Posted on 12/04/2006 11:30:42 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
NASA unveiled plans yesterday to set up a small and ultimately self-sustaining settlement of astronauts at the south pole of the moon sometime around 2020 -- the first step in an ambitious plan to resume manned exploration of the solar system.
The long-awaited proposal envisions initial stays of a week by four-person crews, followed by gradually longer visits until power and other supplies are in place to make a permanent presence possible by 2024.
The effort was presented as an unprecedented mission to learn about the moon and places beyond, as well as an integral part of a long-range plan to send astronauts to Mars. The moon settlement would ultimately be a way station for space travelers headed onward, and would provide not only a haven but also hydrogen and oxygen mined from the lunar surface to make water and rocket fuel.
NASA officials declined to put a price tag on what will clearly be an extremely expensive venture. But they said that with help from international partners and perhaps space businesses, the agency would have sufficient funds to undertake the plan without any dramatic infusion of new money.
If the project goes ahead as planned, it would return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972.
NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale said the agency met with hundreds of scientists, potential international partners and space businesses over the past year to discuss lunar options -- most pressingly, whether the plan should be based around a series of sorties to the moon or a permanent outpost and later settlement. The conclusion, she said, was that an outpost would be the best both for science and to prepare for exploration deeper into space.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I'd love to see man on the moon again.
It would be nice to see man on the moon.
Moonbase Alpha? ;-)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Space1999_Year1_Title.jpg
25 years late and puny by comparison...ya gotta love our sense of priorities; hey we've got XBox instead of Alpha - God Bless America, Sen Proxmire et al and Presidents lacking in "the Vision thing".
Yeah, like the Democrats would let that happen.
Then let China build it.
I've been waiting for ages to hear more details on this and finally the news is filtering out and if this starts a new space race with China then surely this is good for the competitiveness of the human spirit.
I've no doubt whatsoever that the US will be the frontrunners by a long shot in establishing a permanent colony on Mars as well, I can't wait to see all this unfold, hopefully a lot of it in my lifetime.......GO NASA!!!
I think the article used the phrase "four person crews" for a reason...and they'll be up there for 6 days and 7 nights, including weekends...next thing you know one of them will wanna start a bowling league or something...
What's funny is that the article immediately below this one is entitled. "Original Venus singer Mariska Veres dies."
No Rudi Gernreich uniforms please!
It will not happen in anyone's lifetime who is living today. Our technology field is being dumbed down with too much politically and enviromentally correctiveness for any of this to happen. They might have the paperwork done by 2030 since there isn't a shortage of paper, yet.
...why not...we have a ****load of moonbats we can return
Doogle
Like the prescription drug plan, Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security payouts, and the other socialist RAT hole programs. But the space program is always tagged as "extremely expensive" for some reason.
ping
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