NASA to put humans on the Moon (again) by 2018

4 comments

Chris Leonard Friend of CR4 Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1995 Good Answers: 35	NASA to put humans on the Moon (again) by 2018 09/15/2005 8:55 AM
	NASA rolled out its detailed lunar plan to the White House yesterday. The plan, called the Exploration Systems Architecture Study, is to spend $100 billion (USD) over the next 12 years to design and build spacecraft to take astronauts back to the surface of the Moon by 2018. The plan will go before Congress on Friday. From Space.com: " NASA's plan envisions being able to land four-person human crews anywhere on the Moon's surface and to eventually use the system to transport crew members to and from a lunar outpost that it would consider building on the lunar south pole, according to the charts, because of the regions elevated quantities of hydrogen and possibly water ice...One of NASA's reasons for going back to the Moon is to demonstrate that astronauts can essentially "live off the land" by using lunar resources to produce potable water, fuel and other valuable commodities.." So, this begs the question, "Is is worth $100 billion dollars to go back to the Moon?" Even so, to me, $100 billion seems like a lowball figure. __________________ Off to take on other challenges. Good luck everybody! See you around the Interwebs.
	Reply

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

Steve Melito Guru Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 3464 Good Answers: 32	#1 Cost 09/15/2005 9:39 AM
	I love the space program, but this mission is not worth the cost. Hurricane Katrina has changed the fiscal landscape for years to come.
	Reply

Paddy O'Flanigan Power-User Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 264 Good Answers: 2	#2 NASA On the Moon 09/15/2005 1:28 PM
	Hmmm. I've got 300 billion dollars. Do I want a war to take over a pesky Middle Eastern country or 3 space programs to the moon... seems like a no-brainer. What? Oh, never mind.
	Reply

Bayes The Engineer Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Albany, New York Posts: 5170 Good Answers: 129	#3 Sometimes Science Needs a Goal 09/15/2005 2:23 PM
	Science has of way of kind of wandering around if you don't give it a goal. Unfortunately, most of the time, war is the event that gives science a focus. So in that light, a trip to the moon doesn't seem that bad. Though I agree that 100 billion seems cheap, unless we're talking 1969 dollars.
	Reply

Chris Leonard Friend of CR4 Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1995 Good Answers: 35	#4 In reply to #3 Re:Sometimes Science Needs a Goal 09/15/2005 2:32 PM
	Keep in mind, we went to the Moon during the height of the Viet Nam war. __________________ Off to take on other challenges. Good luck everybody! See you around the Interwebs.
	Reply

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.