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Here's why NASA's audacious return to the Moon just might work
Speaking in front of a high-fidelity model of the Apollo program's Lunar Module spacecraft, Vice President Mike Pence charged NASA with accelerating its Moon plans last week. Instead of 2028, Pence wanted boots on the ground four years earlier, before the end of 2024. This marked the rarest of all moments in spaceflight—a schedule moving left instead of to the right.
Understandably, the aerospace community greeted the announcement with a healthy dose of skepticism. Many rocket builders, spaceship designers, flight controllers, and space buffs have seen this movie before. Both in 1989 and 2004, Republican administrations have announced ambitious Moon-then-Mars deep space plans only to see them die for lack of funding and White House backing.
And yet, this new proposal holds some promise. Pence, as well as NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, have adopted a clear goal for the agency and promised enduring political support. Moreover, they have said the "end" matters more than the "means." This suggests that whatever rockets and spacecraft NASA uses to reach the Moon, the plan should be based on the best-available, most cost-effective technology. In short, they want to foster a healthy, open competition in the US aerospace industry to help NASA and America reach its goals.
[...] Pence directed NASA to land humans at the lunar south pole by 2024. Most likely, this would be a two- or four-person crew that would include the first woman to visit the Moon. Landing near the poles is significant because the Apollo missions half a century ago stayed relatively close to the Moon's equator, and NASA would like to understand whether water ice resources truly exist in abundance near the poles in shadowed craters.
[...] It is politically expedient to keep the SLS rocket, however, because it is based at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Bridenstine understands that there is no way he is getting NASA to the Moon by 2024 over the opposition of the Alabama delegation both in the House and Senate, which remains dead set against side-lining the rocket for cheaper commercial options.
So the administrator appears to be making the one play available to him: giving the SLS rocket a chance to succeed while also putting the program on notice. Bridenstine has told senior NASA engineers to take needed steps to give the rocket its best chance to launch in 2020, even to the point of waiving a traditional but time-consuming test firing of the core stage at a Mississippi center. He has also told the rocket's primary contractor, Boeing, that this is probably their last chance to execute on a contract that has cost NASA billions of dollars. In a year or two, if SLS continues to slip, Bridenstine will be able to say he tried.
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(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:05AM (3 children)
Think... *LunarMax*!
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:15AM (1 child)
If Trump and Pence would just volunteer I'm sure that NASA could manage to send them to Mars tomorrow. Trump could even get away from Mueller.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @05:54AM
60% of Americans AND Mexico will pay for it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:23AM
https://www.nicekicks.com/tag/nike-lunarmax/ [nicekicks.com]
Or did you mean something else?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:16AM (2 children)
Vice President Pence wasn't tying himself rigidly to the SLS, but it's still a rather high profile support for a program that is the latest in a chain of failures from NASA. My take is that SLS is so bad at present, it alone will be sufficient to keep the US from achieving Pence's goal.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:25AM (1 child)
I'll just leave this here:
https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/2016/07/donald-trump-face-found-on-mars-in-nasa.html [ufosightingsdaily.com]
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by khallow on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:57AM
(Score: 2, Interesting) by jmorris on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:20AM (8 children)
Before, these plans always involved a timetable that the President "boldy" announcing it knew he wouldn't be held accountable to because he would be gone. Assuming, as all the oddsmakers and historians, that Trump is reelected, Trump will be President in 2024 and we can assume launching Pence to the Republican nomination as his hand picked successor. The keeping, or failure to keep, this promise will directly be an issue for President Trump and a campaign issue Mr. Pence will have to either answer for or claim as an accomplishment.
Of course it also means a lot of people on the Left, who otherwise would be supporting the project, will be attempting to scuttle the attempt to score a marker. The #resistance is more important!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:28AM (7 children)
> ..Trump will be President in 2024
Ok that's your prediction.
Mine is that Trump will be removed from office for mental incompetence (ranting/raving/incoherence/dementia), well before that date.
Prepared to put any money on this? (said the AC with a grin)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:37AM
It's not hard to make anon bets using crypto. Or just use predictit.com.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Saturday April 06 2019, @04:11PM (5 children)
That's your prediction.
Mine is that Trump will not leave office voluntarily during his 2nd, 3rd or 4th term.
Police can legally stop you for having too much tent on your window.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @06:11PM
Which Trump? There are many Trumps slated for the presidency until 2046.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @08:20PM (2 children)
You mean like you predicted with JWB?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday April 06 2019, @11:02PM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday April 08 2019, @01:36PM
I was going to ask JWB who? JWB doesn't ring any bells for me.
Police can legally stop you for having too much tent on your window.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday April 06 2019, @10:50PM
Sounds like a fine betting opportunity. How much are you willing to bet that Trump does that once? And what are the odds?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:21AM (18 children)
Guessing Pence and/or some of his "donors" / cronies stand to make a mint by this worthless project. And, it takes even more money away from social programs, so bonus!
These Nazi scum are going to bankrupt our nation, while raping every worthwhile program / agency our taxes currently fund.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:27AM
How retarded do you need to be to think Trump is a Nazi? His biggest funder is a huge zionist and he's trying to get Herman Cain on the federal reserve board.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:31AM (16 children)
I think it has more to do with the fact that America can now actually put people on the moon, unlike that hoax that happened decades earlier.
First principles: If we had the ability to land people on the moon in those days, then we'd already have been exploiting the moon for a decade or two at least. That bitch would have been mined so goddamn hard that it'd be a fraction of its current size and tides and surfers would be banished to the dustbin of history and the lyrics of Beach Boys albums.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:54AM (2 children)
If we had the ability to land people on the moon in those days, then we'd already have been exploiting the moon for a decade or two at least.
We have been. If you go around the back side, you'll see it's all hollowed out and all the scaffolding holding up the facade facing us. It is a paper moon
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:57AM (1 child)
No, it's because they found evidence the sun goes nova every 5-15k years and it scared the crap out of them. The surface had evidence of widespread geologically recent melting.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday April 06 2019, @04:09PM
No evidence of that on Earth which would also be affected. Let's think about it. Start with how hot things must get in order for melting to occur. 500 C is a basic minimum [hypertextbook.com].
Current lunar peak temperatures observed were somewhere around 130 C. Let's convert those into Kelvin by adding 273 to the Celcius numbers. Roughly, 770 K versus present day 400 K. For a black body which the Moon reasonably approximates, the heat radiated is the fourth power of the surface temperature in Kelvin ( (770/400)^4 ~13). To maintain that temperature for any length of time requires a solar influx that increases by roughly an order of magnitude. Even a short exposure (but long enough to melt rock on the Moon) is going to absolutely fry the Earth's land surface and start to boil away the oceans.
(Score: 1, Troll) by jmorris on Saturday April 06 2019, @04:00AM (2 children)
Nah, we did the moon landing but it was a pointless PR stunt. Look at the cost, there was nothing there to justify a tenth of the expense. We did it with stone knives, bearskins, balls of steel and Sagan's of cash. One can make the argument it was worth it to beat the Soviets there in the sense of it being a front in the Cold War, but once that was achieved there was nothing to justify spending that kind of money just for more bags of rock.
Now we are on the edge of having the tech to have legit business up there; especially if we find ice. We could have a moonbase in my lifetime! Hopefully at least one of the original men who walked there will live to see us return.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @04:11AM (1 child)
It's cheaper because we are reaping the benefits of research into dark matter.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Gaaark on Saturday April 06 2019, @04:20AM
Ah! My evil twin/arch enemy posting AC!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Immerman on Saturday April 06 2019, @04:04AM (2 children)
Getting there, and getting there cost effectively, are two rather different things. Not to mention that we're finally beginning to have the technology necessary to at least envision profitable exploitation. Rocket science is easy compared to robotics, long-term semi-closed ecosystem management, etc.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:57PM (1 child)
What cost effectiveness? What could possibly generate a profit on the moon that can't be done with a greater profit on earth? If going to moon were to cost $1000, it would be a waste of 1000 dollars.
The only value the moon business produces is the money kept from arms forces and manufacturers and the incidental scientific and engineering developments occurring while presuming its exploration. It's a symptom and a symbol for our corrupt way of life. The Emperor's life elixir. Branded and delivered to every household.
You know what would be cost-effective? Taking all that moon money and putting it into the infrastructure or education or anything really that doesn't involve Star Trek reruns.
Fuck the moon.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @09:46PM
Here's what's cheaper - and more useful. Put money into figuring out how to create living spaces in the ocean. It's horrifically expensive and difficult but at least 100 times easier and more comfortable than the moon. The fucking moon, give me a break. Things like air and water and temperature are ridiculous luxuries there. Get real morans.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Saturday April 06 2019, @04:17AM (5 children)
I think it's also a 'worry' thing: what ARE the Chinese doing over there on the dark side where 'we' can't see them?
AND, we're losing face: we gotta go back and do something REAL.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @04:32AM (1 child)
The Chinese are checking for glass. NASA only checked on one hemisphere, so it is not known if the entire surface has been melted or just the half facing the sun at the time. If it is the entire surface that confirms it must be a relatively common occurrence, happening at least twice in the last 30k years.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Saturday April 06 2019, @05:13AM
Checking for glass...AND MAKING Nucular bombies to drop on Murica!
Maybe. :)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:17PM (2 children)
The threat of China claiming the moon like they claimed the South China Sea is the ONLY thing that can Motivate America to get get there and get there on a credible timetable.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Saturday April 06 2019, @05:59PM (1 child)
The threat of China winning with focused, central, long-term planning is the motivation.
Can't let people start believing that this socialist shit might be worth a damn!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @09:48PM
I say give it to them. Most expensive white elephant EVARRRRR.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @04:52AM
I know, right? Have you seen this documentary [wikipedia.org]? It's quite enlightening! And it's not just on YouTube either! It's got a whole Wikipedia page to itself, so you know it's on the up and up!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @05:38AM (5 children)
So, sure, we will go to the moon, and those other things, that JFK referred to, but Kennedy was not a Christian, he was a Catholic, and this is why Mike Pence cannot be in a room, alone, with a woman or astronomical body that is not his wife, because he might try to fuck it. My Gawd, these evangelicals are ever more perverted that Muslins who have to keep women's hair covered so they don't rape them. At least in America, these people drive for Uber. But, now, let's get back to the point. Mike Pence would probably fuck you, if you were left alone in a room with him. What do you think he plans on doing with the Moon? Which, BTW, is only 6,000 years old. Do not touch that panel, Pence! Do not! Oh, crap.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @05:49AM (3 children)
The hilarious thing is that customs like that develop due to stuff like the fake accusations we saw against Kavanaugh.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @06:59AM (2 children)
Kavanaugh fucked my dog. I would not trust him with anything with an orifice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @07:04AM (1 child)
Eventually you end up with sharia law. Muslims don't have dogs either.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @04:58PM
The goats however, seem to be thriving
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @01:18AM
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @03:22PM
It's only work if there's displacement. If the only objective is to put some schmuck on the moon to have their photo taken before sending them back they might as well just save everyone the money and use Photoshop.