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Author Topic: Why Are We Going Back To the Moon?  (Read 6292 times)

Offline porky

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Why Are We Going Back To the Moon?
« on: March 15, 2006, 11:54:28 pm »
Is it  true that shortly the shuttle program will be scrubbed and planned man explorations are set to return to the moon again? Why, does anyone know?

I understand there is a major radiation belt between Earth and Mars that is deadly to humans and that a trip to and back from Mars could take 26 or more months because of planetary alignment and the 8-9 month trip time each way. But am I wrong in thinking that we need to spend what limited money NASA has in its upcoming 2007-2112 budgets could go to better use with unmanned droids to Ensoledus (Saturn's moon with liquid water spewing from just below the surface) Europa (Jupiters moon which also has ice formations) and seek out possible life JUST to prove we can TAKE THAT NEXT STEP in our evolutionary goal as a civilized species and search for life in our own solar system, rather than go back and rock hunt or do testing to see whether the moon can be tarraformed for future human habitation.

I heard we had 2 near misses from asteroids over the last week, the closest was only 149,000 miles away and was nearly 1/3 mile across. Is there something about Earth's future that we don't know, and they are trying to see if we have a chance of Noah's Arking the Moon?

Something seems fishy about this. I saw on NASA tv that there are nearly 27 thousand low altitude (between 110 ans 225 miles above means ground level) 27 THOUSAND and over 40 high altitude 28K to 34K mikes above the earth for GPS uses.

Then they tell us that HUBBLE is TOO CLOSE to the moon to FOCUS on the objects we left behind previously, and ground telescopes are not powerful enough to see the rovers, landers and other crap we left behind. Meanwhile, we can see details of license plates from space, but not objects on the moon, not from any of the thousands of instruments we have orbiting us.

Why back to the moon? I know rocket technology does a fine job of lifting objects into space, and the international space station  is always manned and will be doing wonderful things for decades and even centuries to come, but the Moon, is it so important to test new landing and return vehicles that we will once again just do a skip and hope to our nearest neighbor?

And NASA wonders why their budgets are getting hammered, if you were an explorer and I was funding you, I highly doubt that you would get a penny from me by telling me you want to go back to a place you visited multiple times 4 dacades ago.

Offline Kris^

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Re: Why Are We Going Back To the Moon?
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2006, 12:32:05 am »
Quote from: porky

And NASA wonders why their budgets are getting hammered, if you were an explorer and I was funding you, I highly doubt that you would get a penny from me by telling me you want to go back to a place you visited multiple times 4 dacades ago.


NASA administrators had little to do with the decision.  Our fearless leader attempted to deflect attention from his other misadventures 2 years ago by pulling a JFK and setting a "noble goal, " his "Vision for Space Exploration."  Too bad he lost interest (as he does with most of his "initiatives"), leaving his commitment half-hearted and underfunded.  And there goes Hubble, perhaps one of the most magnificent and breath-taking missions of the past 15 years.

35 years ago we were able to travel to the moon a couple times a year.  Now we can't even get people into orbit; we've flown exactly one shuttle mission in the last 3 years.  What vision -- what leadership!  

I suppose by the end of this administration's tenure we'll be doing our grocery shopping with pointed sticks and sharp stones.  

-- Kris

Offline Jay

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Re: Why Are We Going Back To the Moon?
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2006, 11:33:35 am »
Quote from: Kris^

I suppose by the end of this administration's tenure we'll be doing our grocery shopping with pointed sticks and sharp stones.  

-- Kris


By the end of this administrations tenure, that's about all that will be left. Has anyone seen the national deficit lately? 8 Trillion dollars (yes that's a "T" on the front side of that word)!!! And don't even think about complaining about it because did you know that the F.B.I. can now investigate you for protesting! For Protesting!!!  As Jay Leno said last night, "hey, maybe when we're done spreading democracy around the globe, we can get some here!
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Offline beemaster

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Why Are We Going Back To the Moon?
« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2006, 12:26:09 pm »
I've stood next to the Gemini and Apollo return craft several times at the Air and Space Museum in Washington (the worlds MOST VISITED BUILDING) and I shutter in awe each time I see the size of the beaker shaped return capsules. Each loaded with gauges and manometers, all reminiscent of circ 1940 left over hardware.

It was unimaginable to me that a man would willingly sit in such a form-fitting elbow-room sparse enclosures. These were brave souls, taking what a human can do to its limit and we celebrate their victory by permanently allowing the world to see what they came home in, most of the time landing in the oceans, often somewhere near the designated spot.

But I have read NASA's planned deep-space launches of the ISS (International Space Station) some time far in the future. A literal Noah's Ark of sorts, leaving for many many generations heading for parts of the galaxy that we now know have planets with similar placement (relative to their suns) as we do.

I guess it is important to PERFECT the landing and safe take offs from "other surfaces" so the moon makes for a good practice field for manned "touch and goes" beyond the terraform of it.

I agree that there are many other laces where we can search for primitive or more advanced life in our own solar system, but so far it seems to be on moons, not planets.

The four states of matter (no hippies, it is not water, sky earth and wind) it is SOLID, LIQUID, GAS and PLASMA and it is the 3rd and 4th which MOST of our larger planets are made of: gas or/and plasma. The sun is in a plasmas state, sending huge threads of it into the magnetosphere and returning (most of the time) as if it is grounded out in giant half/oval loops, snapping back like rubber bands.

I'm looking forward to this upcoming sun-spot cycle (typically comes in 11 year cycles - remember EVERYTHING CYCLES!) well... this time, it is supposed to be a little late, stay a little longer and be nearly 50% more active - this really makes HAM RADIO fun and interesting ESPECIALLY in the higher parts of the HF (High-Frequency) band - just below and just above CB radio frequencies.

I'm readying myself for this 2 year cycle of high solar activity which opens and modifies the way radio signals move about the Earth. I remember in the late 70s and early 80s having daily chess games with Moscow, London and Johannesburg, South Africa on the the 10 meter ham band (28 MHZ band) often you couldn't see any motion on the signal strength meter, but you could hear them and they could hear you and that is all that mattered.

So where are we going with the next generation of space travel - to the moon, but also NASA TV is showing of the next generation of RADIATION PROTECTIVE SUITS which are multi jointed and should allow man to go beyond the radiation belts and still do EVA (space walk and outside repairs - actually External Vehicular Activity) but the important part is, they are working HARD on getting us protected from that radiation which currently is the BIGGEST THREAT TO MAN in near space.
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Offline mick

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Re: Why Are We Going Back To the Moon?
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2006, 04:14:29 am »
I wish they would land in one of the craters we can see.

Offline Kathyp

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Re: Why Are We Going Back To the Moon?
« Reply #5 on: November 24, 2006, 06:10:39 pm »
Quote
Has anyone seen the national deficit lately?

just for the sake of argument i'll assume you are talking about the national debt and not the trade deficit.  they are different things.

the national debt is about 3% of GDP.  that's pretty low.  think of it this way.....if you made 3000 dollars last year and your debt was 1000.00 dollars, that's a pretty high percentage of debt and not so good for you.  if this year you make 100,000.00 dollars and have a 3000 dollar debt....your debt is much higher, but your percentage of debt is much lower.....if which year were you doing better?  revenue is way up, so even though debt is up, the percentage of debt is down.....and  the debt is coming down quickly in spite of spending.

i'll not tell you how old i am....but this is one of the best economies i have ever seen.  perhaps the best in my lifetime.  there is a natural flow to these things and it will not stay good forever.  enjoy it while you can and plan for the future!
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Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: Why Are We Going Back To the Moon?
« Reply #6 on: November 25, 2006, 12:34:21 am »
Playing the numbers game with the national debt or trade deficiet (which are not the same thing) makes my head hurt. 
I'm not against goin to the moom again if it's purpose is to get us closer to the other planets--a base to launch the explorations to Mars, and the Moons of Jupiter and Saturn. 
The untold story of Space Exploration is how much it changes and enhances our own lives.  Vacuum packaging, teflon, and miniturazation, not to mention Tang, are just some of the things that have made our lives easier.  For every dollar invested in space we generate 10 times that from spin off products used here on earth. 
« Last Edit: November 25, 2006, 09:40:50 pm by Brian D. Bray »
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Offline Jerrymac

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Re: Why Are We Going Back To the Moon?
« Reply #7 on: November 25, 2006, 01:29:39 am »
I know there are many medical products out now because of our space adventures.
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Offline Kathyp

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Re: Why Are We Going Back To the Moon?
« Reply #8 on: November 25, 2006, 04:58:09 pm »
the computers we use, the cell phones, the electronics in our cars....all the neat stuff.  if a thing wasn't developed because of the space program, chances are it was improved because of it....or for it.

what would we do without tang and squishy cheese?  :-)
Someone really ought to tell them that the world of Ayn Rand?s novel was not meant to be aspirational.

 

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