But no moon. I’ve noted before that my dad averred that he had insisted in the 1930’s that men would go to the moon in his lifetime. And that they did, just some 35 years later. Now it’s coming on twice that time since, without any increment whatsoever in manned exploration of space, starting with a return to the moon, which is an obvious base camp for further missions.
Now everybody’s marveling at the landing of the Space-X booster on that barge. Ok, cool. But it ain’t the moon, or anything beyond that. We’re left with LEO and everybody is talking smack. Well, I’m calling BS on that.
... and “Shawyer’s Em Drive” ? that’s pure fantasy. That’s where we are now, fantasy as reality.
My honest opinion is that Apollo will fade into myth, even as more and more fantastical ideas become current, of course with no hope of fruition.
Yes, there are plans for basing a lot of the "space mining" effort on the Moon. It's a natural jump off point for the rest of the Solar system. Part of the problem with going back to the Moon is a lack of political will to do so via our GOVERNMENT run NASA. Now that private individuals are stepping up to the plate, this will change. We already have our first Private Astronaut. More will follow.
Apples and parakeets on the Space X booster. The booster and it's recovery vehicle are mission purposed to be a reusable SSTO vehicle and nothing more. It isn't DESIGNED to go to the Moon.
Shawyer's drive is a lot more than fantasy. Even China's open ended drive currently in orbit is giving results. Cannea's superconducting drives in vacuum testing produce more thrust than Hall effect and photonic thrusters at a fraction of the energy cost.
My opinion is the naysayers shouldn't interrupt those people who are currently DOING the very things they say are impossible.