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Back to the Moon
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NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Spacecraft are on their way to the moon atop an Atlas V rocket.
 Finally, we go back to the Moon.
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Re: Back to the Moon
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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has transmitted its first images since reaching the moon on June 23.
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Dr Morbius
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(scholastic sledgehammer)
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07/16/09 03:02 PM
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Re: Back to the Moon
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I envisioned back in 1968 that space research and exploration would keep up like the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey and we would have a few moon bases by now, at least. I've always blamed the politicians for being shortsighted, but I wonder if there's another reason we've become stagnated in manned space exploration?  
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Re: Back to the Moon
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Jim Oberg has a great take on the reason here Jim Oberg MSNBC. There is just a lack of political will.
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Re: Back to the Moon
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Quote:
I envisioned back in 1968 that space research and exploration would keep up like the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey and we would have a few moon bases by now, at least. I've always blamed the politicians for being shortsighted, but I wonder if there's another reason we've become stagnated in manned space exploration?
What are you suggesting?
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Charl
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(member)
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07/22/09 08:00 PM
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Re: Back to the Moon
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Manned space exploration is as pointless now as it was forty years ago. I hope the new administration puts a quick end to it and redirects the funds towards unmanned exploration of the solar system. I really don't want to look at pictures of footprints in the dust for the rest of my life.
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Re: Back to the Moon
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True we can't afford to go. Worse than that, we can't afford not to.
I'd like to see a resurgence of the "can do" attitude that we once had.
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ColoHank
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(professor emeritus)
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07/29/09 04:59 PM
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Re: Back to the Moon
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Space exploration is just one of many things that machines can do better, cheaper and more safely than humans. Using imagination to identify research needs and designing and building machines to address those needs is an area where humans excel. Let's do what we do best and let our machines accept the risks involved in visiting hostile lunar and planetary environments.
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Re: Back to the Moon
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Quote:
Manned space exploration is as pointless now as it was forty years ago. I hope the new administration puts a quick end to it and redirects the funds towards unmanned exploration of the solar system. I really don't want to look at pictures of footprints in the dust for the rest of my life.
While I suspect you're just trying to stir things up, I'd like to reply anyway.
The "pointlessness" is really subjective: on one hand, our lives won't really change that much in a tangible way simply because of manned space shots; but on the other hand, a man on Mars or the Moon would accomplish far more in a month than any possible robotic craft could in its longest conceivable lifetime. Why? Flexibility and on-the-spot decision making capability. This is an obvious point.
The slightly less obvious one is, the advances in technology that are forced by such extreme enterprises. These always produce new products that end up in the consumer market, making life a little better for us all. In addition, there are the tens of thousands of people in the aerospace industry who are gainfully employed, paying taxes, supporting their communities, and educating their children, as a result of these projects.
So yes, there's not much point in another footprints-and-flags mission to the Moon in and of itself. But it could be the start of something much bigger and better. That's what I'm hoping for.
And finally, nobody's actually insisting that you look at pictures of footprints. You can look at anything you like.
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Re: Back to the Moon
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A combination of the two is needed.
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Re: Back to the Moon
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And finding and making a new home for the human race somewhere out there just might save our bacon someday, too.
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Re: Back to the Moon
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Quote:
And finding and making a new home for the human race somewhere out there just might save our bacon someday, too.
When we agree we agree Mike. web page 
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Re: Back to the Moon
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Efficiency and cost-effectiveness may be the best way to exploit current resources, but that value will never procure abundant new resources for us.
I'm all for robotic space exploration, but that is best used as a prelude and a compliment to the human presence, not a substitute for it.
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MMICKELS
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(Aluminum Knight)
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08/02/09 05:15 PM
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Re: Back to the Moon
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We are already planning for a manned Moon mission. Hopefully we will learn a thing or two while we're there and be able to build on that knowledge. I recently met the head propulsion engineer for the first stage of the manned rocket for the project. I wish I could have spent more time with him and picked his brain a bit more. Nice guy Jaime.
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Re: Back to the Moon
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Spot on Dave. If it's not a pre curser for us going there then why bother.
Mark that sounds like a cool gathering. Wish you got to talk more to Jaime.
We had a chance to have some beers wih Jack Shaw, who headed up the last Hubble mission, at NEAF a couple years ago. Man did he have some great tales about when he was on the Apollo team too.
We just built an observatory for a fellow in NH who was a mathematician doing orbital mechanics for the Apollo missions and had a pretty big roll in getting Apollo 13 home.
He was pretty mad still that the tank that blew out was a reject from Apollo 8 that they new they had problems with.
Go figure. 
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