Too big of a step. We should look at a longer stay on the moon first. Kinda pick up where we left off.
On the other hand, the time required in space to visit an asteroid might actually spur some innovation in shielding technology.
If you’re going out to the asteroid belt, might as well go all the way to Mars. Make it a two-fer. Drop the Muzzie astronauts on the asteroid and tell them we’ll pick them up on the way back.
>>Too big of a step. We should look at a longer stay on the moon first. Kinda pick up where we left off.<<
Asimov and Heinlein BOTH suggested a “Luna City.” They prompted many a child to become rocket scientists, engineers and inventors of things from Velcro to MRIs to GPS.
We owe it to ourselves to establish a city on the Moon — there is so much we could learn and do there and, silly as it may seem to those who eschew SF, to complete the initial vision of the Masters who inspired so many.
This whole “go to a asteroid” and “maybe go to Mars” is a (yet another) sop by barry the zero’s handlers. He doesn’t care about space. The only space he understands is the one between his ears that gets filled by his handlers.
We should explore the ruins Richard Hoagland (sp?) says on the side of the moon turned away from Earth. Or has he stopped saying they are there?