US To Return To Moon ... and Beyond

edgarblythe wrote:

Experts, like the Bible, can be quoted to support any position, I think.

Edgar, I sympathize with this sentiment. In forming your own opinion, you may find it helpful to go to a library and browse the 1969-73 issues of scientific magazines like "Science" and "Nature". You will find that for all the hype around these missions, their scientific output was almost nil. Richard Feynman, one of my and Sozobe's heroes, discusses this observation in his piece on the Challenger catastrophe, published in his book "What do you care what other people think?"

But Feynman is an expert, so remember to keep him at arm's length.

I don't dispute the experts who say that unmanned missions are at present more productive and cheaper. But, aside from the romance of humans in outer space, there are other considerations. I believe the old notion that nature puts life in every available nook and cranny applies to humans and space. I want to see manned stations with an eye to colonization.

The part that convinced me was a film of the "dune buggy" they had. When they speeded up the film, the dust kicked up by the wheels, instead of floating like it would in 1/6th gravity, fell straight back down the same way it would on a beach on earth

Last Updated: Saturday, 10 January, 2004, 00:07 GMT
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To election 2004 and beyond...
By Ian Pannell
BBC correspondent in Washington

Big countries require big ideas.

As ever, cost is a major consideration when sending people into space
Strangely, never more so than in an election year!

It is no surprise then that President George W Bush plans to announce the return of astronauts to the moon, a permanent space-station there and, oh yes, perhaps a trip or two to Mars as well.

In a country that patented the idea that anything is possible, this mission may be just what Americans wants to hear.

Big ideas to get votes

This has been a week of big ideas. Only two days ago, the president proposed an overhaul of immigration laws to allow more overseas workers to come in to do the jobs Americans won't.


MANNED SPACE EXPLORATION

It is a plan that has been brewing for some time. About four years to be precise, ever since... well, ever since the last election campaign actually.

The Latino community is now officially the largest ethnic minority in America. Although they are more inclined to vote Democrat they are also regarded as culturally conservative and the Republicans spy fertile ground.

With some guile the move also appeals to other Americans, perhaps independent voters.

Faced with the impression that they have pandered too much to their hard-line base, those clever folk in the Bush re-election team realise the value in rekindling the compassionate conservative flame.

What better way to appeal to the moderates than a large dose of socially conscious politics?

Election 2004

What do these big ideas have in common? Well, firstly only a fool or an eternal optimist would bet much of their pocket-money on either passing the US Congress.

The space programme could cost as much as a trillion dollars.
Some in Congress will certainly ask Mr Bush to show them the money

With the government already swimming in a sea of red ink there will be little enthusiasm to sink the public purse much deeper.

Don't forget that President George Bush Snr also had a plan to send astronauts to Mars. That was buried by a Congress more preoccupied with big bills than big ideas/costs than concepts.

The immigration reform plan also faces formidable opposition.

The Democrats are upset that it hurts American workers. Conservatives are upset because they think it rewards illegal immigrants.

Amid the smell of political fudge, the administration has deliberately left the details vague.

These two ideas have something else in common: November 2004.

Neither big proposal is likely to be decided upon before America goes to the polls and chooses a new president, a new House of Representatives and a third of the US Senate.

What matters is that this is a president (and candidate) with crowd-pleasing ideas. Remember, optimism sells.

The more the Democrats rally behind Howard Dean, the angry doctor from Vermont, the more the Republicans can be expected to "accentuate the positive".

So bring me your huddled masses, we're off to the final frontier... election 2004.

A very good friend of mine is a former Soviet. She went to school and later taught at a school in Rovenki Luganskaya, Ukraine. She both learned and taught that the American Moon shot was probably bogus. She laughed at me when I made reference to the "achievement". Albina is a highly intelligent person with an intimidating knowledge of History.

Considering how poorly the government accomplishes keeping anything secret, I doubt they could manage such a cover up.