Posted on 12/11/2017 1:35:57 PM PST by DFG
President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign his administration’s first space policy directive in a White House ceremony Dec. 11, one that will formally direct NASA to send humans back to the moon.
A White House schedule of the president’s activities, released late Dec. 10, includes a 3 p.m. Eastern “signing ceremony for Space Policy Directive 1.” The schedule didn’t provide additional details about the event or the document, but a White House official later confirmed that the directive is linked to human space exploration policy.
“The president, today, will sign Space Policy Directive 1 (SPD-1) that directs the NASA Administrator to lead an innovative space exploration program to send American astronauts back to the Moon, and eventually Mars,” Deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said in an statement Dec. 11.
(Excerpt) Read more at spacenews.com ...
The moon program will use all the $ and there will be none left for climate doodah. Smart move.
“Could it be that the moon is much, much more than we know it to be?”
http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-11/episode-11
“Debtor nations should not be sending people to the moon.”
Debtor nations should not allow their politicians to buy votes and sinecures using freebies distributed to citizens and illegal immigrants alike.
“Mandatory spending is currently estimated to be $2.535 trillion for FY 2018. The two largest mandatory programs are Social Security and Medicare. That’s 62 percent of all federal spending. It’s also three times more than the military budget.”
https://www.thebalance.com/current-federal-mandatory-spending-3305772
Send Sheila Jackson Lee! PLEASE! *SMIRK*
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are unconstitutional. Each should be ended immediately. Stop taking the deductions. Stop sending the checks. Cancel the Medicare and Medicaid cards. It’s the only legal option.
BTW... The space program is also unconstitutional. Privatize it.
I love the blunt simplicity of this. I choose to imagine it went like something like this:
“President Trump, what should we do about NASA?”
“Tell them to get off their asses and get us back to the Moon and then over to Mars.”
“They’re going to say it’s not that easy.”
“They did it 50 years ago. What’s the problem? My phone is thousands of times more powerful than Apollo 11’s computers.”
“They’re saying something about funding.”
“Let me see their books real quick. Hmm, yeah, do you have any idea how much money this is in the real world? I do.”
“Sir...”
“Tell them to go back to the Moon, or they’re fired.”
“Ok, what should we call the directive?”
“Uh, Space Policy...Directive...One.”
“Ok, so ‘SPD-1: Go back to the Moon. Then go to Mars.’ Correct?”
“Yes. Ok, next on the agenda...”
...President Trump signs space policy directive ordering NASA to send humans to the Moon...
Good. Start with Democrat House and Senate leaders.
You have my condolences then.
While I’m sure you were fulfilled by and enjoyed your work on the shuttles, our government failed all of us with no follow-on.
I’ve had folks tell me I was wrong to, but I always thought the SSTL space plane was a reachable goal.
I read the refusal to push for it to be the telling point, when it came to our future in space.
Our government refused to shoot for the higher ground.
I think refusing to accept that and develop our space capabilities, was tantamount to refusing to field a NAVY and surrender the high seas.
He who dominates space, will dominate the planet. He who dominates space, will dominate the development of the planets.
It’s the next frontier and we’ve abdicated it to any taker that wants it.
We could be slowly but surely developing our capabilities, but I just don’t see it.
The private sector isn’t going to fulfill our military needs IMO.
Good ides IF going back is part of a larger process of a moon base even more active than the international space station and includes shuttles back and from between the earth and moon.
Learn to walk before we run. Use the moon to (1) develop “off-world” basing and survival ideas and technology; (2) building/assembling deep large space vehicles on the moon, with components ferried from the earth; (3) deep space launch base, from the moon’s gravity instead of from earth, saving the tons of fuel just to break earth gravity and using vehicles that return to the moon base, to be used again.
I think we would have much better long term success, as well as technical innovation, if we were to send tunneling robots to the Moon first. Sending people there first and we are just reinventing the wheel.
The harsh environment of the Moon includes the vacuum, the cosmic and induced radiation on the surface, the extremes of heat and cold, and the extremely abrasive Lunar dust.
You can avoid most of it by making horizontal tunnels in the rock. The robots would need to be nuclear powered, and since they are on a one way trip, their Lunar lander could be cannibalized to turn the tunnels into habitations.
Part of the lander would be double pressure doors, reinforcing rod, panels that connect to form ceiling, walls and floors, all with electrical and heat panels and insulation built in. When the people finally show up, the tunnels should be built and tested for how they preserve air and heat.
This would mean not only could the people bring more supplies and equipment, but they could stay longer, and what is done is *cumulative*, so every trip to the Moon thereafter makes the tunnels larger, with more conveniences, until a stay on the Moon might last for six months.
Thanks DFG. In a few weeks, provided the Falcon Heavy makes it to orbit, SpaceX will be sending a car blaring "Space Oddity" into a solar orbit similar to that of Mars. Not Goodyear, a Great Year.
I agree, but it's meaningless until Richard "Pork Barrel" Shelby is out of office. The ideal space program for that parasite is, replace the STS with the SLS (same engines, different burn time) and the ISS with the Deep Space Gateway (gateway to nowhere).
We should and could establish a huge lunar settlement inside a lava tube on the lunar surface; thanks to the low gravity, those have a potential of bridging a half mile wide and many miles long underground habitat where huge numbers of people could live, do research and (more to the point) vacation.
Dude - that is BRILLIANT.
A huge waste of money. Vote no on manned spaceflight until the Federal budget is balanced.
I wonder if Trump also gave them a suggested list of people he thought should go first ... 1. Pelosi, 2. Schumer 3 ...
Palestinian state! (space suits optional)
No they should be reneging on the fed loan and issuing real constitutional money.
I ccouldn't agree more. Until our technology is quite a bit more advanced than it is today, trying to send humans to Mars is a very dangerous prospect, and would be prohibitively expensive.
It makes much more sense to continue human exploration of our own moon, using current technology and know-how. It's the rational first step into the wider cosmos, and a necessary proving ground for everything we'll need to successfully colonize Mars.
Besides, there's Helium-3 in them thar hills.
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