"Apollo on Steroids"

[sdelmonte]

I wanted to give this story a fuller write-up, but don't have the time.

Here's the short form:

NASA announced yesterday how we are going to get back to the Moon by 2018, at a cost of $104 billion. See http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/cev_front/index.html for a nice (if clearly one-sided) presentation about this initiative. Basically, in its tech if not its goals, this will be what the head of NASA called "Apollo on steroids," featuring a larger (and greatly updated) LEM; and a larger (and reusable) capsule.

I want to be excited by this. I want to believe that the money for this is there, that using proven techniques and technology in concert with new ideas is the way to go, that this will work. I want to believe that this is the beginning of the trip to Mars.

But I see the same old NASA, with a limited vision and a limited budget. (Yes, $104 billion is limited, as this is essentially the current NASA budget spent over 13 years.) I see the same attitudes about international cooperation that prevent the US from seeking partners from the EU, Russian, Japan, India and even China. I see a plan to reignite the space program that is, at first glance, flavorless. I see a space station that, unless I am missing something, still seems to serve no purpose. And I see an American people that will not buy into this in the face of the costs of the war, of stopping terrorism, of rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, and of just keeping the nation's economy afloat.

There is much to like in the new plan. There is much missing. For now, I give it a tentative thumbs up, hoping that with time it becomes more. But I don't expect it to.

Comments

[mannoftalent.livejournal.com]

The thing about space races is that they are often motivated more by a need to stay ahead of a competing superpower, rather than a genuine desire to explore space. I suspect a great deal of what's happening is the Military/Industrial Complex's fear of China's expanding space program. As LArry Niven has put it---"in any battle, space is the ultimate high ground"