Comments on: Return to the Moon http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/ Blogging one sidereal day at a time Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:50:48 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Ken Welsch http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-14585 Ken Welsch Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:16:58 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-14585 Shri, Pamela said 2020 will be 54 years after the first moon landing (by the Russians in 1966), not the first *manned* moon landing. Shri,

Pamela said 2020 will be 54 years after the first moon landing (by the Russians in 1966), not the first *manned* moon landing.

]]> By: michael cassidy http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-14008 michael cassidy Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:04:00 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-14008 Shocking to me is not just that it is 50 years later BUT that we are still doing it as individual nations, that is dumb. Shocking to me is not just that it is 50 years later BUT that we are still doing it as individual nations, that is dumb.

]]> By: Rick Williams http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-13174 Rick Williams Sat, 03 Nov 2007 16:30:41 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-13174 Return to the moon may prove valuable in the future. In a planet with rapidly diminishing resources, the helium-3 located on the moon could provide Earth with a much needed clean-burning energy source. And with business going "green", I believe there's a market for clean-burning fuel that could power, literally, the entire world. If something catastrophic happens that no one expects, such as the overharvesting of oil that lubricates the tectonic plates resulting in massive volcanic activity, or a slew of other impending disasters, the commercial value of things may be a bit less important. The list of reasons to return to the moon is actually quite long: 1.) Mine cleaner, greener fuel. 2.) Develop new technology, advancing state-of-the-art 3.) Engage the spirit of international cooperation. 4.) An so on... Return to the moon may prove valuable in the future. In a planet with rapidly diminishing resources, the helium-3 located on the moon could provide Earth with a much needed clean-burning energy source. And with business going “green”, I believe there’s a market for clean-burning fuel that could power, literally, the entire world.

If something catastrophic happens that no one expects, such as the overharvesting of oil that lubricates the tectonic plates resulting in massive volcanic activity, or a slew of other impending disasters, the commercial value of things may be a bit less important.

The list of reasons to return to the moon is actually quite long:

1.) Mine cleaner, greener fuel.
2.) Develop new technology, advancing state-of-the-art
3.) Engage the spirit of international cooperation.
4.) An so on…

]]> By: Shri http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-12905 Shri Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:14:02 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-12905 Apollo 11 landed on the Moon on 20 July 1969. I remember getting up to see the grainy black-and-white TV images of Neil Armstrong taking the first steps out of the lander... But my arithmetic tells me that 2020 is 51 years after 1969, not 54 years. More to the point, it's really rather shocking when you put it that way: half a century later, we return. And I really can't imagine any corporation investing the necessary billions of dollars to get back a box of rocks. Scientific value - sure, but commercial value? Get real. -shri Apollo 11 landed on the Moon on 20 July 1969. I remember getting up to see the grainy black-and-white TV images of Neil Armstrong taking the first steps out of the lander… But my arithmetic tells me that 2020 is 51 years after 1969, not 54 years.

More to the point, it’s really rather shocking when you put it that way: half a century later, we return.

And I really can’t imagine any corporation investing the necessary billions of dollars to get back a box of rocks. Scientific value – sure, but commercial value? Get real.

-shri

]]> By: Nate http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-12852 Nate Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:26:29 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-12852 From my short lived 19 years of experience it is pretty hard for me, personally, to predict fantastic things for the space exploration both by humans and by scientific tools. Watching things of such an utter importance to our species being pushed aside time and time again is ruining what little confidence I had in the powers at be. I understand the need to be a little bit more level headed in the global political arena, but can they really deny the possibility? Whether it be expanding our glorious empire into the stars or just raping the universe of its most treasured resources, I don't understand how anyone can turn their back on this kind of science. One can only hope the free-market system kicks in and privately funded expeditions into space becomes the new way of doing things on a much bigger scale. I would die with a smile on my face knowing that someone, somewhere demanded to know the location of my rebel base. From my short lived 19 years of experience it is pretty hard for me, personally, to predict fantastic things for the space exploration both by humans and by scientific tools. Watching things of such an utter importance to our species being pushed aside time and time again is ruining what little confidence I had in the powers at be. I understand the need to be a little bit more level headed in the global political arena, but can they really deny the possibility? Whether it be expanding our glorious empire into the stars or just raping the universe of its most treasured resources, I don’t understand how anyone can turn their back on this kind of science. One can only hope the free-market system kicks in and privately funded expeditions into space becomes the new way of doing things on a much bigger scale.

I would die with a smile on my face knowing that someone, somewhere demanded to know the location of my rebel base.

]]> By: Ginger Campbell, MD http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-12843 Ginger Campbell, MD Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:48:01 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-12843 I remember getting up to see man walk on the moon when I was 14, plus I grew up in Huntsville, Alabama because of the moon-landing project. My father worked for Boeing and we moved there in 1964 so he could work on the computer simulations. Given the immense impact this project had on my life personally, it seems strange to imagine a whole generation of people growing up without witnessing such an event, but to tell the truth when Apollo 8 orbited the moon for the first time and sent back the first pictures of the earth from outer space, that was even more amazing. I am not sure that kids who have grown up on Star Wars and all the special effects and ubiquitous video could get the same thrill as we did back then. Reality might be something of a let-down. I remember getting up to see man walk on the moon when I was 14, plus I grew up in Huntsville, Alabama because of the moon-landing project. My father worked for Boeing and we moved there in 1964 so he could work on the computer simulations.

Given the immense impact this project had on my life personally, it seems strange to imagine a whole generation of people growing up without witnessing such an event, but to tell the truth when Apollo 8 orbited the moon for the first time and sent back the first pictures of the earth from outer space, that was even more amazing.

I am not sure that kids who have grown up on Star Wars and all the special effects and ubiquitous video could get the same thrill as we did back then. Reality might be something of a let-down.

]]> By: Doc Kinne http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-12824 Doc Kinne Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:07:08 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-12824 ><I>The last time man walked on the moon I wasn’t alive.</i> I keep forgetting how wonderfully young you are...and how amazing old I am. :-) As for the rest of this, you've read my numerous LJs on the subject. For good or for bad the greatness of nations and civilizations have been made in expansion. When civilizations stop expanding they die. Ask the Romans. Ask Britain. Now expansion means the Moon. It means Mars. It means exploiting those resources. We desperately need a challenge that inspires us and forces us to look outward. What we have been given now is a future of building walls around ourselves - both real and virtual - against mainly imagined fears. The Romans built Hadran's Wall. Where are they now? The Soviet Union built the Warsaw Pact buffer states? Where are the Soviets today. History gives us a clear answer. Now we need to hope our leaders can learn from history. I won't hold my breath. >The last time man walked on the moon I wasn’t alive.

I keep forgetting how wonderfully young you are…and how amazing old I am. :-)

As for the rest of this, you’ve read my numerous LJs on the subject. For good or for bad the greatness of nations and civilizations have been made in expansion. When civilizations stop expanding they die. Ask the Romans. Ask Britain.

Now expansion means the Moon. It means Mars. It means exploiting those resources. We desperately need a challenge that inspires us and forces us to look outward. What we have been given now is a future of building walls around ourselves – both real and virtual – against mainly imagined fears.

The Romans built Hadran’s Wall. Where are they now? The Soviet Union built the Warsaw Pact buffer states? Where are the Soviets today.

History gives us a clear answer. Now we need to hope our leaders can learn from history.

I won’t hold my breath.

]]> By: Helio Huet http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-12816 Helio Huet Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:36:41 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-12816 The Shuttle is to Apollo like a pickup truck is to an old Pontaic Trans Am; one vehicle is for hauling things, the other was for just haulin'. Going to the Moon is not enough. Doing something with the Moon is needed, not just going there. A telescope would be nice. The Shuttle is to Apollo like a pickup truck is to an old Pontaic Trans Am; one vehicle is for hauling things, the other was for just haulin’.

Going to the Moon is not enough. Doing something with the Moon is needed, not just going there. A telescope would be nice.

]]> By: Kurt http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-12801 Kurt Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:12:26 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-12801 Regarding your "How many lives will never have seen man walk on the moon" querry, from the linked projection (below), the planet's population will have approximately doubled since Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan left the moon. http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/060224_world_population.html Regarding your “How many lives will never have seen man walk on the moon” querry, from the linked projection (below), the planet’s population will have approximately doubled since Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan left the moon.

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/060224_world_population.html

]]> By: Tyler http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-12796 Tyler Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:06:21 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-12796 Seeing a man on the moon was an inspiration to a generation of young people. In a time of enormous political turmoil, this was a bright spot for many of us at that time. Perhaps it's more symbolic than scientifically relevant now, but a woman or a man on the moon now would be a great thing for all of us. (Maybe it would even quiet the "non-believers" who feel it was all a hoax.) We may in the end be relegated to this planet, but I think one of the great hopes for human kind is the concept that we might be able to someday find another world and not make the same mistakes as we've made here. Kind of like a 'do over'. Seeing a man on the moon was an inspiration to a generation of young people. In a time of enormous political turmoil, this was a bright spot for many of us at that time. Perhaps it’s more symbolic than scientifically relevant now, but a woman or a man on the moon now would be a great thing for all of us. (Maybe it would even quiet the “non-believers” who feel it was all a hoax.) We may in the end be relegated to this planet, but I think one of the great hopes for human kind is the concept that we might be able to someday find another world and not make the same mistakes as we’ve made here. Kind of like a ‘do over’.

]]> By: Jorge Schrauwen http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-12792 Jorge Schrauwen Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:22:28 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-12792 I supose once resource are found and easly minable on other planets. And rare on earth there will be more incentives from big corperations. I supose once resource are found and easly minable on other planets. And rare on earth there will be more incentives from big corperations.

]]> By: John M. http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-12791 John M. Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:09:55 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-12791 While I love the idea of manned space flight, I frankly just don't see the point anymore. The whole point of sending humans into space was that we would have this continually expanding frontier, first orbit, then the moon, planets, space colonies, and eventually, Star Trek. At least that was the unspoken expectation. But we found out it was actually a lot more expensive and difficult than we thought, and there was no real reason to do it. We just didn't need the extra living room, the commercial incentives aren't there, and advances in miniturization allow us to do good science at much less cost. Sadly, I think the human race is pretty much bound to this little globe forever. While I love the idea of manned space flight, I frankly just don’t see the point anymore. The whole point of sending humans into space was that we would have this continually expanding frontier, first orbit, then the moon, planets, space colonies, and eventually, Star Trek. At least that was the unspoken expectation.

But we found out it was actually a lot more expensive and difficult than we thought, and there was no real reason to do it. We just didn’t need the extra living room, the commercial incentives aren’t there, and advances in miniturization allow us to do good science at much less cost. Sadly, I think the human race is pretty much bound to this little globe forever.

]]> By: Marc http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-12765 Marc Tue, 30 Oct 2007 06:33:51 +0000 http://www.starstryder.com/2007/10/30/return-to-the-moon/#comment-12765 We can only hope, but there are some very serious challenges ahead.. The future of the program will depend on how the geopoltiical situation in the world unfolds in the next 5 years. We can only hope, but there are some very serious challenges ahead.. The future of the program will depend on how the geopoltiical situation in the world unfolds in the next 5 years.

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