China Military Space Power Advancing, Pentagon Reports***Major Chinese space breakthroughs in 2003, as flagged by DoD, include:
Launching and recovering of its first piloted space mission; Launching a new type of a geosynchronous orbit military communication satellite; Orbiting of a new type of film-based imagery satellite; Launching a prototype low Earth orbit communications satellite, a key step in China's development of mini-satellites; and Continuing efforts to investigate various means of tracking and defeating the space systems of potential opponents Anti-satellite to be fielded***
This is the first article I've heard of in a long time that gives serious, useful thought to the moon mars and beyond plan. Thank goodness Bush understands this stuff. I think NASA and Bush are making all the right choices right now. Retire Hubble, finish ISS, shuttle replacement, etc.
Man, I saw a NASA television thing last week about a discussion between JPL people and a cali senator and congressman, and they were all like "Wah, wah, I don't wanna lose my funding, I don't wanna lose Hubble", I was really surprised they didn't get behind the plan. They'd rather look at the stars than go to them.
Utter blathering nonsense.
We are not returning humans to the moon, much less Mars.
In your lifetime, mine, or Bush's.
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Apollo cost $27 billion in 1969 dollars. Since then, Nixon devalued the dollar so that every dollar you own is worth about a dime. Most of the "greybeard" experts are dead; the infrastructure gone. Yes, the technology is (slightly) better. It still costs $10K per pound to lift mass to orbit. So a there-and-back stunt to the Moon would cost (in my conservative estimate) only $250 billion in 2004 dollars. To put a colony on the Moon, call it $500 billion. A there-and-back stunt to Mars: maybe $750 billion, and a bare-bones colony on Mars at least a trillion.
NASA's budget has not been increased more than a few hundred million--and it won't be until we defeat the Islamics.
Bottom line: if anybody lands on the Moon, he/she won't be Americans.
I say this from 29 years experience in the aerospace business.
Period.
--Boris