Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: DA98 on January 09, 2004, 02:47:15 PM
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I don't know if this has been posted before in any of the Mars threads opened recently, so excuse me if it has.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107807,00.html (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107807,00.html)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Hoping to reinvigorate America's space program following the Columbia (search) tragedy, President Bush will reportedly announce plans next week to build a permanent space station (search) on the moon that could serve as a base for sending astronauts to Mars (search).
Senior administration officials said Thursday night that Bush will announce his plans in a speech at some point next week.
But a Nobel-winning physicist who investigated the shuttle accident is among those who would rather see more affordable robots -- rather than astronauts -- exploring the lunar and Martian surfaces. He points to NASA's (search) Spirit rover newly arrived at Mars.
"The cost of a manned enclave on the moon, I think, is going to make the space station look cheap. That's the only good thing about it," said Stanford University's Douglas Osheroff.
In any event, "I think we're still 30 years from going to Mars and if there's any reason to do that, I don't know," Osheroff said.
Bush does not intend to propose sending Americans to Mars anytime soon, but instead envisions preparing for a Mars expedition more than a decade from now, one administration official said.
The White House has been looking for a new revitalizing role for NASA for months, with Vice President Dick Cheney leading the interagency task force since summer. The speculation over a major space initiative began heating up in early December.
Many insiders expected Bush to use the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight as the backdrop for the announcement. But he focused instead on aviation and said the United States would continue to lead the world in that field. Speculation then shifted to the State of the Union address in late January.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan declined to provide details of the president's plans, confirming only that Bush would unveil them next week. NASA officials did not return phone calls Thursday night.
Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, a member of the House Science Committee, welcomed the news.
Hall said he has long been trying to get the president more interested in space exploration. The president never went to Johnson Space Center in Houston while serving as Texas governor; in fact, last February's memorial service for the seven Columbia astronauts was his first visit.
Bush's fresh interest in space happens to coincide with an election year. A new bold space initiative, it is thought, could excite Americans.
"I had the feeling the last 2 years people would rather make a trip to the grocery store than a trip to the moon because of the economy," Hall said. "As things are turning around, we need to stay in touch with space" and the science spinoffs it provides.
It was the Columbia accident that helped force a discussion of where NASA should venture beyond the three remaining space shuttles and the international space station. The panel that investigated the disaster called for a clearly defined long-term mission -- a national vision for space that has been missing for three decades.
Astronauts last walked on the moon in 1972; in all, 12 men tread the lunar surface over a 3-year period. This time, the president favors a permanent station, administration officials said.
Bush's father, on the 20th anniversary of the first manned moon landing, made a similar call for lunar colonies and a Mars expedition. But the plan was prohibitively expensive -- an estimated $400 billion to $500 billion -- and went nowhere.
No one knows what the new venture might cost or how NASA would pay for it.
House Science Committee spokeswoman Heidi Tringe said lawmakers on the panel had yet to be briefed on the specifics.
Earlier this week, Bush put in a congratulatory call to officials in charge of NASA's latest Mars rover. He called the Spirit rover's successful landing a "reconfirmation of the American spirit of exploration." Another rover is due to arrive at the red planet in two weeks.
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said the robots represent an advance team charged with assessing the planet's conditions.
"Once we figure out how to deal with the human effects, we can then send humans to explore in real time," O'Keefe said Wednesday.
Interplanetary exploration depends on "what we learn and whether we can develop the power and ... propulsion capabilities necessary to get there faster and stay longer and potentially support humans in doing so," O'Keefe said in response to a question on the White House Web site this week.
Many space buffs see the moon as a necessary place to test the equipment and techniques that would be needed by astronauts on Mars. It's closer, just three days away versus six months away for the red planet.
Visionaries say observatories could be built on the moon and mining camps could gather helium-3 for conversion into fuel for use back on Earth.
Others, however, contend that astronauts should make a beeline to Mars.
Still others, including John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, believes the nation should complete and fully maximize the international space station before dashing anywhere else.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Bush is so cool (like Bush Sr.). First Iraq and than Mars ;) :D
I really hope that someday (surely not in the next 50 years) someone will stand on mars. IMO its one of the main targets for mankind to explore the universe. At least to find a good alternative to our earth - not that we need to have one in the future but who knows (Kyoto comes to mind) ... argh ... must stop to be ironic, must stop to be ironic, must ....
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I don't care, I wanna go!!!
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Should secure plenty of votes from the geeks :aok
Sounds exciting tho. I would not want to go myself (long boring trip), but is gonna be great to follow from here :)
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Originally posted by Nilsen10
Should secure plenty of votes from the geeks :aok
Well, I know I'll probably have the company of LePaul and his R2, yes ;)
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Originally posted by Duedel
I really hope that someday (surely not in the next 50 years) someone will stand on mars.
Actually... within the next 50 years is doable.
Most likely in the next 10 years... we'll send a rover there and back.
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Yep the "back" is one important point. The other one is the human factor. Dont forget the size of the spaceship, the need for carring O2 and food. Its a big challenge. So I doubt that it will happen in the next 50 years but it would be really cool if someone proves me wrong. I'm very proud about "Spirit" and I hope that he'll make it out of his "parking lot" soon. A bummer that Beagle's still asleep (if not dead).
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Sure it would be nice, but I would like to see how he (or the next administration) is going to pay for it. How much would NASA's $15,000,000,000 budget have to increase?
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Mars would be a great mission for our first androids, the eventual successors to the human race.
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I, for one, welcome our new android overlords.
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we can get there with a modified la7
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(Quote) Monty405 we can get there with a modified la7 (Unquote)
Yeah, but there'd be a 109 waiting for it
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Already posted - but posted by me so it might have been deleted (rockets being offensive and all).
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You know, some sugar might help with those sour grapes, sardie.
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Yeah but shes sick tonight...
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Poor George. When they start using JFK material during the election, it's tantamount to Fonzie jumping the shark.