Space Forum / Space Policy / January 2004

CNN is reporting that Dick Cheney is being sent out to discuss the
possibility of a new moon mission and even a Mars mission.
Of course, we won't admit that this sudden interest in resurrecting
the space program has anything to do with China's announcement that

Does the Bush administration's unfortunate decision to return to
Apollo-style capsules and expendable launch vehicles mean an end to
programs such as X-37?
http://www.boeing.com/phantom/x37.html

NBC Nightly News tonight reported that President Bush will unveil his
space policy "next week" and that the plans would include a long-range
proposal for "permanent human presence on the Moon."
Brian

On 4 Jan 2004 11:42:39 -0800, ejucated_dimocrap@yahoo.com (Ejucated Dimocrap) wrote:

No the pictures and Mars Rhover are real.

I wonder why the Apollo missions were conducted during the Lunar Day. It seems
to me that Earthlight should be enough to see by, and when the Moon is New when
seen from the Earth, the Earth is Full when seen from the Moon, and a full
Earth is brighter on the Moon than a full moon is ...

    CNN is reporting that on Dec. 17 president Bush may make a "major"
space policy speech. Among things mentioned are the possible establishment
of a "continuous" presence on the moon using robots and remote labs, adn
possibly "authorization" to begin work on a manned flight to Mars. ...

Although they're considering a controversial fission reactor to power it,
I'm very impressed by the design of the propulsion system for the JIMO
mission.  It's a Xenon ion drive, like DS-1, except with ten times the
thrust.  This is the kind of work that NASA should be doing!

Suppose we set up a Lunar colony.  Has anybody worked out the weight of the
various elements we'd need?  Assumptions:
1. 10 people, 2 goats, 2 dogs, and 2 cats.
2. 7500 square foot habitat with the shell made out of iron or aluminum and

I'm brainstorming about the upcoming Mars program, and I have a bunch of
questions that are now bugging me:
* What's the payload to a LEO parking orbit, and cost, of the following
vehicles: Sea Launch, Delta 4, Delta 4-Heavy, Atlas 5, Atlas 5-Heavy?

Bush has been shown to be a tricky guy who is a lot smarter than ppl
think he is, the evidence being Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy, NK,
Libya, even France.
What are we missing in this space initiative of his, international

This was the final paragraph of yesterday's (Jan 9) JPL press release for
the Mars Rover, as posted on their web ste.  Does anybody else find a
little preposterous this request that kids all over America send their
backyard rocks to ASU?

Just looking at the rocks on the floor of Gusev crater - they are rounded.
This implies water (or some other fluid) erosion.
I think from that first colour photo it is proven that Gusev indeed held
running water.

We could begin terraforming mars in a fairly short time by using nukes
to alter the orbits of comets so they encounter Mars.  I done
accurately enough, it might be possible to have the comet torn apart
by tidal forces as it comes very close to the planet to avoid impacts.

[google blew up when I tried to post.  So this may be a repeat.]
Why does the Sietzen/Cowing UPI article mention Ariane as an interim
launcher for the moon/mars program?  Why not a heavy EELV or Proton?
Are they thinking of a lunar orbiter mission using Ariane 5/Soyuz?