The committee outlines eight options. Three of those involve a “flexible path” to explore someplace other than the moon, eventually heading to a Mars landing far in the future. The flexible path suggests no-landing flights around the moon and Mars.
Landing on the moon and then launching back to Earth would require a lot of fuel because of the moon’s gravity. Hauling fuel from Earth to the moon and then back costs money.
It would take less fuel to land and return from asteroids or comets that swing by Earth or even the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, Augustine said.
Eventually, Augustine said NASA could return to the moon, but as a training stepping stone, not a major destination, as the Bush plan envisioned.
Really, we’ve been to the moon. It’s old news. We’re pretty positive there are no aliens there. Any possibility of life in our solar system exists further out, possibly on liquidy moons of the gaseous giants. So why waste time and money on the moon? Let’s go to where the real action is. [USA Today via Dvice]
[DBB]Sk1LLz
October 24, 2009 at 11:40 AM
And what exactly does a swing past a body in outer space do to establish a permanent foothold in space? We’ve already done that as well duh. It’s time for a permanent base on a large non-atmospheric body, and the moon is the only practical option there. If the US doesn’t do it, China will.
Report PermalinkNk
October 24, 2009 at 12:19 PM
[DBB]Sk1LLz is spot on. Its not about landing somehwere and saying we can do that. They need to use the moon as a stepping stone.
Report Permalinksiegfried
October 26, 2009 at 3:05 PM
The US and its people are plagued with total apathy, absolutely NO risk taking ability, no vision for the future, totally scared of their own shadow slowly sliding to a spot behind any third rated third world country.
Report PermalinkNobody seems to have the balls and the vision to take us into the future the Indians and the Chinese will do that. Here we just talk and talk and spend billions in wars our imperialistic politicians get us into while totally forgetting the wellbeing of this nation.
We need a big program to rattle us out of our apathy and propel us forward for our own good and that of the world.
Aim for Mars and beyond and get going. We can get there in 10 to 15 years and establish a colony especially if the first settlers do not come back but plan to stay there, get resupplied and eventually start making Mars their permanent home ( including dying there and having births there ).
The settlers who left Europe for America or the settlers who left Kansas City heading west had more courage than any of us today.
We are just a nation of scarebodies with no vision and imagination, only interested in TV, video games and idiotic commercial sport.
Wake up and do something before it is too late.
Happy journey to Mars and beyond!!!!!