Posted on 03/18/2006 4:10:56 PM PST by iPod Shuffle
The Sunday Times March 19, 2006
Nasa to put man on far side of moon Jonathan Leake , Science Editor NASA, the American space agency, has unveiled plans for one of the largest rockets ever built to take a manned mission to the far side of the moon.
It will ferry a mother ship and lunar lander into Earth orbit to link up with a smaller rocket carrying the crew. Once united they will head for the moon where the larger ship will remain in orbit after launching the lunar lander and crew.
The design emerged during a space science conference in Houston, Texas, last week. The plan is part of Nasa’s “Return to the Moon” programme set in motion by President George W Bush two years ago.
Under the project, up to four astronauts at a time will land on the far side of the moon to collect rock samples and carry out research, including looking for water that might one day support a lunar base.
The scale of the missions is much larger than the earlier Apollo programme, which is why Nasa will need two separate rockets to take the mother ship and crew into space.
Some missions will also see manned spacecraft landing in unexplored areas such as the lunar mountains and on the moon’s south and north poles.
John Connolly, manager of Nasa’s lunar lander project, said the system was designed to carry crews to almost every part of the moon’s surface.
“The samples they collect and the research they carry out will help solve many mysteries about the origins and composition of the moon and its suitability as a base,” he said.
The Apollo programme carried out six lunar landings between 1969 and 1972. The feat was a triumph, but the technical limitations of the Apollo craft, plus ignorance of lunar terrain, meant all six missions had to be sent to the moon’s plains.
These regions, all on the near side of the moon, were the only areas known to be flat enough for a safe landing. This has frustrated scientists because the samples collected by the six missions are all similar. They are also thought to be younger than lunar mountain rocks.
The far side — so called because it always faces away from the Earth — was first photographed in 1959 by a Russian probe. In 1968 the astronauts of Apollo 8 became the first to view it directly.
The evidence gathered by such missions was enough to deter any attempt to land because most of the far side appeared to be covered in large craters. Additionally, any craft landing there would be cut off from radio contact with Earth.
Connolly believes, however, that Nasa will be able to overcome such problems by sending a series of robotic probes ahead of the manned missions.
The first of these, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, to be launched in 2008, will map the moon’s surface in detail.
Cameras will photograph the surface, backed by a laser altimeter to create a three-dimensional relief map from which Nasa can identify landing sites.
Then, from 2010, a series of “companion lander” missions will carry out test landings on selected sites to see if they are worth a visit by humans.
The final element will be a system of communications satellites, dubbed the “lunar internet”, so astronauts will be able to relay signals to Earth from any part of the moon.
Connolly said the first humans could arrive as early as 2015, although 2018 was more likely. The agency would then aim to send two crews to the moon each year for up to five years. The programme will cost around £56 billion and may also be used to test technology for any future mission to Mars.
Some have questioned whether the programme will produce enough good science to justify the costs.
Manuel Grande, head of the planetary science group at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, dismissed such fears. “Finding out more about the moon will help us understand where the Earth and moon came from,” he said. “There do not have to be good scientific reasons . . . It’s like going up Everest; we want to go to places like the moon and Mars just because they are there.”
They have delayed the next launch until July so they can run windtunnel tests. Are they going to put the entire external tank in a wind tunnel?
Too much libration will do that. (BYW, though posted on the U.S. Naval Observatory website, that composite was taken by a Portugese doctor from his third floor apartment.)
It seems to me that the one thing NASA has proven over the last 35 years, is what a government agency is most suited to do. What have they spent, half a trillion, a full trillion, two trillion? I'd guess a little over half a trillion.
Here we are 35 years after the last moon landing, and the promise is that we can make another trip to the moon in 12-14 years.
Someone accurately pointed out that we will make a more established trip this time, setting up at least temporary bases. Okay, well and good. It will be 2020, not 1980.
I am not impressed.
WHAT YOU SAY !!
When NASA set out to put a man on the moon they did an awesome job. They seem to be a great one time use agency.
Uh, yes, I realize that. My post was referencing Pink Floyd's 1973 release, "Dark Side of Moon"..
Someone set me up the bomb?
NASA has done what Congress asked. Its not surprising that the agency would be internally deconstructing seeing what they have been asked to do compared to what they could do.
Well, that is a good a good question. Another that comes to mind is why they would schedule another flight for May, without already having done this testing? In light of the last two flights and the tragic results of the first, am I that unfair to ask why this wasn't job one, before another flight was scheduled? I cannot believe what I am seeing, and I can't help but think some astronuats must be thinking along the same lines. This is amazing.
Fair enough, but you released a firestorm of ill-informed comments.
It appears that they are under new management, and the new management finally has got a degree of control.
Very nice. Thanks for the post. It did push me up to the edge, but it's a good series. LOL
William Anders of Apollo 8 has that picture framed at his house just like you posted here. He say's that's the way he saw it from lunar orbit. It had to be a real mind-blowing experience. Among the first three humans to see Earthrise instead of moonrise. Also, Gene Cernan of Apollos 10 & 17 has long said he can't wait to rid himself of the title "Last Man on the Moon". I just hope that when NASA does it again, the tv cameras are better. Some High-Def images would be super.
"...The question is, which man will NASA put on the far side of the mooon?..."
Gary Larson.
It appears they need a strong administrative type to go in with a heavy hand and shake some things up. I believe RightWhale infers in a later post that something along these lines may be in the works.
I am so glad they cleared that up for me.
Okay, thanks for the comment. I wasn't going to mention it prior to this, but it almost seemed as if the crew might have said something to the effect, that if you guys don't get your act together and run some testing, we're not only not getting on board, but we'll go public.
I would hope that your explanation more closely describes the actual events.
Oh he's already on it. Your guess doesn't count.
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