Bush to announce new moon mission

drudge ^ | 12/3/3 | unknown

[LandofLincoln]

Let me guess, my fellow conservatives who seem to be on a slippery slope to the right will not consider this bigger government/bigger taxes. And I am somehow UNPATRIOTIC to even question this quest.

[LandofLincoln]

Sorry, here is the link.

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/powell200312030858.asp

[SaveTheChief]

Maybe if Gov. Rod can stay in Springfield for more than a couple of hours, the good people of Illinois can contribute his travel money to NASA.

[Archangelsk]

I'm not holding my breath.

[go star go]

we have to. china is planning on making a trip to the moon. they will build military bases if we're not there.

[dead]

Already posted here:

IF IT'S TUESDAY, THIS MUST BE TRANQUILITY BASE: "W" TO ANNOUNCE RETURN TO THE MOON?!

Though neither post pays any attention to the Original Title rule.

[CasearianDaoist]

The buzz is that he is going to refocus NASA, not raise its budget by much.

[Hodar]

This would be absolutely fantastic. The technology advances we gained from Mercury, Gemini and Apollo far surpassed the costs of the programs. NASA even has a magazine entitled Spinoff that not only lists the technology that has been turned over to commercial industries, it mentions several alternative uses for the various technologies.

Advancements in MRI, semiconductors, software, satellites, computers, remote sensing, weather prediction, cancer treatment would never have come about as they have, if it had not been for NASA.

[AzSteven]

And I am somehow UNPATRIOTIC to even question this quest

No, I do not think you are unpatriotic to question this. However, I do think this is an excellent idea, and something far more likely to provide long-term good for the country than a massive dump of funds for a medicare expansion.

One of the problems I have seen over the past decade or so is the diminishing of R&D efforts in American industry. The Apollo program was a major boon for corporate R&D, and generated a lot of technologies that were either directly helpful towards US techological dominanace, or that became enabling technologies for later advances we now take for granted.

THAT BEING SAID: I would prefer that the funding for this sort of program be matched by (or better yet exceeded by) cuts in other non-defense federal programs. This stuff is not free; it will probably give us untold benefits at some point in the future, but the budget RIGHT NOW needs to be controlled.

[LibWhacker]

As the man says, we have to. He who dominates cislunar space in the 21st Century dominates Earth. Do we want it to be us or "them?"

[dead]

Though you may not agree with them, there are valid arguments that can be made from a national security point of view for a vigorous national space program.

The same cannot be said of the Medicare prescription drug bonanza.

[John H K]

Uh....

To a great degree it's NASA propganda and must be taken with a huge boulder of salt.

Also, ask most space scientist if they want manned missions ANYWHERE and the answer is a resounding "no."

The cost of life support is so high and the ability of computers and robots so great now that there really isn't a practical reasons to have humans in space.

I'd support a manned Mars mission, myself, but I'd consider men back to the moon a total waste of time. And I'd kill the %)$#)!@!@# Space Station. The mind reels at the sort of great probes we could be sending to the planets if we didn't have to fart money away on that boondoggle.

[Howlin]

Lord knows we wouldn't want any more of this kind of stuff:

Inventions from Space What do all the things pictured on this page have in common? They all use technologies or materials that were originally developed for the space program.
	TV Satellite Dish NASA developed ways to correct errors in the signals coming from the spacecraft. This technology is used to reduce noise (that is, messed up picture or sound) in TV signals coming from satellites.
	Medical Imaging NASA developed ways to process signals from spacecraft to produce clearer images. (See more on digital information and how spacecraft send images from space.) This technology also makes possible these photo-like images of our insides.
	Bar Coding Originally developed to help NASA keep track of millions of spacecraft parts, bar-coding is now used by almost everybody who sells things to keep track of how much of what is sold and how much of what is left.
	Vision Screening System Uses techniques developed for processing space pictures to examine eyes of children and find out quickly if they have any vision problems. The child doesn't have to say a word!
	Ear Thermometer Instead of measuring temperature using a column of mercury (which expands as it heats up), this thermometer has a lens like a camera and detects infrared energy, which we feel as heat. The warmer something is (like your body), the more infrared energy it puts out. This technology was originally developed to detect the birth of stars.
	Fire Fighter Equipment Fire fighters wear suits made of fire resistant fabric developed for use in space suits.
	Smoke Detector First used in the Earth orbiting space station called Skylab (launched back in 1973) to help detect any toxic vapors. Now used in most homes and other buildings to warn people of fire.
	Sun Tiger Glasses From research done on materials to protect the eyes of welders working on spacecraft, protective lenses were developed that block almost all the wavelengths of radiation that might harm the eyes, while letting through all the useful wavelengths that let us see.
	Automobile Design Tools A computer program developed by NASA to analyze a spacecraft or airplane design and predict how parts will perform is now used to help design automobiles. This kind of software can save car makers a lot of money by letting them see how well a design will work even before they build a prototype.
	Cordless Tools Portable, self-contained power tools were originally developed to help Apollo astronauts drill for moon samples. This technology has lead to development of such tools as the cordless vacuum cleaner, power drill, shrub trimmers, and grass shears.
	Aerodynamic Bicycle Wheel A special bike wheel uses NASA research in airfoils (wings) and design software developed for the space program. The three spokes on the wheel act like wings, making the bicycle very efficient for racing.
	Thermal Gloves and Boots These gloves and boots have heating elements that run on rechargeable batteries worn on the inside wrist of the gloves or embedded in the sole of the ski boot. This technology was adapted from a spacesuit design for the Apollo astronauts.
	Space Pens The Fisher Space Pen was developed for use in space. Most pens depend on gravity to make the ink flow into the ball point. For this space pen, the ink cartridge contains pressured gas to push the ink toward the ball point. That means, you can lie in bed and write upside down with this pen! Also, it uses a special ink that works in very hot and very cold environments.
	Shock Absorbing Helmets These special football helmets use a padding of Temper Foam, a shock absorbing material first developed for use in aircraft seats. These helmets have three times the shock absorbing ability of previous types.
	Ski Boots These ski boots use accordion-like folds, similar to the design of space suits, to allow the boot to flex without distortion, yet still give support and control for precision skiing.
	Failsafe Flashlight This flashlight uses NASA's concept of system redundancy, which is always having a backup for the parts of the spacecraft with the most important jobs. This flashlight has an extra-bright primary bulb and an independent backup system that has its own separate lithium battery (also a NASA developed technology) and its own bulb.
	Invisible Braces These teeth-straightening braces use brackets that are made of a nearly invisible translucent (almost see-through) ceramic material. This material is a spinoff of NASA's advanced ceramic research to develop new, tough materials for spacecraft and aircraft.
	Edible Toothpaste This is a special foamless toothpaste developed for the astronauts to use in space (where spitting is not a very good idea!) Although this would be a great first toothpaste for small children, it is no longer available.
	Joystick Controllers Joystick controllers are used for lots of things now, including computer games and vehicles for people with disabilities. These devices evolved from research to develop a controller for the Apollo Lunar Rover, and from other NASA research into how humans actually operate (called "human factors").
	Advanced Plastics Spacecraft and other electronics need very special, low-cost materials as the base for printed circuits (like those inside your computer). Some of these "liquid crystal polymers" have turned out to be very good, low-cost materials for making containers for foods and beverages.
	Back to Spinoffs Memory Game

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[kevao]

Do I have to pay for seniors' prescription drugs, the corporate pension bailout, AND the moon trip, or can I opt for just two of the three?

[BushCountry]

And I am somehow UNPATRIOTIC to even question this quest.

*****

Not UNPATRIOTIC, just foolish. I would much rather spend monies on space exploration than welfare any day. America needs to quest for goals that are currently unreachable and needs to dream again. Currently we are downtrodden and aimless, we need hope.

[My2Cents]

A vigorous national space program (along with a vigorous and unbeatable military) are the only federal projects worth spending money on.

[My2Cents]

I'm waiting for the development of the replicator and transporter. Warp drive would be nice too.

[AzSteven]

I'm waiting for the development of the replicator and transporter. Warp drive would be nice too.

Bah - I am still waiting for all those personal Gyrocopters we were promised during the 1938 World's Fair...

[Howlin]

I happen to be crazy about my computer, too, how about you? :-)

[TomB]

Good post.

As for me, I'll stick with what that dirty neocon Teddy Roosevelt said:

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."