US announces returning to the moon as a top priority

[GhostZ06]

“We will refocus America’s space program toward human exploration and discovery,” Pence wrote. “That means launching American astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit for the first time since 1972. It means establishing a renewed American presence on the Moon, a vital strategic goal. And from the foundation of the Moon, America will be the first nation to bring mankind to Mars.”

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/10/us-announces-returning-to-the-moon-as-a-top-priority.html


about fucking time, and we better set up a base there

 

[GhostZ06]

Elon Musk and Spacex could be within five years of radically altering space launch costs and capabilities. Elon and Spacex have been showing for several years that they can produce one time use launch for several times lower cost than established space launch companies. Spacex has achieved low cost and relatively rapid recovery and refurbishment of a first stage. The Space Shuttle and the US government had that goal in the 1970s but did ended up with billion dollar plus costs for relaunch and high labor refurbishment.

The Spacex BFR (Big F**ing Rocket) will be two large stages and fully reusable. This will create the technological platform and capability for something closer to commercial aviation in terms of being similar to the reuse and reflight of planes. The largest uncertainty being the elasticity of demand for space.

There also seems to be a shift in the science and medicine of life extension.

Billionaire’s like Jim Mellon, Craig Venter, Peter Thiel and others are believing in radical life extension and investing in companies to develop that capability.

Jim Mellon and Al Chalabi’s wrote a new book Juvenescence: Investing in the Age of Longevity. It is the first time that a group of financially influential individuals have come out and, at length and in detail, outlined why exactly they support the cause of rejuvenation research and why they think it has a good chance of success in the near future.

Jim Mellon’s investment philosophy, which has led him to be recognised as one of the most successful investors of his generation, is underpinned by his ability to identify so-called “money-fountains” – market trends which will lead to step changes and the resulting investment opportunities. “This is the biggest money fountain idea that Al and I have ever seen. The longevity business has quickly moved from wacky land to serious science, and within just a couple of decades we expect average human life expectancy in the developed world to rise to around 110.”

Space launch has shown it can be more difficult, time consuming and costly to pursue less ambitious goals than it is to pursue radically transformative goals.

NASA, Boeing and others had more money and resources than Elon and Spacex and pursued more timid projects. They spend far more money and more time and achieved less.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/...nt-possible-for-space-and-life-extension.html


bonus article, but seriously this is fucking important. we need a big boost to our science and technology

 

[trident]

Moonbat politics will officially arrive

 

[uncommon]

in before cnn accuses trump of weaponizing space

 

[ManCityFC9]

Really?
Interesting since space exploration does further technology development quite a bit(especially material science could benefit).

But I would prioritize lowering the annual deficit significantly first.

I'd be curious to see how this all develops

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Sign me up! I could use a vacation.

 

[GhostZ06]

Really?
Interesting since space exploration does further technology development quite a bit(especially material science could benefit).

But I would prioritize lowering the annual deficit significantly first.

I'd be curious to see how this all develops

i like this post, and i fully agree, but id like to a a significant boost in this section of our budget. Since this is incredibly important in helping develop our nation

 

[Peteyandjia]

That would be cool, if humans someday finally land on the Moon.

 

[lecter]

 

[GSP_37]

They better not piss off the aliens already there with their own bases.

If some private company goes there first, I wonder if they'll spill the beans about the aliens there.

 

[InternetHero]

Really?
Interesting since space exploration does further technology development quite a bit(especially material science could benefit).

But I would prioritize lowering the annual deficit significantly first.

I'd be curious to see how this all develops

Yeah, there are only so many things to spend our resources on.

I'm not sure a frozen orbital space rock is the best choice.

 

[Screwtape]

We need to bring back an archon.

 

[ralphc1]

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/10/us-announces-returning-to-the-moon-as-a-top-priority.html


about fucking time, and we better set up a base there

What would be the purpose?

 

[Undying Poster]

 

[GhostZ06]

What would be the purpose?

mid way point to mars and other deep space manned missions

mining the moon for rare earth metal and water.

future colony for mankind

 

[ralphc1]

mid way point to mars and other deep space manned missions

mining the moon for rare earth metal and water.

future colony for mankind

We have no technology to do anything but small scale mining and construction on the moon. Even if the most expensive metals and minerals were available in their pure form laying on the surface, it would cost several times their worth to bring them back to earth. There is no water, fuel or air that is needed to process things into usable forms.

The reason we went to the moon in the first place was mainly to prove that we could in a dick measuring contest with the Soviet Union in the space race. We needed humans to operate the equipment but we might have been able to do it with robotic landers. Now we definitely have the technology to do it without humans. We learned a lot about the moon and the earth from the samples brought back but we found we didn't have much more to learn. The moon is basically a chunk of the earth so precious metals and minerals won't be any easier to find than they are on earth.

 

[Sycho Sid]

As much a fan of space exploration as I am, I do not see this going anywhere. The current plan seems to be pushing through massive tax cuts with no real way to pay for them, so good luck spending money on something a lot of people will view as superfluous when we are already going to be rocketing up the deficit.

 

[Phr3121]

US announces returning to the moon as a top priority.

You started a thread like this one a few weeks back. Not sure where the money for all this is going to be coming from. Private industry may work hand-in-hand with NASA. The U.S. government/military may be thinking of using the moon as a base to launch an offensive/defensive attack on a particular country on Earth. Like the 'death star' in Star Wars.

Mining the moon for rare earth metal and water.

I don't think they found water on the moon yet. Liquid water cannot persist at the Moon's surface, and water vapor is decomposed by sunlight, with hydrogen quickly lost to outer space. What rare Earth metal does the moon have?

 

[Shoemaker]

It’s a trap.

Well, not trap. Traps normally don’t have bright neon signs above them saying “This is a Trap!!”

 

[Phr3121]

We needed humans to operate the equipment but we might have been able to do it with robotic landers. Now we definitely have the technology to do it without humans.

I don't think we needed humans to land on the moon in 1969. We had 17 successful unmanned probes land on the moon by that date. The Soviets had 22.