Posted on 04/04/2015 12:59:51 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Despite a declaration from President Barack Obama that the moon is not a planned destination for American astronauts, senior NASA engineers have quietly begun reconsidering using it as a staging point for an eventual mission to Mars.
William Gerstenmaier, the chief of human exploration for NASA, does not see the president's plan of a direct, 900-day mission to the red planet as achievable. Instead, Gerstenmaier believes large amounts of ice at the lunar poles may provide an important reservoir of oxygen and hydrogen fuel to propel rockets and spaceships across the 40 million miles of space to Mars.
"If propellant was available from the moon, this could dramatically lower the mass needed from the Earth for a NASA Mars mission," Gerstenmaier said.
NASA officials have begun talking about an "Evolvable Mars Campaign," which recognizes the technical and financial challenges of reaching Mars, and the likelihood that the United States would not support an all-out, Apollo-like plan.
But Gerstenmaier and senior NASA officials remain in a delicate position when it comes to speaking of the moon publicly.
President Obama established his space policy for NASA during a 2010 speech at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and it did not include stopping at the moon.
"I just have to say pretty bluntly here, we've been there before," the President said. Instead, Obama directed NASA to visit an asteroid in the 2020s and proceed directly to Mars in the 2030s. This marked a decisive split from President George W. Bush, who had NASA developing plans to live and work on the moon, testing technology and mining resources there, before shooting for Mars.
Gerstenmaier, a widely respected engineer who has overseen NASA's human spaceflight program since 2005, appears to be steering the agency back toward a program that would more fully utilize the moon....
(Excerpt) Read more at houstonchronicle.com ...
Yes. He’s been on top of this.
Yeah.
Sad to say.
Someone at NASA realized “WTH! We don’t need to reach out to muslimes. We need to get away from them!”
Why go to Mars, when the Martians always come here? /Sheila Jackson Lee
The moon’s far side blocks Earth’s ionospheric radio noise.
An excellent place for a low frequency radio telescope.
I agree. There is no pressing need for a human presence on Mars. Drones on Mars would be very cool.
All this talk about the government or governments going to the moon, Mars, and into outer space is ridiculous. This isn’t the mission of government; rather, private industry/individuals, like minded private groups should be going, exploring, and settling!
We need to get rid of the obnoxious Outer Space Treaty of 1967 which does not allow private ownership of outer space resources. For example, even a small asteroid might contain more gold than has ever been discovered on Earth history but anyone finding it technically couldn’t keep it!
When this is changed, space exploration will enter its Golden Age, and the human spirit will continue to exploit and explore just as we did on this planet!
“contain more gold than “
Except when you get it back to Earth...that amount dumped into the economy will depress the price of gold to near nothing!
Thanks Cincinatus' Wife. Extra to APoD.
William Gerstenmaier, the chief of human exploration for NASA, does not see the president's plan of a direct, 900-day mission to the red planet as achievable. Instead, Gerstenmaier believes large amounts of ice at the lunar poles may provide an important reservoir of oxygen and hydrogen fuel to propel rockets and spaceships across the 40 million miles of space to Mars.
Thailand may beat us to the Moon this time.
Check out their latest vehicle. Think I have seen the contrails over the US.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/pD_yQZ4iNjY?rel=0
But we're trying!
True! But hopefully the supply will generate a demand.
Think of all the new jewelry, the circuitry, the gold leaf painted buildings...
Anyway, that’s just one small example. Who knows what riches are out there? After Columbus discovered America, did the price of gold and silver drop in Europe? Were the funds and efforts getting there worth the returns?
That question has an answer, of course! The payback was worth 1,000 times the cost! Those efforts greatly expanded the wealth of Europe and the world.
Obama to NASA: “whatever...” Muslim outreach program ensues...
Ted Cruz To NASA: “get your act together NOW!” Mission to moon planning begins.
Two very different men with very different results from their efforts.
What kind of results do you want from your leaders?
This article discusses advantages of a lunar South Pole telescope but leaves out an important one: pointed right at the center of our galaxy.
Maybe world emperor O is considering this for his retirement estate.
Whatever puts the most money into the pockets of cronies is what they’ll do.
With Muslims the focal point an endless deep space mission is in order. Weld some buses together strap on some nukes and give them some cameras and touch her off. Call it the headless camel express to jihad.
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