> ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Dr. Core" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: [gundam] Moon Race (not the Turn-A kind) > Date: Tue, 2 May 2006 16:40:07 -0400 > > > Is there a Moon Race afoot or not? >
I've been taking their comments relatively seriously. Something like that would generate a lot of prestige for what is still sometimes considered a 'backwards' nation, and therefore seems like the kind of thing that would attract the interest of China's leaders. Only the US has sent astronauts to the moon, which means that the Chinese would have something to brag about that the Europeans and Russians do not. And because it's been done before, the Chinese have a pretty good idea of what sort of technical obstacles need to be overcome before they can put a person on the Moon. How long it would take the Chinese to develop the equipment needed is another matter entirely, but I've been taking the Chinese comments very seriously. Putin would probably be interested in it for similar reasons, but I'm not sure of the current state of the Russian space program, or how effective the Russian industry would be in developing and building the equipment needed. As for Mars... Who knows? The US doesn't really seem interested in launching any further manned missions beyond Earth orbit for the time being, though that doesn't preclude other nations from doing so. Personally, it seems a bit much to me to expect someone to travel for years on a round-trip so that they can spend a week or two on the Martian surface (anyone happen to know off-hand what the travel time between Earth and Mars would be when they're relatively close to each other? just curious), but I'm sure others see it differently. And while other nations might seriously be interested in sending manned missions out that far, we have no idea how long it would take to overcome the various technical obstacles that would need to be surmounted. junior -- _______________________________________________ Search for businesses by name, location, or phone number. -Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 -------------------------------------------------- The Gundam Mailing List MK-II [email protected] Archives: http://www.gundam.com/gml Help: Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with this in the BODY: help list
