Space Forum / Space Policy / February 2004

For NASA's orbital lunar mission it should fund a data purchase  of
LunarCorps Supersat mission which promises high resolution imagery able to
view the Apollo hardware resting on the surface. NASA could even fund a
couple of these satellites - perhaps changing the primary payload on ...

I'm surprised that no one thus far has stated an obvious fact about
returning to the Moon: we already know how to do it.
When Kennedy announced the goal of going to the Moon, no one had ever been
past low Earth orbit (and no American had ever even been that far).  No one

If Im knot misteaken they sent the Apollo 17 to the moon at night. Remember teh nitetime launch?
I dont remember how they got the solar panels on the service module to work at nite, however. They might have carried extra spotlights for that purpose. I think Al Wordan had to peform ...

What would be the impact should one or both of the
twin NASA Mars rovers fail due to either inadequate
testing or damage to flight hardware during
unusual handling (for instance when explosive bolts

What companies, organizations, and university research groups are
currently working on developing technology for supporting human
activities on the moon or Mars?  Which of these do you think will be
contributing towards the new space effort?

The Mars Prize site has been updated. For more information go to
www.marsprize.org .
Kevin Davis

It seems to me that the United States Government stored some NUKES in
the Kennedy Space Center about 25 Years ago. Ever since then their top
Scientists seem to (unfortunately) not be around long. So - how do you
determine if this is true?

Does anyone know offhand the expected
crew sizes on future Shuttle flights to the ISS?
Do the Russians have the capabilities
required to offload enough stranded

In another thread, flyback boosters with jet engines were mentioned.
Why do they keep including these jet engines before launch ?
They have no function until the flyback.
So dimension the craft, so the booster lands in Africa.

I have Constructed a Web Site with a large Space Section,
as well as a large are of Science General Subjects.
http://www.user.dccnet.com/vtrade/HomePage.html

NASA's claim that retiring the shuttle will free $4 billion a year
caused me to ponder the intriguing question of what would have
happened if the shuttle had never been built? clearly a lot of money
would have been saved! first approximation gives very roughly

(I thought this reply might be important enough to be a seperate
message...  interestingly enough it has not been addressed at all,
aside from ad hoc remarks and name calling, with a consistent lack of
any facts)

Let's assume Bush announces a bold new moon-Mars exploration program today.
What do you guys reckon are the chances of this endeavor surviving if a
Democrat becomes the new President? Most of them haven't spoken publicly on
the issue, probably waiting for the polls to come back on ...

Remember that the scandal that brought down President Clinton wasn't
the fact that he had an 'affair' with Monica Lewinsky.
It was that he faced charges of *sexual harassment*...
which failed to result in a conviction,

I heard that the South Koreans cloned a human and extracted stem cells from the
embryo. Stem cells can be used to grow all sorts of organ replacements for a
long interstellar journey.
Tom