The Hawk
Well-Known Forumite
Well there's a side of the moon you don't see every day!
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Look Out Of Your Window Now! Astronomical events.
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Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
Nobody has seen it directly since 1972.
The Hawk
Well-Known Forumite
Indeed, although I don't think it will be too long before someone does again.
I still find it amazing, in some ways, that, given the huge advances in technology since 1972, we still haven't been back to the moon.
Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
Lack of ambition, Watergate fallout, the defeat in Vietnam, a suspicion that we had been very lucky so far, etc...
From Kennedy saying "We're going" to Neil saying"We're here" was less than 3,000 days.
It will take that long to decide how to have the planning meetings for HS2.
A radio telescope on the far side would be a great thing - away from all the fizz we make now.
proactive
Enjoying a drop of red.
Is there actually anything on the moon worth spending gazillions to go back for?
Laurie61
Well-Known Forumite
Helium 3, it would be useful in fusion reactors, if they are ever sorted.
Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
Modern life is largely based on technology that was driven by the space race - not just the devices themselves, but the methods of organisation that the whole thing required. It was like a (fairly) peaceful military spin-off effect...
proactive
Enjoying a drop of red.
I realise that but I was wondering why go back to the moon. Why not spend the resources on going to Mars, where we haven't been before?
Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
Giant leap for a man.
Spend a while on the Moon and see how it goes - maybe?
Establish a Moonbase?
The Hawk
Well-Known Forumite
A good question, and one with many answers, depending on who you listen to. To be honest, I still think that sending probes out, rather than human missions, is of much more scientific value, but I always remember the human factor and, especially what captures the human imagination the most (and helps bring the necessary funding for more missions).
It was Carl Sagan, and his team, that had the foresight to turn Voyager 1 round on 14 February 1990, to take the 'Portrait of the Planets' and the now famous Pale Blue Dot picture. He knew it was of little, if any scientific value, but he knew that the real benefit was to capture people's imagination and help support future projects.
There are many possible missions in the pipeline, both near and far; the one that excites me the most is the one to send a nano-spacecraft to our nearest star using laser powered propulsion.
Always remember though, that space is big, You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.
Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
Automated devices, even with some autonomy, are far more effective these days than they were fifty years ago. People are just not so necessary. There can and will be failures like the Beagles, but it's not so desperate when it happens.
What we have actually found on Mars seems to be no big deal so far - another 'live' planet would have been a serious draw.
I'm not convinced that the opinion of the general public on these matters is of any great importance - they will, as we can see every day, go along with almost anything - they might complain to each other, but it has negligible real effect. The opinion of the few who are really in charge is what actually matters.
The Europeans, Chinese, Japanese and Indians all realise that it is a 'driver' for the rest of the economy.
If progress had continued at the rate that it was going at in the 1960s, anything could have happened, including a few huge disasters. Apollo 13 must have made a few people draw their horns in a bit.
But, we are still in a position where nobody has ever died outside the atmosphere, as madly dangerous as such a situation seems, and there's been people outside continuously since 2000...
What we have actually found on Mars seems to be no big deal so far - another 'live' planet would have been a serious draw.
I'm not convinced that the opinion of the general public on these matters is of any great importance - they will, as we can see every day, go along with almost anything - they might complain to each other, but it has negligible real effect. The opinion of the few who are really in charge is what actually matters.
The Europeans, Chinese, Japanese and Indians all realise that it is a 'driver' for the rest of the economy.
If progress had continued at the rate that it was going at in the 1960s, anything could have happened, including a few huge disasters. Apollo 13 must have made a few people draw their horns in a bit.
But, we are still in a position where nobody has ever died outside the atmosphere, as madly dangerous as such a situation seems, and there's been people outside continuously since 2000...
Laurie61
Well-Known Forumite
I think the moon could still serve a purpose, it has water and gravity which would help humans cope away from earth. If spacecraft for human exploration are needed then sending parts and building on the moon might make more sense than constructing them on orbit. The l/8th gravity would make it easier to launch a bigger ship from the moon than earth.
It is also increasingly likely that there are lava tubes under the moons surface which could be converted for habitation and would provide protection from radiation and various sized meteorites.
https://phys.org/news/2015-03-theoretical-huge-lava-tubes-moon.html#nRlv
It is also increasingly likely that there are lava tubes under the moons surface which could be converted for habitation and would provide protection from radiation and various sized meteorites.
https://phys.org/news/2015-03-theoretical-huge-lava-tubes-moon.html#nRlv
Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
Not only could we fire much bigger stuff off the Moon, but the lack of an atmosphere for the first few miles makes the design possibilities much more flexible than having to fit them into a pointy thing for the first hundred miles..
Tilly
Well-Known Forumite
Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
