U.S. heading back to the moon.

Society Religion & Philosophy
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With the surplus, you need to spend the money somewhere…

WASHINGTON — President Bush (search) wants to send Americans back to the moon — and may leave a permanent presence there — in a bold new vision for space exploration, administration officials said yesterday.

The return to the moon would be for the purpose of technological advancements in technology, including energy exploration and testing a military rocket engine.

And a permanent presence likely will include robots and communication satellites.

But beyond the nuts and bolts, It would also help move NASA beyond last February’s space shuttle Columbia disaster.

Sources said the president may also give the go-ahead to pursue a manned trip to Mars - a long range goal.

NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe (search) told an advisory council yesterday that 2004 will be a “seminal time” for the agency.

“There’s an effort under way that will focus the administration’s view very prominently on options we can consider. We are looking at some significant changes,” O’Keefe said.

Bush could spell out his new plan for space travel on the 100-year anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight, Dec. 17, officials said.
(or during state of union in Jan)

The White House refused to comment on Bush’s future plans for NASA, saying the president hasn’t yet made a decision about what he’ll announce.

But high-level meetings involving the White House and NASA have been going on for months.

Sources says Vice President Dick Cheney recently went up to Capitol Hill to meet with Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) and other key congressmen to discuss space exploration. They discussed resuming manned trips to the Moon, and even the idea of establishing a permanent station on the Moon, sources said.

If the president does announce his new space vision on Dec. 17, it would be 100 years after the Wright Brothers first set an airplane in flight in Kitty Hawk, N.C., and it would be two days before the 30th anniversary of the last manned lunar landing.

Two Texas Republican senators recently sent Bush a letter saying America’s space program has been floundering.

“We urge you to elevate the priority of the space program and develop a bold and coherent national mission for NASA,” wrote Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (search) and John Cornyn (search).

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,104800,00.html

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well hope this time they make it.. :k:

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Why didn't they send these moon people out instead of warring in Iraq & Afghanistan!

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Re: U.S. heading back to the moon.

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by underthedome: *

The return to the moon would be for the purpose of technological advancements in technology

[/QUOTE]

Let's hope the mission is more professional than the press release.

How are they going to get aorund the Van Allen belt problem and the need to have 3m of lead sheilding etc to protect them from radiation?

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HKPhooey,
It is not like we have not been to the moon before, though there are still very big risks. The Van Allen belts at the edge of our magnetosphere pose very little problem. The space shuttle itself is lined, the astronauts are suited, and the speed at which the craft goes through the Van Allen belts is much too fast to cause any lasting health problems on any humans who have been in space before. After the last two disasters of the Space Shuttle, I would be more worried about the safety engineers being listened to by the NASA Big Whigs! Does "O-ring" ring a bell?

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Hope they find a good place to shoot the movie. Cuz everyone will be giving a close eye this time.

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Van Allen Belt???:konfused: Never heard of that. More info please :slight_smile:

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Bandoosta,
The Van Allen belts are on the outer edge of the Earth's magnetosphere. As solar plasma/radiation travels through the galaxy from the sun, these help to shield the Earth from the harmful particles. Occasionally, some of the solar plasma enters our magnetosphere (like during October's solar storm) and causes the Auroras. Since these belts block much of the radiation, it is assumed that there is a high concentration of solar plasma in this region - levels that the US and Russia both feared may cause lethal doses in
astro/ cosmonauts

As far as for the moon mission being a hoax? Give me a break - if you are referring to the Moon Hoax produced by Fox News, this is a combination of poor science and media crap. But if someone hasn't had a solid background in physics or astronomy, it would certainly look like a believable production.

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^
Yeah, it was no haox... It was just started by some people who were envious of the US... The Russians (who were the real chowdries of space exploration at that time) were monitoring that mission very carefully, and dont you think they would have yelled if it was fake?