder
Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 4650
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| Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2007 3:02 am Post subject: |
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Our planet is blue, that planet is red, and to get their we travel in white through stars!!
Gawd Bless America, We own space and everything out there.
-Former(hopefully) President George Bush, 2020 |
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CryxicKiller
Known Associate
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 332
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| Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:10 am Post subject: |
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| Hopefully this represents a committed effort to permanent human settlements on worlds beyond our own. I am very excited about NASA's plans and aspirations, but I hope that politics or other factors do not deter them. After all, this is quite an ambitious venture. If they pull it off within the allotted time, more power to them! |
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