NASA's mission: Can we live on the moon?

[babylonsister]

NASA's mission: Can we live on the moon?

The agency is set to launch spacecraft that will update topographical maps of the surface and will probe deep into a crater to search for water.

By John Johnson Jr.
June 13, 2009


Nearly four decades after astronaut Neil Armstrong planted his boot on the surface of the moon, the U.S. is about to take the first small step toward colonizing Earth's tag-along satellite.

On Wednesday, NASA is scheduled to launch a robotic mission aimed at finding the best site for Earth's first off-world colony, the centuries-old dream of science fiction writers and utopians.

This time, we're not just going for a walkabout or to hit golf balls and cruise around in a $10-million moon buggy, as the Apollo astronauts did. Ultimately, we hope to pack up the kids and the dog and move in.

"We're going to provide NASA with what is needed to get human beings back to the moon and to stay there for an extended duration," said Craig Tooley, project manager for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, one part of the two-pronged mission.

The orbiter itself is expected to produce the most detailed topographic maps of the moon ever made, as well as first-ever glimpses inside perpetually shadowed craters at the north and south poles. Inside those craters, scientists hope to find caches of frozen water that have been hidden away for billions of years.

The mission won't stop there. Using a second spacecraft -- the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite -- NASA is planning to punch a hole in one to see what comes out.

more...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-lunar13-2009jun13,0,5546665,full.story

[SpiralHawk]

1. Not if we are smashing stuff into it in the interest of 'science'

I mean, like, whoa with that...not too cozy living where scientists are lobbing stuff at you...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5829895

"Hey you nerdy kids, stop flinging stuff at our lunar module."
- Pioneer Colonial Lunatics

[elocs]

2. I think we should concentrate on living here on Earth because we aren't doing so well. n/t

[Johonny]

13. yeah.

[spanone]

3. spanone question....can we live on earth?

[Swamp Rat]

4. Probably not, unless NASA has plans for building a gravity field, and protection from meteorites.

The Moon is pummeled by meteorites daily.

[eddieb2]

6. Also

There ain't no air up there.

[Swamp Rat]

7. Well, the Moon will make a good storage site for fuel for further exploration in our solar system.

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

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Any chance we talk Hanity or Limbaugh into being lunar pioneers?

[Swamp Rat]

12. LOL!

Set the controls for the heart of the Sun! :D




:hi::hug:

[Starry Messenger]

5. More important--

if so, can we pick who to send there? I've got a little list...

[Kansas Wyatt]

8. Okay... Are "EDUCATED" people really calling the shots in this country?

If so, then we seriously need to re-think what "educated" means.

The United States has a Hell of a lot of room for improvement, when it comes to the quality of life for it's citizens compared to the rest of industrialized nations, yet our government thinks this is important.

[timeforpeace]

10. Living in space suits and pressurized buildings and

underground isn't my idea of living.

[cagesoulman]

11. And if we can, can we send Glen Beck?

Kick that stupid bastard to Jupiter and beyond. :evilgrin: