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Author
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Topic: Out Of This World
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Madon_space
Member Posts: 667
From: uk
Registered: Sep 2002
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posted 12-04-2003 01:20 AM
   
NEW SPACE MISSION PLANS
US president George Bush is to announce a new space programme which could include missions to the moon and possibly even to Mars.According to National Review magazine, Mr Bush is expected to make the announcement in a speech on December 17, the 100th anniversary of manned flight by the Wright Brothers.
The plans go beyond just a single mission to the moon and could even involve the establishment of a permanent base there, the magazine said.
Mr Bush may also outline general plans for a mission to Mars, it was reported. Such an announcement would be a major development for the American space programme. The last time an astronaut went to the moon was more than 30 years ago. The Space Shuttle is currently grounded after the Columbia disaster earlier this year and the International Space Station is behind schedule and over budget. The magazine said there was still a question over the timing of the announcement, and the details might be saved for the State of the Union Address in January. America first went to the moon on July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. The final moon landing was in December 1972 and man has not returned since.
We can all live in hope and who knows maybe i will get to see a moon landing before i leave this Mother Earth.
Report courtesy of Sky News. THOUGHTS ANYONE!
Best
ROB
[This message has been edited by Madon_space (edited December 04, 2003).] [This message has been edited by Madon_space (edited December 04, 2003).] |
collshubby
Member Posts: 591
From: Madisonville, Louisiana
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 12-04-2003 02:34 AM
I think that is great news. I just hope Congress coughs up the moolah for it all. I think it would be better if Bush waited until the State of the Union address. It might make more of an impact there.------------------
Brian Peter
astronautbrian@hotmail.com [This message has been edited by collshubby (edited December 04, 2003).] |
Rizz
Member Posts: 1208
From: Upcountry, Maui, Hawaii
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 12-04-2003 04:32 AM
What an unlikely change of heart. Wonder what brought that on?
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Rick Boos
Member Posts: 851
From: Celina, Ohio
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 12-04-2003 09:05 AM
The question is, is President Bush REALLY serious about a long range goal or not? If past performace or his track record means anything I seriously doubt it. I think it's all politics! If memory serves me correctly wasn't NASA's budget just cut? Isn't NASA still seeking funds to continue the building of the space station? Isn't the space station in jeopardy of being downsized? Isn't NASA wondering where funding will come from to implement the necessary modifications to to the existing Shuttle fleet? Isn't there a threat of turning off Hubble a few years down the line if more funds arn't aquired? Why haven't we got a new generation of manned spacecraft by now? Why are we forever stuck in low earth orbit flying an antiquated money sucking unsafe white elephent called the shuttle? WHERE'S THE BEEF????? That's the real question. As I said before, it's really sad when you think that NASA does all that it does on 7/10 of one percent! Think what they could do with a full two or three percent of the budget? You just can't turn the space program's budget on and off like a water faucet. You need LOCKED IN guaranteed multi-year funding. I sincerely hope that the President is serious about along range vision for space, but let's hope that he FOLLOWS THROUGH with the money and political support. His dad had ALL THE RIGHT WORDS a few years back durring his term (Back to the moon this time to stay...and on to Mars) but DID NOTHING to back them up!!! My question is,is history going to repeat itself? If President Bush IS sincere and does it right, then I think all of us need to do OUR part and hound our Congressmen and Senators to back the President and remind them that NOT one cent has EVER been spent "IN" space.We need to educate them about the multipler effect. Having said all that, I hope if we go back to the moon and on to Mars it's for the right reason and not because of another cold war space race. Lets do something with it this time and continue on, other wise it will be viewed as another "stunt" program like Apollo ended up being. |
DavidH
Member Posts: 1217
From: Huntsville, AL, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 12-04-2003 09:17 AM
Rick--I read the first third or so of what you wrote, and started writing a rebuttal, only to finish is and realize I agree with you completely. Whoops.
One nit, though--Past efforts to develop future manned spacecraft have failed largely because they required the discovery of new technology that simply didn't exist and couldn't be found. That is the one big difference in things like the Orbital Space Plane, and the rumors of the new spaceflight "vision": O'Keefe's main focus is figuring out what we can do, and what technologies are mature, and then looking at what we can do with those, how they can better be applied, rather than setting grand-sounding goals and looking for unobtainium to reach them.
(Also, Hubble is being shut down because Webb is in the works, and funding will be transferred). |
Scott
Member Posts: 3307
From: Houston, TX
Registered: May 2001
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posted 12-04-2003 09:22 AM
I really believe going back to the Moon is not going to happen as a result of this proposal. We have the War on Terror, the deficit, a still recovering economy, millions of children with no medical insurance and other considerations. There are just much more important things right now if one is talking about hundreds of billions of dollars. If China starts doing all kinds of great things in space, then we would set our sights on MARS, not the Moon.[This message has been edited by Scott (edited December 04, 2003).] |
DavidH
Member Posts: 1217
From: Huntsville, AL, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 12-04-2003 09:34 AM
As opposed to the late 1960s, when our country had no problems at all?
But, yeah, that's the catch. To be sure, it's really not an issue of money--when the federal government wants something, this sort of money is chump change. Look at the, what, $89 billion approved earlier this year to rebuild Iraq. NASA could go a pretty long ways on a one-time funding like that.
But there's already talk that this vision may be yet another unfunded mandate. We shall see.
That said, from the articles I've read, we are setting our sites on Mars, we're just establishing a more realistic route for getting there.
While the grand, Kennedy-esque straight to Mars idea sounds really good, it hasn't really proved very successful in the last 30 years. |
Rick Boos
Member Posts: 851
From: Celina, Ohio
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 12-04-2003 06:12 PM
Money is not a issue? Come on let's get real. Money in the BUDGET may be no problem, but the appropriation of, and sustained funding for NASA and long term support for Bush's vision will be! That's why I said in my last post that the President needs the backing and guaranteed, locked in multi-year funding that can't be touched, or turned off and on again like a water faucet with changes of political administrations and adgendas. Without that he can say all the right things like his dad did, but they will only be idle words falling on deaf ears. Personally, I question his motives and sincerity. In life I have learned that actions speak louder than words and that a leopard doesn't change his spots. President Bush has yet to demonstrate his love for space exploration as displayed by his dismal track record to date. Has he saw the light and become a "born again" believer in the space program, or is he a political puppet saying what others want or are forcing him to say? It really makes a difference. |
MICHAEL CLEMENTE
unregistered
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posted 12-04-2003 10:44 PM
Hi Rick  I agree with you 100%. I don't think President Bush sat back oneday and said NASA needs a new space initiatives. If Columbia was never lost and China never sent a man in space,you wouldn't have heard a peep out of him. I just hope if he proposes these "space initiatives", that he stays in it for the long haul.
AIM HIGH!
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