I can see the sales pitch now.
Thar's WATER in them-thar moon rocks!
If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody
hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
From: brent_wodeho...@thefence.us
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:08:18 -0400
Subject: [scifinoir2] Water on the Moon may boost Nasa into 21st-century space
race
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6848177.ece
From The Times
September 25, 2009
Water on the Moon may boost Nasa into 21st-century space race
Jacqui Goddard, Miami
The timing could not have been better. Struggling to overcome chronic
underfunding, technical problems and a lack of political commitment, and
with public interest waning, Nasa’s plans for sending astronauts back to
the Moon seemed at risk of being frozen. News that water may be lurking in
the lunar soil could prompt a thaw.
Only last month a board appointed by President Obama to review Nasa’s
manned space exploration programme concluded that its goals - which
include having people on the lunar surface again by 2020, ready to start
the process of establishing the first off-Earth colony - were unrealistic
without an extra $3 billion (£1.86 billion) a year from the Government.
As the President considers which of Nasa’s dreams to shatter and which to
back, the water issue could be a turning point. “This information could
prove highly influential,” said Dr Howard McCurdy of the American
University in Washington, an expert on space policy. “It strengthens the
case for going back to the Moon and then on to Mars. It increases the case
for moving forward at a time when the President is being advised not to
increase anyone’s budget - except for the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
When it launched Constellation, its new manned space flight programme, in
2006, Nasa estimated that it would need $119 billion to return to the Moon
- a goal it was told to aim for by President George W. Bush. It has never
been granted a budget to match.
Yet the debate on whether to focus on the Moon or on Mars and other areas
within the solar system is not just about money. There are questions over
scientific value, with many until now viewing the Moon as a barren
environment that held little of interest to explorers.
Water could be used to sustain human activity and generate fuel for
spacecraft. If it is accessible and available in sufficient quantities, it
would enable people to settle on the Moon and use it as a staging-post and
filling station for missions farther into space.
On October 27 Nasa is due to take a big step towards its lunar return
programme when it launches Ares 1-X - a prototype of the rocket that is
intended to replace the Space Shuttle and carry astronauts back to the
Moon - at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Nasa managers are waiting for the signal from the White House as to
whether the test should go ahead, or whether the $3 billion rocket will be
scrapped in favour of cheaper, safer, commercial models, and whether Nasa
might skip the Moon altogether.
Whatever the outcome, the schedule is slipping badly. Without extra money,
the Americans are unlikely to sink more footprints into the lunar soil
until after 2030, if at all. And if they get there, they may have company.
China has stepped up its space programme, with plans to put a taikonaut on
the Moon by 2030. Russia and Japan estimate they may be ready to launch
manned missions before then. All plan to establish their own bases.
Commercial organisations are also jostling for position, with many
advocating robotic exploration. Eager to revolutionise the space industry,
innovators from 45 countries are competing for the Google Lunar X-Prize,
which will award $30 million to the first private team that can get an
unmanned lander to the Moon, roll it 500 metres and send images back. The
competition, which could be won and lost in 2011, will open up a new era
of space commerce, proving that it is not just billion-dollar agencies of
government that can cross the final frontier.
“Whether the US remains the front runner in getting Man back to the Moon
is a question the President needs to answer,” Dr McCurdy said.
_
Microsoft brings you a new way to search the web. Try Bing™ now
http://www.bing.com?form=MFEHPGpubl=WLHMTAGcrea=TEXT_MFEHPG_Core_tagline_try
bing_1x1
