Have you heard that the US is planning to send four astronauts to the moon in 2018? NASA is to design a new rocket based on the technology from its ageing shuttles that are to be retired in 2010.
The last manned mission to the moon was the Apollo 17 rocket in 1972.
The new mission would also launch preparations to set up a permanent base on the moon according to NASA administrator Michael Griffin. He estimated the cost of the return trip to the moon at the equivalent of over 135 billion Australian dollars and insisted it shouldn’t be affected by rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina or the Iraq war.
George W. Bush announced in January last year that NASA would resume manned missions to the moon as a first step toward sending humans to Mars. If it costs over 135 billion to send people to the moon, what’s it going to cost to get them to Mars?
I know that there are a lot of issues involved and that the space industry contributes a lot to the wider community, but could you imagine the impact that $135 billion could have in developing countries?
As far as I can see, spending that kind of money on such a venture is obscene. If our western countries can justify spending billions of dollars on sending troops to battle the injustice of a foreign dictator, why can’t we spend billions on battling the injustice of debilitating poverty in other countries too.
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If our western countries can justify spending billions of dollars on sending troops to battle the injustice of a foreign dictator, why can’t we spend billions on battling the injustice of debilitating poverty in other countries too.
Apparently there aren’t a lot of votes in that, hence it’s not an “economically viable” activity — whereas sending troops to a war or flying people to the moon apparently is.
$135 Billion will be money well spent I am sure. I mean, out of the first moon landings we got Teflon and freeze dried food and . . . and . . . hmmm, maybe you are right?
Many Americans feel just as you do and I am one of them. I’m all for science, especially science that raises the bar of excellence in human life, but first we have to tend to the dignity and quality of people who are suffering and in need. $135 Billion would go a long way for Aids research or food and infrastructure for 3rd world nations. The Moon, Mars or Venus…I would love to see it happen, but priorities need to be brought down to Planet Earth first.