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Politics "Under democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule -and both commonly succeed, and are right." -H.L. Menken

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Old 09-17-2005, 04:35 PM   #1
Empty_Purple_Stars
 
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USA Delays Moon Return Til 2018

NASA: Astronauts on Moon by 2018

Friday, September 16, 2005


CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA (search) hopes to return astronauts to the moon by 2018, nearly a half-century after men last walked the lunar surface, by using a distinctly retro combination of space shuttle and Apollo rocket parts.

The space agency presented its lunar exploration plan to the White House on Wednesday and on Capitol Hill on Friday. An announcement is set for Monday at NASA headquarters in Washington.

The fact that this successor to the soon-to-be-retired shuttle relies so heavily on old-time equipment, rather than sporting fancy futuristic designs, "makes good technological and management sense," said John Logsdon, director of George Washington University's space policy institute.

"The emphasis is on achieving goals rather than elegance," said Logsdon, who along with other members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (search) urged NASA to move beyond the risky, aging shuttles as soon as possible.

"It has several elements to it. One is to say that the people who did Apollo were pretty smart," Logsdon said Friday. Depending on advanced, unproven technology would slow everything down and raise the costs, which will be high anyway, he noted.

"The crew exploration vehicle's first manned trip will be to low-Earth orbit, probably no earlier than 2012, leaving up to a two-year gap between the last shuttle flight and the debut of its successor.

"In January 2004, just five months after the Columbia accident board's report, President Bush called for the retirement of the space shuttles by 2010 and the creation of the crew exploration vehicle for ferrying astronauts to the international space station and ultimately to the moon and Mars.

His main overriding goal: to land astronauts on the moon by 2020.

In a speech at a California aerospace conference two weeks ago, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin (search) said the new spacecraft will build upon the proven designs and technologies used in the Apollo moon and shuttle programs — "while having far greater capability."

There would be two rockets, one for astronauts and their exploration vehicle and the other for cargo, the propulsion system and the lunar lander.

The idea would be to launch the crew exploration vehicle on the smaller of the new rockets, which would still be taller than the 184-foot shuttle. The crew vehicle would be perched on top like an old-style Apollo capsule.

Once in orbit around the Earth, the capsule would hook up with the lunar lander and moon-propelling rocket parts launched separately on a much bigger rocket closer in height to Apollo's 363-foot Saturn 5, and take off for the moon.

These new rockets would consist of space shuttle booster rockets, engines and fuel tanks, with the payload — human or not — always on top for a safer ride. They also would use some of the same type of Saturn 5 engines that propelled astronauts to the moon.

Using shuttle parts will ease the work force transition between the two programs, Logsdon said, and require no major rebuilding of the Kennedy Space Center (search) launch site.

In his speech, Griffin spoke of a system that will take four astronauts to the surface of the moon — rather than the two-man landing teams of Apollo — and allow them to remain there a full week instead of just a few days. Longer stays and a real outpost would follow.

The crew exploration vehicle would circle the moon, unoccupied, until the crew's return from the lunar surface, via the lander, for the ride back to Earth. During Apollo, one man remained behind in the moon-orbiting command module.

"Going well beyond Apollo, we seek the ability to land and conduct exploration activities anywhere on the moon, including on the far side or in the polar regions," Griffin said.

Astronauts last visited the moon in December 1972.

Mars as a human destination takes a back seat in NASA's plans, which is sure to irritate on-to-Mars advocates. Space officials insist a lunar program involves crucial groundwork for Mars expeditions. But as Logsdon noted, "If you don't have money to go to the moon before 2018, you sure as hell don't have money to go to Mars."

One lingering question, and concern, among lawmakers is how much all this will cost. The rebuilding of the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrinasearch) is sure to intrude on all aspects of government spending. (

The fact that it comes at a particularly inopportune moment is unfortunate, but either we are serious about long-term commitments like this or not. Nobody is asking for more money," Logsdon said. "Apollo was done as a warlike mobilization of national resources and there's no reason to do that now."


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,169655,00.html



So call me impatient, but 2018????

I mean WTF?? I know I am going to sound like one of those crazy conspiracy theorists, but its announcements like the one above, that make me doubt even more that we ever went to the friggin Moon in the first place.

I mean, really..

We were supposed to competed our first manned flight July 20th, 1969.


But it will be 2018 before we do it again??

Umm, ok...

Meanwhile, the rest of world is SPANKING the US in technology, design and implementation..

Hell, even the private sector here in the US is kicking our ass..

It's embarassing and frustrating.. Our future is out there, and we have to begin the process of seeking out alternatives..But these incompetent Nutsacks, can't even ATTEMPT another manned Moon mission until 2018??

Plus, they keep blowing our Astronauts up.. I was living in Nacogdoches, Texas when the last one exploded. I got to watch that sickening vision with my OWN EYES in the sky outside of my apartment.

Me and my friends thought a bomb had gone off. We go running outside, because it was so friggin loud the windows in my apartment were shaking so bad we thought they were going to shatter..

We look up in the sky, and see this thing, this streak, that looks like a long burning comet. And it is making this loud hissing sound.

We had no idea what it was, until my neighbor, a Firefighter, came running out in his uniform, screaming;

" THE SHUTTLE JUST EXPLODED!!"

It was totally messed up, and a sight and experience I will never forget.. We saw pieces of the shuttle everywhere, and many people had pieces of the astronauts on their land, and in their yards..A hand came down, with it's wedding ring still on it..

Nasa has so friggin idea what it is doing, and hasn't for SUCH a LONG TIME!

Everybody down there should be fired and replaced with people who have vision, ideals, and INTELLECT!!

It doesnt seem like alot to ask from our Nation's Space Industry..

So is it just me, or does 2018 seem like NASA is now run by a bunch of talking Chimps?

Wait, I don't mean to be dissing on the Chimps..







Last edited by Empty_Purple_Stars; 09-18-2005 at 12:12 AM.
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Old 09-17-2005, 07:19 PM   #2
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NASA can go to hell for all I care anymore. They keep taking old plans and pitching them for new ones. A year ago it was another probe to Jupiter for a closer study of Europia. Five months ago they annouced that plan was garbage and now they're focusing in on a mission to Mars. Apparently now Mars is garbage and they're going for the moon again. Fucking assholes need to make up their minds and quit dicking around with the budget on researching technology for missions they'll just pitch when something new comes along.

Fucking quit wasting money and commit for Christ's sake.
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Old 09-17-2005, 07:20 PM   #3
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Amen to that. I have had a long issue with NASA's procrastination, but that's the government for you. They are now saying that they are going to the moon in 2018? I guess they shoved 2010 down the memory hole. They old itenerary used to be the moon 2010 and then mars 2020. Oh well, it probably won't happen anyway 2018 is 3 more administrations.
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Old 09-17-2005, 11:40 PM   #4
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i fully agree with EPS. The damn Billionaire Rebel will get to the moon before NASA will.

i live less than an hour from Nacogdoches, so i remember the day the shuttle exploded vividly. My first thought was "Holy fuck, Barksdale just got nuked"...then logic took over and i switched the tv to Fox News and they were waiting for the Shuttle to land. i knew then that the shuttle just either crashed in Louisiana or exploded. i tried calling Fox News but i could never get through. A few months ago they found another large piece of the shuttle in the woods near where i live.

i'll never forget that fucking rumble.
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Old 09-18-2005, 02:45 PM   #5
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Honestly, Im still stuck with agreeing about the rumors that are around, saying that we never made it to the moon but faked it in order to win the space race. So waiting til 2018 seems like the government is just trying to waste more money on war.
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