New space race?

[Humus]

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/12/04/us.moon/index.html

Personally I think returning to the moon is quite pointless. A manned trip to Mars on the other hand would be quite something.

 

[pcchen]

Well, it would be easier to see if we can build a permanent base on moon than on Mars.

 

[jvd]

Reasons for a moon base

1 new tech can be tested and researched that we woulodn't be able to do here .

2) building probes and having an area to refull space ships or even build space ships up there would cut out the millions in fuel we need to send them into space


3) much easier to get aproval to build a nucular engine for a space trip to mars which we would need to get there and also don't have to worry about the engine going boom while leaving earth.

4) it should have been done 20 years ago

 

[London Geezer]

One thing that has always worried me of building-in-space, is that it's just too fricking far away... i mean, picture this: it's 4.30, workers are getting ready to go home (their Lunar home), but they need to finish one piece before the end of business the same day... and they finish the screws.

What do they do? Go: "Call Houston! we need screws!!!"????

really, i've always wondered...

Same goes for, don't know... Tea bags... And sugar, and milk.. U know, all those valuable things a worker can't be without... [UK joke, sorry...]

 

[pcchen]

Well, it's not too much different from working on a ship or an aircraft carrier, or south pole research base

 

[London Geezer]

Well, it's not too much different from working on a ship or an aircraft carrier, or south pole research base

Well it is a bit different in that the moon is slightly farther away than the north pole... And no-one wants to build an airship or whatever else in there...

What could benefit from Zero-grav manufacturing? I've heard something about this some time ago, basically saying there are some "things" that can only be built in zero-grav... Or something along those lines... :|

 

[pcchen]

Well it is a bit different in that the moon is slightly farther away than the north pole... And no-one wants to build an airship or whatever else in there...

Of course, but the keypoint here is you can't overlook even very small things. Even south pole research base is not really very far away, supply ships are not frequent (once in 3 months or similar). So you have to carefully plan the supplies. These experiences can also be used on a moon base.

 

[Sxotty]

Without gravity you can build things that rely on diffusion to be acurately manufactured. For example in space it should be possible to build quite uniform metal foam, which would be fairly darn strong and light.

 

[RussSchultz]

When I heard about the moon initiative, I paused a moment and thought about returning to NASA.

Then I remembered NASA was in Houston.

 

[Natoma]

Unfortunately with the current $400 Billion Medicare Bill, $200 Billion in Iraq spending (and counting), and near $2 Trillion in tax cuts, as well as a $500 Billion deficit this year, and climbing for the forseeable future, I doubt we can afford this right now, politically or fiscally.

And that hurts me more than most projects because I spent a good portion of the latter half of the 90's clamoring for more funding for outerspace research and development. Sigh.

Frankly I think we have more of a vested interest in spending the required billions on shoring up our port, border, and airport security at this point, all of which are still sorely underfunded. A few days ago, a news organization (I believe it was ABC), was able to smuggle a fake package of Uranium required for a nuclear weapon through airport and water port security. It was a box full of instruments designed to give off a radioactive signature. They got it through twice in each section.

Things like that frighten me far more than the chinese getting to mars first.

 

[MuFu]

When I heard about the moon initiative, I paused a moment and thought about returning to NASA.

Me too.

Then I realised the Nottingham Amateur Swimming Association probably didn't give two craps about going to the moon.

MuFu.

 

[Tahir2]

You're from Nottingham Mufu?

For there to be a space race you need someone to race with. Who are the candidates? Japan, Europe, Russia...the space race is more of a space co-operation.

I would like to see a replacement for the Space Shuttle given a priority, then a manned mission to Mars and then perhaps the International Space Station can be finished off?

Imagine a super large telescope on the moon too... and when are they going to sort out warp engines? How hard is it to find di-lithium crystals and engage in some matter anti-matter reactions? And why cant they get Star Gates to work? Haven't they found one in Egypt yet?

 

[MuFu]

You're from Nottingham Mufu?

Nope, but I live about 15 mins away in Loughborough.

MuFu.

 

[RussSchultz]

A few days ago, a news organization (I believe it was ABC), was able to smuggle a fake package of Uranium required for a nuclear weapon through airport and water port security. It was a box full of instruments designed to give off a radioactive signature. They got it through twice in each section.

From my understanding, the box was actually a chunk of depleted uranium which gives off a different signature than fissionable uranium, and it relatively harmless, especially in terms of "WMD" (either big boom or dirty bomb)

 

[nelg]

One thing that has always worried me of building-in-space, is that it's just too fricking far away... i mean, picture this: it's 4.30, workers are getting ready to go home (their Lunar home), but they need to finish one piece before the end of business the same day... and they finish the screws.

What do they do? Go: "Call Houston! we need screws!!!"????

Good point. Maybe they should build a HomeDepot on the moon first.

 

[Tahir2]

So, China is the race partner.

All this race to the moon talk, it was Kennedy who announced that the US was going to land a man on the moon and he gave a projection on how long it would take.

Does anyone remember the lead time from Kennedy's statement and the landing on the moon by Mr Armstrong?

 

[RussSchultz]

So, China is the race partner.

All this race to the moon talk, it was Kennedy who announced that the US was going to land a man on the moon and he gave a projection on how long it would take.

Does anyone remember the lead time from Kennedy's statement and the landing on the moon by Mr Armstrong?

It was 7 or so years, I believe. (1962 was the announcement, 1969 was the first landing)

 

[Rugor]

He announced "Man on the moon by the end of this decade," in about 1962 and they succeeded.

A couple of points-- first, the moon is not zero-g but rather low-g, which has a lot more advantages and fewer drawbacks for working in that zero-g. Things stay where you put them for one thing, and you have something to brace against.

It would be a good place to work out long duration tests, build an observatory, and do a few other things. As to distance, it's not as huge a deal as some might think. When it comes to supplying any outpost, the two most important factors are travel time and shipping costs. Distance is irrelevant except as it relates to those two factors.

Based on 1960's technology the moon is about 3 days away, so it wouldn't be too unreasonable to expect that early 21st century technology would at least be able to match that level of performance. A permanent moonbase would require the ability to make regular trips there, certainly at least as frequently as every 3 to six months. A reasonable safety precaution would simply be to keep moonship production/refurbishment one unit ahead of your needs. That way you would always have one craft ready to make an emergency run to the moon if need be.

It would be a great staging point for a Mars mission, and the moon would be the best possible place for an observatory.

A simple Mars trip would just set the stage for another post-Apollo retrenchment, where a moon base would be a useful step towards a permanent space presence, and be able to start bringing in a return very quickly. It would be a great space port from which to launch planetary missions-- it's been described as halfway to anywhere.

If you look at the energy costs, and use gravity whip maneuvers around Earth, you can get anywhere in the system a lot faster and more easily from the moon than direct from Earth. It's a good logical place to go next-- provided we stay.

 

[L233]

Personally I think returning to the moon is quite pointless.

Maybe they think there is oil up there.

 

[L233]

So, China is the race partner.

Why "race" against a country forty years behind it in technology?