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I could live with NASA doing a moonbase. I would laugh heartily at the gates of Kennedy when a manned Mars mission lands and NASA was left out of the whole thing.
L1 and L2 stations to me is nothing more than a way to keep the Shuttle program going.
If I ask really nice, would ESA let me put of those great decals on Beagle? The really good ones that have "HEY EARTHLING!" and an alien giving the "middle finger salute".
What a perfect shot to get from the ISS cameras!
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I agree. One thing left out is that we are still suffering from the fallout from the "90 day report". This was the President Bush (the elder) Humans to Mars project. I remember President Bush's speech and the excitement that was caused at the new mission plan. When the CBO started pricing it out however the Congress went nuts! Numerous politicians made the promise to "zero out any project that hinted at 'Humans to Mars'". They did this to prevent NASA from trying to slip development in behind the scenes and try to present Congress with "Well, we've done 30% (or 40%, or 50%) of the needed work already, we might as well just go ahead and do the rest!". Then Congress would get hit up with a bill for the balance of the $450 billion. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is the current watchdog on this effort.
NASA will NEVER do a "Humans to Mars" project because it is controlled by politicians who want to keep it around just in case we have another "Space Race". Beyond that they want it to keep quiet and don't ask for money.
However, the longer we go without a commitment to a "Humans to Mars" the more the public perception grows that "If we haven't done it yet, it must be impossible to do!"
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I agree, the 90 day report was a catastrophe and NASA suffers from it to this day. However, new plans have been developed by NASA over the past decade and the cost estimate for a manned mission to Mars is now $40-60 billion so the politicians should finally show some courage and vision and give NASA the money.
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I'm hoping ESA's missions to Mars will light a little fire under the collective butts of Congress. Beagle 2 on the surface may get a few politicos asking what NASA has ready to bring the limelight back to US shores.
Taikonaut bootprints on Luna, and the planting of the Chinese flag next to the US one, would get some things rolling. Imagine a conservative Congress watching the "godless commies" become a part of a very exclusive club. "UN Security Council member, nuclear power, and now they've made it to the Moon!"
Imagine the political brownie-points the People's Republic would get by broadcasting the video images of Shenzhuo leaving the ISS far behind.
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China are commies they will not make it to the moon
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The Soviets were commies as well. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite of Earth. Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space. Mir lasted a lot longer than Skylab.
With literally half of the Earth's population under their control, I think the Bejing government is more than capable of getting to the Moon.
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Using the words "politicians" and "courage and vision" in the same sentence is quite a joke!
I get the feeling that politicians still suspect that the true cost will be $500+ billion and that anything else is just a dodge to get them to commit to it.
Besides, if the public perception is that "Humans to Mars" is impossible then there is no mandate from the public to get politicians to back the project.
I'm sorry to say that if we rely on NASA and American politicians to get the job done it will never happen.
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China are commies they will not make it to the moon
This aint 1980 no more bubba!
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. -Henry David Thoreau
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The Soviets were commies as well. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite of Earth. Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space. Mir lasted a lot longer than Skylab.
With literally half of the Earth's population under their control, I think the Bejing government is more than capable of getting to the Moon.
With the ISS almost totally dependent on the (former Soviet, now Russian) Soyuz-TM transportation system for passengers and "lifeboat," and supply & garbage removal via unmanned Progress craft. With no equivalent USA development on the horizon, one wonders where this guy's coming from. Communism had little to do with the design (except maybe to hold it back like any political body). Good forward-looking engineering and consistnt budgetary support did. And since the Chinese are planning their transportation system along the same lines as the still viable Soyuz transportation system.... Goodby Moon exclusivity, USA!
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The Soviets were commies as well. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite of Earth. Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space. Mir lasted a lot longer than Skylab.
*No kidding. Carl Sagan gives a thorough run-down of the comparison between the US and USSR programs in his book _Pale Blue Dot_. After reading that impressive laundry list, I know I'm impressed with what the Soviets accomplished...I'm actually surprised *they* didn't get to the moon before we did!
What's that old saying? Never underestimate your opponent...
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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The chinese will have a taikonaut in space next year (or two or three of them). However, I don't think they'll go for the moon in this decade. First they'll build a space sation, they've said so on numerous occasions and they're already developing a new generation of boosters (payload capacity>20 tons) to get it into orbit.
I don't expect a chinese landing on the moon before 2015. Manned fly-bys would be possible a lot sooner though.
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I used to be very hostile about the Chinese, myself. But the truth is, the Chinese are kind of like what the Americans were like 100 years ago. America is no longer the place for capitalists to make big industrial dreams come true. China is.
Despite the prominent display of the 'Hammer And Sickle' logo at "Communist" party functions of the ruling elite, China is a de facto capitalist state. Don't believe me? Look at the tags on the clothes you're wearing right now. Where were they made? What about the items in the room you're sitting in? Many, many of those things were probably made in China.
Is it a democracy? No. Do its workers have any real protection from corporate/state exploitation? Maybe, maybe not. Does it have environmental regulations like those found in Western nations? I doubt it.
The PRC right now is like America's Wild West of the 19th century, and the leadership just wants to regain control (hence the Internet crackdowns). However, once the Chinese middle class grows to a sufficient size (and it WILL), it will demand concessions from its rulers...and it will get them.
Obviously, I could be wrong. But my crystal ball says that by century's end, China will be the most powerful nation on Earth...and in space.
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I still see the PRC as a major threat to regional peace. The political and economic situation seems to be changing. Over the past few decades China's economy has grown increasingly capitilistic and the Communist parties hold over the minds of its people is also weakening. I don't see the PRC disolving like the USSR, but the Communist party's days will likely be numbered in the next 50 years.
The PRC still has a long way to go to catch up to the US and Russia in space. I'm just hoping they light a fire under Congress, so we can get some real support for our space program.
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