Moondreams
My former mother-in-law was convinced that the Apollo moon landing was an elaborate hoax. I wonder what she’ll think of this (Washington Post):
NASA unveiled plans yesterday to set up a small and ultimately self-sustaining settlement of astronauts at the south pole of the moon sometime around 2020 — the first step in an ambitious plan to resume manned exploration of the solar system.
The long-awaited proposal envisions initial stays of a week by four-person crews, followed by gradually longer visits until power and other supplies are in place to make a permanent presence possible by 2024.
Okay… I confess. When George Bush announced the “New Vision for Space Exploration“, I didn’t pay a lot of attention. Rather, I saw it as a “happy talk” response to the shuttle Columbia tragedy the year before, and the ensuing discussions about whether the shuttle program should be scrapped, that the risks were too great, or that NASA was a financial sinkhole.
The NASA plan grew out of President Bush’s Vision for Space Exploration, which was announced in 2004 and calls for sending astronauts back to the moon and later to Mars.
Since NASA’s plans are nearly a verbatim regurgitation of Bush’s “New Vision…”, it seems pretty obvious that this has been in the works for a very long time. I wonder whose vision this actually was, and whether it includes better plans than this for the little problem of funding:
Congress almost unanimously embraced the general plan last year in an authorization bill, but questions remain about its funding. NASA is counting on redirecting billions of dollars from the space shuttle and international space station programs to fund development of a new spaceship, but some critics have complained that the agency is already cutting back its science programs to pay for the moon-Mars project.
Obviously, the usual devil is in the dollar details, making 2020 seem impossibly far away in more ways than one. Still — I’m pretty sure my Adorable Child (AC) will live see this particular dream come to life; I just hope it’s not too late for me.
I like big dreams.
16 Responses to “Moondreams”
so if we get some astronauts to go to the moon and we can set up a permanent place to live, then …
… yeah, I fail to see the usefeulness in this.
Is the goal to have us all move to space when things on earth are over?
fuggedaboutit
http://ragsly.blogspot.com
I like big dreams too:
A UN that works.
Renewable energy systems throughout the world.
And eating everything I like without gaining weight.
Hi Ragsly,
I guess I kept the post too short. Some of the reasons for a moonbase apparently relate to the costs of deeper (Mars and beyond) space exploration. From Bush’s statement in 2004:
call me uneducated on the topic of space and its resources, because I am.
In anycase, off the top of my head I can’t think of one medical or consumer, or scientific breakthrough/benefit we’ve gotten from space.
I’m sure it’s fun for scientists to explore, but other than that…
If anyone can, and I mean this in all sincerity, please list what findings we’ve gotten out of space thus far.
http://ragsly.blogspot.com
Ragsly,
Well, for starters there was “Tang” and freeze dried ice cream
More seriously, here’s a good link that lists scientific advances made via the space program.
-the pacemaker
-scratch-resistant lenses
-nitinol (a springy alloy used in dental implants &braces)
-telemetry techniques derived from unmanned satellite control mechanisms
-satellite TV
-implantable insulin pump derived from the Mars Voyager probe
-the Boeing 777 aircraft was design directly influenced by spacecraft construction techniques &materials
-automated farming tractors use hyper-accurate GPS locators to farm large tracts of land without human supervision
I could go on and on, but follow C Stanley’s link if you want more. Space exploration has influenced most of todays modern industries to a large degree, of which many products in your household are likely derived. The hard science might only be useful to nerds, but both getting the data and figuring out what it means benefits us in more ways than we’d first assume.
That is a great list and only covers the direct end applications. I’ll actually go on a limb and say that while the number one source of innovation and understanding about the world comes from making things related to War, the number two source in the last 50 years has been space programs. In nearly every single scientific field NASA either has directly helped by conducting experiments otherwise impossible, or the “space age” tools are integral to the process.
Well then either I’m just woefully uneducated, or the space exploration board needs a new PR firm.
“the number one source of innovation and understanding about the world comes from making things related to War, the number two source in the last 50 years has been space programs.
Worth re-reading just so it sinks in.
I’d like to add in that space exploration does not need to be justified solely on practical consequences related to our everyday needs. Civilizations sometimes reach for glory by building great architectural monuments. Others reach for glory by conquering others. Others do it through religious expression. Space exploration is along these lines. Dreams that are big; that make you think of the world as it could be rather than it is; that make you dream of things greater than yourself are worth it just because they are dreams. People need some sense of adventure in their lives and societies are the same. What are the great adventures for the human race in the next 100 years? One that has to be considered is traveling the solar system, exploring places never before seen likely by anyone else ever.
It seems like it would be most cost effective for space ezploration to be an international project.
Share the cost, share the risk and build cultural and scientific bridges.
As I pointed out in a post today at my blog, I’m definitely in favor of such projects.
But as I note there:
Just a thought.
W’s talk of going to Mars was a great idea, but like the NO solution it won’t happen with the current budget situation. Would todays seniors be willing to give up the prescription drug plan? Would the ‘gun nuts’ be willing to scrap the FutureCombatSystem or the Stealth Destoyer? We couldn’t fight Iraq on the cheap, going to Mars on the cheap is crazy.
Personally I say forget mars after we establish ourselves on the moon and instead shoot for the asteroids. Want real concrete benefits from space exploration? Make it about resources, not ideas. Make it about cheap materials to match the Walmart cheap goods mentality. Ideas and goals are all well and good and worth striving for, but if we’re talking bottom-line practicality nothing beats asteroid mining for possible return value.
Re “Wouldn’t it be ironic if, seen by future generations, BushCorpâ„¢’s greatest failure was not the debacle in Iraq, but the debt burden that doomed mankind’s exploration of space?”, it’s more likely than ironic.
Why should we go to the moon? Because we can.
Maybe this has something to do with it. From the 11/3/06 Louisville Courier-Journal,
Helium-3 was found in rocks brought back from the moon.
This article about astronaut Jack Schmitt says you can power the entire United States for a year with 40 to 50 metric tons. Which sounds more realistic.