Hi,
What's so good about the Moon?
The TOP TEN Reasons Bush Picked the Moon:
10.) Zero gee has turned out not to be beneficial as we
thought it would be but positively dangerous and probably
fatal if you float too long. We don't know if it's because
it's ZERO gravity or because it's LOW gravity that there are
negative health effects. But it's possible that the Moon's
gravity may allow humans to work in it much longer than zero
gee without ill effect. We hope... We don't really know since
we haven't stayed on the Moon long enough to find out. So the
first step is... go and stay for a while.
9.) Bush said the Moon was to become a base for future
exploration. That means a lunar industrial complex (physical
plant and human society) capable OF BUILDING AND LAUNCHING
SPACECRAFT has to be created on the Moon. Think about that for
a while. Damn tall order. Combine the Johnson Space Center,
Cape Kennedy, all NASA contractors and all their plants and
personnel, and then move it to the Moon?
Of course, there's only a quadtrillion tons of aluminum,
titanium, and oxygen (and godnose what else) lying around
everywhere you look on the Moon! Two weeks a month of
continuous undimmed solar power, regolith full of Helium3 to
build clean fusion reactors with, industrial strength vacuum
in unending supply for fractional distillation, and a really
permissive building code!
8.) Escape velocity from the Moon (with a gravity well
assist provided by plunging down at the Earth and missing it)
is less delta-v than is required to leave the Earth from low
orbit.
7.) An actual solid working planetary surface to build
things on. Let's face it, charming as it is to float like a
dust mote in orbit, it's damn hard to work without some
gravity. We're used to being on a WORLD and doing things
there. It'll be tricky enough with just the low gravity. Look
at how limited we are in what physical tasks we can do in
orbit.
6.) So much for Bush lacking "that vision thing."
5.) Naked political ploy to lock up the lunar vote in
2004!
4.) Usamah bin Ladin could be hiding out there!.
3.) The Moon isn't represented in the U.N.!
2.) Halliburton already owns it!
And (drum roll, please!) the Number One Reason Bush picked
the Moon!
1.) No Registered Democrats on the Moon!
Sterling K. Webb
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[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
As there are quite a few space savvy folks on this
list....just asking a question pertaining to Bush's
speech.
He said the moon was the logical place to initiate
space exploration missions. Yet the moon has harsh
environmental challenges.....and it seems those
challenges are less on Mars. Only the distance is a
problem.
It would seem to me that a space station orbiting
Earth would be the better place to initiate trips to
Mars and beyond?
John
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