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from the To-the-Moon,-Alice!-To-the-Moon! dept.
No more sending humans to an asteroid. We're going back to the Moon:
The policy calls for the NASA administrator to "lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities." The effort will more effectively organize government, private industry, and international efforts toward returning humans on the Moon, and will lay the foundation that will eventually enable human exploration of Mars.
"The directive I am signing today will refocus America's space program on human exploration and discovery," said President Trump. "It marks a first step in returning American astronauts to the Moon for the first time since 1972, for long-term exploration and use. This time, we will not only plant our flag and leave our footprints -- we will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars, and perhaps someday, to many worlds beyond."
The policy grew from a unanimous recommendation by the new National Space Council, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, after its first meeting Oct. 5. In addition to the direction to plan for human return to the Moon, the policy also ends NASA's existing effort to send humans to an asteroid. The president revived the National Space Council in July to advise and help implement his space policy with exploration as a national priority.
President's remarks and White House release.
Presidential Memorandum on Reinvigorating America's Human Space Exploration Program
Also at Reuters and New Scientist.
Previously: Should We Skip Mars for Now and Go to the Moon Again?
How to Get Back to the Moon in 4 Years, Permanently
NASA Eyeing Mini Space Station in Lunar Orbit as Stepping Stone to Mars
NASA and Roscosmos Sign Joint Statement on the Development of a Lunar Space Station
Bigelow and ULA to Put Inflatable Module in Orbit Around the Moon by 2022
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday December 13 2017, @02:40PM
Depends on your specific goals - lots of maneuvers benefit from high thrust. Also, we don't currently have any reliable, field-tested ion drives suitable for moving large masses, though a few show promise in the lab. We also have some significant challenges in terms of developing a high-density power supply to drive them, not to mention a way to radiate the copious amounts of waste heat. I've heard counter-claims that the VASIMIR "39 days to Mars" claim would require a space-based nuclear reactor with an energy-to-mass ratio 100x higher than anything we've produced so far. Maybe we can pull that off, but I'm betting it takes at least a few more decades.
Plus, in the mid-term as we're expanding into space, ion drives are extremely intricate, expensive pieces of equipment. Whereas chemical rockets can be as simple as a fuel tank and a nozzle - much easier to actually manufacture in space.
I'll grant you that it's far from the most elegant or efficient solution, but it gets the job done quickly, simply, and cheaply. And fast, easy solutions will be make establishing a serious presence in space far more doable.