Mooning at the Chinq Establishment........
Discussion
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/cev.html
Looks very much like a permanent station on the moon is on it's way. Reading the report, it would seem that some of the major equipment for the project will in use in five years.
Much as I didn't think the shuttle was a good idea, it seems that quite a bit has been learned from the experience.
The question is, who's gonna get there first, yankee doodle, or hong ching waa?
Looks very much like a permanent station on the moon is on it's way. Reading the report, it would seem that some of the major equipment for the project will in use in five years.
Much as I didn't think the shuttle was a good idea, it seems that quite a bit has been learned from the experience.
The question is, who's gonna get there first, yankee doodle, or hong ching waa?
NASA says we are going in an Apollo on steroids:
FAQ:
www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/cev_faq.html[/url]
Enjoy!
ErnestM
>> Edited by ErnestM on Monday 19th September 22:04
FAQ:
www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/cev_faq.html[/url]
Enjoy!
ErnestM
>> Edited by ErnestM on Monday 19th September 22:04
ErnestM said:
NASA says we are going in an Apollo on steroids:
FAQ:
www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/cev_faq.html[/url]
Enjoy!
ErnestM
>> Edited by ErnestM on Monday 19th September 22:04
Is that supposed to look like a steroid hypo needle??
Somewhere on there, they say that the vehicle is launched and parked in orbit. The crew are launched days later, and transfer into the parked vehicle.
It doesn't say, and I guess that they aren't sure yet, but I'm wondering if the space station figures in the transfer process.
I guess it's going to be interesting to find out how the space station pans out. Lofty backwater, or purposeful intermediary.
I'd not be surprised if the space station becomes a budget home for nations like the UK. Kind of like a hand-me-down from the US to the rest of the world.
I'm guessing that from a political perspective, this could be a useful worldwide negotiating tool.
It doesn't say, and I guess that they aren't sure yet, but I'm wondering if the space station figures in the transfer process.
I guess it's going to be interesting to find out how the space station pans out. Lofty backwater, or purposeful intermediary.
I'd not be surprised if the space station becomes a budget home for nations like the UK. Kind of like a hand-me-down from the US to the rest of the world.
I'm guessing that from a political perspective, this could be a useful worldwide negotiating tool.
dilbert said:I doubt it. The space station is in a pretty high inclination orbit -- 51 deg! (so the Russians can launch to it from Baikonur) and the moon orbits within 5 deg of the ecliptic (which is kind of like 23.5 deg because of the axial inclination of the Earth). Plane changes are very expensive in terms of fuel.
It doesn't say, and I guess that they aren't sure yet, but I'm wondering if the space station figures in the transfer process.
carl_w said:
It doesn't say, and I guess that they aren't sure yet, but I'm wondering if the space station figures in the transfer process.
I doubt it. The space station is in a pretty high inclination orbit -- 51 deg! (so the Russians can launch to it from Baikonur) and the moon orbits within 5 deg of the ecliptic (which is kind of like 23.5 deg because of the axial inclination of the Earth). Plane changes are very expensive in terms of fuel.
Nice to have someone qualified on board!
I take it that you favour the lofty backwater theory.
Indeed. Somewhere I have a book from the 1950s that proposes a space station as an intermediate step to a lunar (or maybe Martian) landing. But at 51 degrees inclination, that isn't ISS.
Even cooler are the pictures of moon rockets that look like a cross between a V2 and a Tintin rocket.
Even cooler are the pictures of moon rockets that look like a cross between a V2 and a Tintin rocket.
scared but happy said:
Moonbase Alpha. Space 1999
Come on keep up with the news! they have already done this 6 years ago.
Yes but don't you remember that back on September 13, 1999, massive magnetic energy built up to cause an explosive chain-reaction of the nuclear waste stored there, blasting the Moon out of Earth orbit and off the plane of the ecliptic, out of the Solar System and with it went Moonbase Alpha.
Not sure that going via the moon is any easier than going direct from Earth orbit. You bust a gut to get out of Earth's gravity well and then waste it all by dropping into the Moon's, which you've got to get out of again. If you can stage all the components in Earth orbit, it's probably easier to go direct. If time's not of the essence you could do some planetary swingbys to speed you on your way (Cassini went in towards Venus, back past the Earth and then on its way to Saturn).
If the US has to go to the Moon before going to Mars, surely this makes the timescales for getting to Mars prohibitive?
If they're going to go to Mars, and they're going to go from earth orbit to Mars in one shot, why bother going to the moon again at all?
I'm not really clear of the benefit of testing stuff on precursor moon mission. It's not like they could rescue a Moon mission any better than they could a Mars mission. If they get it wrong in either case, they're scuppered.
Maybe the US and the Moon, is an easy way to reduce NASA funding for the shuttle, and make a political statement to the Chineese. I reckon the thing that will decide if we get back to Moon or even on to Mars, is how competitive the Chineese choose to be.
>> Edited by dilbert on Thursday 6th October 17:44
If they're going to go to Mars, and they're going to go from earth orbit to Mars in one shot, why bother going to the moon again at all?
I'm not really clear of the benefit of testing stuff on precursor moon mission. It's not like they could rescue a Moon mission any better than they could a Mars mission. If they get it wrong in either case, they're scuppered.
Maybe the US and the Moon, is an easy way to reduce NASA funding for the shuttle, and make a political statement to the Chineese. I reckon the thing that will decide if we get back to Moon or even on to Mars, is how competitive the Chineese choose to be.
>> Edited by dilbert on Thursday 6th October 17:44
It would be stupid to ignore the moon - a vast piece of real estate only a stone's throw (on the solar system scale) away.
There is still a lot of sciemce and exploring left to do on the moon - it has a land area about half that of Africa and only a very small part of it has been explored to date.
One of the lessons that have been learned from space exploration is "expect the unexpected". I am sure that the moon still has lots of surprises in store for the next generation of lunar explorers.
There is still a lot of sciemce and exploring left to do on the moon - it has a land area about half that of Africa and only a very small part of it has been explored to date.
One of the lessons that have been learned from space exploration is "expect the unexpected". I am sure that the moon still has lots of surprises in store for the next generation of lunar explorers.
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