Obama Will Stick with Bush Moon Plan

[bananas]

Source: Aviation Week

Obama Will Stick with Bush Moon Plan
Feb 25, 2009
Frank Morring, Jr.

The fiscal 2010 NASA budget outline to be released by the Obama Administration Feb. 26 adds almost $700 million to the out-year figure proposed in the fiscal 2009 budget request submitted by former President Bush, and sticks with the goal of returning humans to the moon by 2020.

The $18.7 billion that Obama will request for NASA - up from $18.026 billion for fiscal 2010 in the last Bush budget request - does not include the $1 billion NASA will receive in the $787 billion stimulus package that President Barack Obama signed Feb. 16.

Aviation Week has learned that in addition to the human-lunar return, Obama wants to continue robotic exploration with probes to Mars and other Solar System destinations, as well as a space telescope to probe deeper into the universe.

He will request increases in Earth Science, in keeping with his call Feb. 24 for action on global warming. And he will ask for additional funds for the NextGen satellite-based air traffic control modernization effort within NASA's aeronautics request.

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Read more: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/OMOON022509.xml&headline=Obama%20Will%20Stick%20with%20Bush%20Moon%20Plan

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Found this on Nasa Watch where there is more discussion: www.nasawatch.com/archives/2009/02/obama_budget_pr.html

[AyanEva]

1. Glad to see it!

I'm a strong supporter of NASA.

[Captain Hilts]

2. We left stuff up there. We need to go get it. nt

[MrModerate]

3. Sometimes progressives diss space exploration on the understandable . . .

premise that money spent on earth is simply better spent than in space.

But we need to rein in that obvious but wrongheaded view. Aside from the fact that space exploration is the perfect combination of pure science and applied engineering -- and hence results in mass quantities of new technologies to be directed to the benefit of humankind (not to mention planetary monitoring that grows more crucial every day) -- the drive to explore is inherent in human beings and should be supported whenever possible.

I don't expect any Solutions-with-a-capital-S to come out of space travel (though they could!), but inestimable benefits do accrue. And who's to say that ultimately we will be able to escape this planet and spread human influence across the stars? Science fiction now, quotidian reality . . . when?

[Kolesar]

12. NASA should shift its research to optimizing power conversion in transportation,

...generation, heating, etc.

Manned space projects are an exhibition with their roots in 19th century colonization and national pride. Hey, we beat the Soviets to the Moon 40 years ago. We don't have to prove anything now.

I am way in favor of unmanned deep space probes and Earth orbit satellites to monitor the natural systems of the planet. Like carbon dioxide monitoring, which brings me back to my thesis in the subject line.

[kentauros]

16. Those that diss NASA also seem to think that they only do space projects

conveniently forgetting that "NASA" is an acronym:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

:D

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. Imagine what the science community could if they weren't mandated to build weapons??

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.
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USA spending trillions of dollars to figure out new ways to kill people

(sigh)

[Posteritatis]

19. "the science community" is "mandated" to build weapons now? (nt)

[ConcernedCanuk]

21. Well, not on paper, - but in a kinda/sorta way - that's where he MONEY is??

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.
.

That's what I'm seeing . .

I'm QUITE sure that the great majority of scientists want to do good things

But then Government gets in the way?

especially the USA Government -

Canada, not so much methinks, BUT

we get a lot of pressure from the USA on how to behave . .

Gawwd

I miss Chretien - he had balls

Harper?

well, Stevie boy seems to have the other part . . .

[Hardrada]

5. Somehow Bush and moon in one sentence doesn't make me

think about NASA the very first thing. Frat pranks instead.

[Sailing]

6. I think this is mostly about He3...

Helium 3 is considered the best fuel for fusion technology. It is virtually non-existent on Earth, but is likely plentiful on the moon and could supply energy needs for a long time. It's the reason many countries are pushing their space programs now. They all want to stake their claims.

[IndianaGreen]

7. What about the shuttle replacement?

The shuttle fleet is ancient and risky.

[bananas]

10. This is the shuttle replacement

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Constellation

[Klimmer777]

8. Good, and how about convincing Japan or India to image . . .

up-close and in high resolution this region of the backside of the Moon right now while they are already there imaging at this moment:
Latitude 19 degrees S; Longitude 117.5 degrees E

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4763728#4805791

The following images are official NASA Apollo 15 images from the Lunar Planetary Institute, Apollo Image Atlas, on the backside of the Moon near Latitude 19 degrees S; Longitude 117.5 degrees E. The spacecraft is there and easily seen!

Resources:
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/apolloindex/apollo15/as15indexmap01
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/frame/?AS15-P-9625
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/frame/?AS15-P-9630

The following are enlarged and cropped stereo pair images from the above resources. Print and view them in 3D with a simple handheld stereo glass pair for photogrammetry. From the image data you can determine the unit less Scale Factor of the images: Lens Focal Length/Camera Altitude = 24 inch/117km = 1/191,929.13. From here measure the length of the crashed Alien Spacecraft (apparently visited by Apollo 20, Commander William Rutledge et al. in 1976) and scale it out. The spacecraft is approx. 3.26km in length and about 500m high/wide. You would certainly have to use your climbing skills to explore this puppy! Sorry, but we don’t have anything that big, and neither do the Russians! NASA and the Lunar Planetary Institute are not hiding it anymore. Amazing.

These are certainly interesting times we live in. Now the question is who were these Aliens? Friend or Foe? Some say the Nephalim as mentioned in the Bible. Who knows? One thing is for sure we need to get back to the Moon and then onto Mars. It is our destiny to explore. Exploring and doing science are good --- NWO, war, and war profiteering etc. are bad. Man is a very curious creature, and we are explorers at heart. That is what we do.


Enlargement from Map and Photo index for Apollo 15, Rev 38:


Enlargement from AS15-P-9625:


Enlargement from AS15-P-9630:


Same images enlarged for stereo for easier stereo viewing:







There are more anomalies on Mars too!

NASA, what do they know and when did they know it? Curious minds want to know.

[RandomThoughts]

9. Any radio chatter?

n/t

[Left Coast2020]

11. I got a different interpretation from this headline.

It alomost sounds like a marriage of somekind. Bush and Rev. Moon are a good fit.

[cobalt1999]

13. LOL

:rofl:

More like Conspiracy theorists and Idiot minds "want to know"!

Thanks for the morning laugh.

[sutz12]

22. I think they found Noah's Ark!

:)

[cobalt1999]

14. I seriously doubt we return astronauts to the moon

Although the research aspects of the project will & should continue as that can be leveraged for other ventures.

[IDFbunny]

15. The Moon is a stepping stone to Mars

New technologies need to prove themselves on the moon first.

Also I think there is a scheme to eventually start bottling He3. Such industry would require some human assistance.

[wuushew]

23. Not true actually

It takes more propulsive energy to get to the Moon than Mars.

A delta V of some 6 km/s vs. 4.5 km/s according to Robert Zubrin.


Mars and the Moon are very different environments. Mars having an atmosphere, water and easy to gather minerals would be a much better location to settle or explore than the moon where you would have to learn how to melt rocks.


In regards to helium-3 while it may be a useful gas for hypothetical future applications, Mars has six times the terrestrial abundance of the hydrogen isotope deuterium which has immediate use in existing nuclear applications. Since harvesting water would be necessary for both life support and return fuel, the cost of capturing the heavy water would not add significantly to the mission cost.
Zubrin claimed the value of deuterium was $10,000 a kilogram in 1996 dollars.



I would be willing to set up an observatory on the Moon, but getting to Mars is far more important and should not be delayed by a lunar expedition.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

17. Who else was Dumbyass planning to moon?

Wasn't 8 years of that enough? :evilgrin:

[harun]

18. This is solely about keeping up with the Chinese, if their program wasn't as good as

it is this would be 100% scrapped. It is to keep an eye on them, etc.

[ohio2007]

20. good paying machinists jobs et el go with the NASA ear mark

good paying taxpayer jobs help keep the local economies fueled.