[oxj]

Who says we can't afford to explore the moon? Read the last paragraph of this article...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov20 ... -n17.shtml

The finding of significant amounts of water puts the question of Moon exploration into a new light. NASA’s current plan calls for a resumption of manned exploration by 2020, in the first manned mission since the last visit during the Apollo program in 1972. The new rocket to be used for that mission, the Ares, had its first preliminary trial earlier this month, but is years away from deployment. The panel appointed by the Obama administration to review NASA’s long-term trajectory concluded recently that budget cuts had made the 2020 goal impossible.

A revived and fully resourced Moon exploration program would cost only a tiny fraction of the amounts squandered on the Wall Street bailout or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The entire NASA annual budget is less than the amount funneled into Citibank alone.

[rangerone314]

Maybe after India depletes their groundwater they can all move to the moon.

[Lore]

Maybe after India depletes their groundwater they can all move to the moon.

Ha... I like that...good plan, and I'm sure it will be easier for them to grow their fruits and vegetables there too.

[JPL]

Yea, I guess the core issue is, it'd be a lot easier to colonise Antartica than the Moon

So... anyone got any Real-Estate prices for the South Pole? I bet it's pretty good value right now. Plus I hear they've got Uranium and a whole load of other stuff (nudge nudge).

Please form an orderly queue...

JP

[dinopello]

Obama's budget is proposing to kill Bush's "Return to the Moon" program.

No Moon for YOU!

The Obama administration is killing Constellation, NASA's ambitious back-to-the moon program. The decision represents a thunderous demolition of the Bush-era strategy at the space agency, which had already poured $9 billion into a new rocket, the Ares 1, and a new crew capsule, Orion.

There are a few in congress who are extremely PO'd !

"The president's proposed NASA budget begins the death march for the future of U.S. human spaceflight," Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) said Monday. "If this budget is enacted, NASA will no longer be an agency of innovation and hard science. It will be the agency of pipe dreams and fairy tales."

Rep. Pete Olson (R-Tex.) said, "This is a crippling blow to America's human spaceflight program."

[Novus]

Sending man to the Moon is pretty pointless at this time but that doesn't mean government should not fund the program. Nasa employs some of the best scientists in the country and they do a lot of research and development making future technology. Solar power cells were invented by Nasa as well as insulation and light weight composite materials used in everything from construction to medicine. Cutting off Nasa would mean turning off the spigot to a large part America's innovation pool.

[Tyler_JC]

Senator Shelby represents Huntsville, Alabama, one of the major aerospace centers in the country.

Huntsville, Alabama

Pete Olson's district consists of the southern suburbs of Houston, home of the Johnson Space Center.

No surprises there.

[Ainan]

The Chinese on the other hand are going ahead with their space program full throttle. Obama wants [url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/08/china-eyes-high-ground/?feat=home_headlines[/url]cooperation not competition[/url]. It's not cooperation when you have nothing to bring to the table Obama. I bet he's over there begging, "oh please give us a rocket, we'll pay you for it sometime, go on, you know we're good for it!".

FYI: Obama appointed a fellow black man to head NASA, Charles Bolden.

[SFDukie]

...

FYI: Obama appointed a fellow black man to head NASA, Charles Bolden.

How is Bolden's race relevant to this discussion?

[rangerone314]

Obama's budget is proposing to kill Bush's "Return to the Moon" program.

No Moon for YOU!

The Obama administration is killing Constellation, NASA's ambitious back-to-the moon program. The decision represents a thunderous demolition of the Bush-era strategy at the space agency, which had already poured $9 billion into a new rocket, the Ares 1, and a new crew capsule, Orion.

There are a few in congress who are extremely PO'd !

"The president's proposed NASA budget begins the death march for the future of U.S. human spaceflight," Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) said Monday. "If this budget is enacted, NASA will no longer be an agency of innovation and hard science. It will be the agency of pipe dreams and fairy tales."

Rep. Pete Olson (R-Tex.) said, "This is a crippling blow to America's human spaceflight program."

SO let me get this straight... see if I understand this correctly:

Republicans who are all about "government is useless" and "we need less taxes" and "government doesn't innovate, only the private sector", Republicans are angry over NASA budget being cut? Last time I checked NASA was part of the government.

[rangerone314]

...

FYI: Obama appointed a fellow black man to head NASA, Charles Bolden.

How is Bolden's race relevant to this discussion?

Blacks have a long history in space:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_Dave

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_From_Another_Planet

[dorlomin]

The Chinese on the other hand are going ahead with their space program full throttle.

They are basicaly up to a Soyez level technology knocked off form the Russians.

Playing catch up is easy, especialy with a bit of espoinage, innovation is the real trick.

[Novus]

The difference between China's leaders and America's leaders is that Chinese leadership is full of engineers while American leaders are mostly lawyers. Those in control of China understand the importance of technology. Americans almost live in a cargo cult by comparison where few realize the importance that technology plays in making their lives possible. Cutting Nasa will go down as another huge blunder in the unwinding of the American empire.

[Ainan]

The difference between China's leaders and America's leaders is that Chinese leadership is full of engineers while American leaders are mostly lawyers. Those in control of China understand the importance of technology. Americans almost live in a cargo cult by comparison where few realize the importance that technology plays in making their lives possible. Cutting Nasa will go down as another huge blunder in the unwinding of the American empire.

+1 Bang on target. Even Hu Jintao the President of the PRC is a Hydroelectric Engineer!

[dorlomin]

The difference between China's leaders and America's leaders is that Chinese leadership is full of engineers while American leaders are mostly lawyers. Those in control of China understand the importance of technology. Americans almost live in a cargo cult by comparison where few realize the importance that technology plays in making their lives possible. Cutting Nasa will go down as another huge blunder in the unwinding of the American empire.

Odd the last technocrat in charge of the US was the oil businessman and trained professional manager GW Bush. The last energy engineer in charge of the US was trained nuclear engineer JE Carter. Neither of whom strike me as being particularly successful although both could be argued as having been disasters due to there fear of a coming energy crisis.

Funny thing is how many people, especialy those of authoritarian right wing bent, always fail to understand why democracies have been so successful. Every generation there is an assumption that the lastest authoritarian regime has the wood over the 'west' due to its ability to implement plans without the dissent and compromises the democracies have to endure. Whether it has been Napoleon, Hitler, the Soviets or some other autorcrats, as time goes on the democratic systems tend to be more flexible, have far more internal criticism and be able to extract themselves from mistakes quicker.

China with its monolithic centarist power structure, unresponsive to the demands of its people and often over comited by pride to projects will most likely go the same way as all such systems in the past. Looking great while able to borrow other cutlures innovations and progress rapidly catching up, but ultimately fail to be able to change and collapse internaly.

[AskMaxim]

Hi there,
Last night (2010-07-15) my family and I watched the new moon crescent turning from white to yellow then to saturated red and fading, split into three pieces horizontally, fading off completely, then re-appearing red in 5 minutes.
Location: Mediterraneans, 42.114524,19.083252, local time 10 p.m. (about GMT 20:00)
Any idea?

[timmac]

I don't know

But some will come on here and say its the end of the world sign

[Tanada]

Three Chinese astronauts, led by a veteran of a previous space mission, soared into orbit Tuesday to begin a 15-day voyage to China's Tiangong 1 space lab, a flight officials say will further prove the capabilities of the country's manned space program.

http://spaceflightnow.com/china/shenzho ... bvCPtiDn5k

Chinese President Xi Jingping witnessed the launch at Jiuquan and addressed the astronauts before they boarded the spacecraft.

"You will be embarking on the fifth manned space mission of China," Xi told the crew. "This carries the space dream of the Chinese nation. It will also show the Chinese passion to reach for the stars and reach into space."

Shenzhou 10 is scheduled to reach the Tiangong 1 module Thursday. The two vehicles will form a complex more than 60 feet long after the link-up in space.

The astronauts, commanded by Nie Haisheng, a 48-year-old general in the People's Liberation Army, will duplicate docking feats accomplished by last year's Shenzhou 9 mission. But Shenzhou 10 will pave new ground in experimentation and pioneer another type of rendezvous with Tiangong 1.

China's manned space program, which has proceeded at a deliberate pace since the first astronaut flight in 2003, is preparing for the construction of a 200-ton Mir-class space station in Earth orbit by 2020.

In a way it is nice to know the leading nation on Earth is keeping the dream of spreading humanity through space alive.

[Keith_McClary]

After the year 2020, China's future space station will probably be the only one of any kind in service considering the ISS's retirement plan. By then, China's space dream will not only serve its own people but also contribute to space exploration for the human race.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china ... 448607.htm

[Tanada]

Been meaning to get this posted since Thursday morning, full transcript available
http://spaceflightnow.com/china/shenzhou10/status.html

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013
0153 GMT (9:53 p.m. EDT on Tues.)
Chinese military officials have declared the Shenzhou 10 mission a success.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013
0150 GMT (9:50 p.m. EDT on Tues.)
The Shenzhou 10 crew appears healthy and happy, smiling in chairs as they receive flowers and congratulatory gifts.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013
0142 GMT (9:42 p.m. EDT on Tues.)
Zhang Xiaoguang, a 47-year-old colonel in the People's Liberation Army, is the last crew member to leave the Shenzhou 10 re-entry capsule.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013
0137 GMT (9:37 p.m. EDT on Tues.)
Wang Yaping, a 33-year-old transport pilot in the People's Liberation Army, has exited the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft. Wang is China's second female astronaut.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013
0132 GMT (9:32 p.m. EDT on Tues.)
Shenzhou 10 commander Nie Haisheng, a 48-year-old veteran of two spaceflights, has crawled out of the capsule. He is smiling and waving to the recovery team welcoming the crew home.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013
0050 GMT (8:50 p.m. EDT on Tues.)
Chinese state television ended live coverage of the Shenzhou 10 landing before the three astronauts left the vehicle.