**** the Moon! We're going to Mars!

[Warped]

Obama Aims to Send Astronauts to an Asteroid, Then to Mars

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - President Barack Obama unveiled a sweeping new space vision for NASA and the United States Thursday, one that aims to send astronauts to a nearby asteroid and ultimately on to Mars.

By 2025, the United States is expected to begin testing spacecraft for deep space exploration, vehicles capable of exploring beyond the moon on the first-ever manned trip to an asteroid, Obama said.

"By the mid-2030s I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth," President Obama said.

Speaking to a crowd of more than 200 people here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, President Obama outlined his plan for NASA's future space exploration. That plan includes resurrecting a pared down version of the capsule-based Orion spacecraft initially slated to be scrapped under the president's cancellation of the Constellation program in February.

The new version of the Orion spacecraft would be launched unmanned to the International Space Station to serve as an escape ship for American astronauts, giving NASA more flexibility from its reliance on Russian Soyuz spacecraft, White House officials said. [Fact sheet on Obama's space plan.]

The president also announced his commitment to building a heavy-lift rocket in 2015, one which could be geared to launching new spacecraft and payloads for ambitious expeditions to a nearby asteroid and stable points in space called Lagrange points in preparation for a manned spaceflight to Mars. Obama has proposed a $19 billion budget for NASA in 2011 and added another $6 billion over five years onto that in his announcement today.

NASA's original Constellation program aimed at retiring the space shuttle fleet in late 2010 and replacing it with Orion spacecraft and Ares rockets by 2015. But an independent review by a White House committee found the program behind schedule and underfunded to accomplish its end-goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2020.

Edward Crawley, an MIT professor who served on the White House committee, said Obama's plan falls in line with one of the committee's recommendations – a flexible plan that allows for incrementally more ambitious deep space missions by astronauts using a new heavy-lift rocket.

"This is essentially...the flexible path," Crawley told reporters.

Obama unveiled his space plan at the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center, the very same building NASA turned over to the Constellation program in 2009 to build and service Orion spacecraft. This is the first time in 12 years a sitting U.S. president has visited the Florida spaceport.

The last Commander in Chief to visit the NASA spaceport was President Bill Clinton, who appeared to watch original Mercury astronaut John Glenn rocket into space aboard the shuttle Discovery at age 77.

Unpopular plan

Obama's proposal to cancel the Constellation program and call on commercial spacecraft builders to provide the spaceships to launch astronauts into space has drawn harsh criticism from lawmakers and the public alike.

Most recently, famed Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong – the first person to walk on the moon – and other lunar explorers spoke out against the plan in an e-mail statement sent to the media. Armstrong and fellow Apollo program astronauts Jim Lovell and Eugene Cernan called Obama's space vision "devastating" to the United States' spaceflight legacy.

"To be without carriage to low Earth orbit and with no human exploration capability to go beyond Earth orbit for an indeterminate time into the future, destines our nation to become one of second- or even third-rate stature," the former astronauts wrote.

Other critics blasted the plan because of its initial apparent lack of destination, while supporters contend that it will free NASA to tackle more ambitious space missions by using commercial vehicles to ferry American astronauts to low-Earth orbit.

Those supporters include Buzz Aldrin, who landed on the moon with Armstrong during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission.

"I hope NASA will embrace this new direction as much as I do, and help us all continue to use space exploration to drive prosperity and innovation right here on Earth," Aldrin said in a statement. "Mars is the next frontier for humankind, and NASA will be leading the way there if we aggressively support the President's plans."

Saving space jobs

Obama's space plan, which still needs to win approval from a skeptical Congress, still includes retiring NASA's shuttle fleet, but adds some funding to allow flights between September and December 2010 if there are slight delays. It would also extend the International Space Station's operations through at least 2020.

NASA plans to fly just four more shuttle missions – one of which is under way now – before retiring the shuttle fleet later this year.

Here at the Kennedy Space Center, workers are focused on the 2,500 jobs beyond what was coming for the planned Constellation program – also promised in Obama's space plan. The center expected to lose thousands of jobs once with the shuttle is retirement in September and the cancellation of Constellation.

The space shuttle Discovery is also back in space today.

The shuttle and a crew of seven astronauts are in the midst of a two-week delivery mission to the International Space Station. Discovery is due to depart the space station on Saturday and land Monday morning.

http://www.space.com/news/obama-space-plan-speech-100415.html

this sounds sweet, we're pretty much leaving other countries in the dust....but i think its all for the better. why should we all go to the same place when we can learn a ton elsewhere

 

[CyberPitz]

Wait, I thought the shuttle was already retired?

I'm so behind on this stuff.

 

[No Limit]

That's dumb if they want to send people to Mars. People don't belong there, robots do.

 

[Raziaar]

Get your ass to Mars.

 

[Warped]

That's dumb if they want to send people to Mars. People don't belong there, robots do.

I imagine that if we send a bunch of robots and humans, they could do much more than by themselves. I say we let the Japanese make some awesome humanoids and see how it goes. But honestly doing this all by ourselves is going to be both costly and difficult.

 

[The Monkey]

"By the mid-2030s I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth," President Obama said.

Lame.

 

[Krynn72]

That's dumb if they want to send people to Mars.

Thats what America is all about. Going places we don't belong.

 

[Warped]

this may be seen through the eyes of our children

 

[Shakermaker]

Lame.

My thoughts exactly. That is in 25 years damnit. Whatever happened to bold plans like these:

But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

 

[No Limit]

Or we could just send a robot that can actually land there within the next 3-4 years at a fraction of the cost. Yeah, lame.

 

[Remus]

Sigh... they haven't even built a Moon base yet and they want to send people to Mars... OK...

 

[YROC]

inb4 irl DooM

 

[unozero]

The moon has all the Helium3 Obama is a dumbass.

 

[Escaep]

That's dumb if they want to send people to Mars. People don't belong there, robots do.

A robot will never feel what Neil Armstrong felt.

 

[Jerry_111]

I imagine that if we send a bunch of robots and humans, they could do much more than by themselves. I say we let the Japanese make some awesome humanoids and see how it goes. But honestly doing this all by ourselves is going to be both costly and difficult.

Ditto on that last point. What the world really needs is NASA, European Space Agency, Japanese Aerospace Agency, the Russians, Chinese space program, and Indian program to merge into a worldwide international space effort. Think of what that combined budget could do and coordination -- no more countries trying to imitate each other with redundant missions.


Of course that won't happen cuz of blasted politics.

 

[Jerry_111]

Or we could just send a robot that can actually land there within the next 3-4 years at a fraction of the cost. Yeah, lame.

They're currently doing that, along with the European space agency. NASA's new rover is so big that the can't land them by bouncing it softly on the surface with airbags.. it's like the size of a humvee. instead its going be lowered via skycrane.

For the record, a single trained geologist on the surface of mars could probably get more data and work done in one day than a rover could in a month. Also there are many things that a set of human eyes and intuition can detect that a brainless automated rover just can't perceive.

 

[Stigmata]

A robot will never feel what Neil Armstrong felt.

A robot also doesn't need to breathe.

 

[Warped]

What they need to do is kick the Ultra Fast Solar System Broadband in high gear, make a fully functional solar/nuclear robot and do what they did in Avatar and jack into the robot like also in the Matrix and then we could be super human. Send 20 of those to Mars and it would be awesome. we need to start making robots that move like we do, that way we don't have to sit there waiting 20 mins to make a damn move with a 1mph robot

 

[MJ12]

Marxism.

 

[Escaep]

. why should we all go to the same place when we can learn a ton elsewhere

We should keep sending people to the moon to gather the necessary information for a moon base. Once we have that down, it could potentially be used for a "launching pad" to Mars.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

The moon has all the Helium3 Obama is a dumbass.

We can't use Helium 3 for anything yet.

Or we could just send a robot that can actually land there within the next 3-4 years at a fraction of the cost. Yeah, lame.

You're right- it is safer to tread water than to attempt to swim.

 

[Barnz]

WE MUST FIGHT THE DEMONS ON MARS!

 

[Tyguy]

Was it Asimov who suggested the most efficient way to populate the cosmos was to create a self perpetuating assemblage of robots who's sole purpose is to basically search for and populate objects in space?...'cus like...we should like...do that.

I think the most important thing right now is the LHC and the results it will yield. That's going to be the most important factor in future space missions. From what I hear we can duplicate the conditions of the universe at 10 to the minus tenth seconds...and at full power 10 to the minus twelfth.

 

[Shyam]

and Indian program

Hahaha. I lol'd.

 

[Maestro]

Was it Asimov who suggested the most efficient way to populate the cosmos was to create a self perpetuating assemblage of robots who's sole purpose is to basically search for and populate objects in space?...'cus like...we should like...do that.

Asimov was a science fiction writer from the 1930s-40s. I don't think he grasped the challenges of a self-replicating and repairing robot system.

 

[Tyguy]

Asimov was a science fiction writer from the 1930s-40s. I don't think he grasped the challenges of a self-replicating and repairing robot system.

In this novel the androids are increasingly looked at as the means for galactic settlement of humanity. Humans are starting to realize that the only way they can colonize the galaxy is through the help of robots.

http://www.umich.edu/~engb415/literature/cyberzach/Asimov/robodawn.html

found it...suck on that

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Asimov was a science fiction writer from the 1930s-40s. I don't think he grasped the challenges of a self-replicating and repairing robot system.

If we disregard the notion that science fiction writers can't be knowledgable about the stuff they talk about- Asimov was also a professor in biochemistry. I'd wager he had a better grasp of the challenges than any of the people in this thread.

 

[Naph]

If they're looking for experienced astronauts, I believe Arnold Schwarzenegger has some prior experience. :/

 

[99.vikram]

Hahaha. I lol'd.

Are you LOLing at the Indian space program that found the shitload of water on the moon? A discovery so important that Nasa ultimately took full credit for it?

F*** you.

References:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...nd-water-on-moon-ISRO/articleshow/5054436.cms (ISRO Moon Impact Probe / MIP)
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-finds-water-on-the-moon/521444/ (NASA Moon Mineralogy Mapper / M3)
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/Mini-RF/multimedia/feature_ice_like_deposits.html (NASA Mini-SAR Synthetic Aperture Radar)

 

[Baserape>]

It's not going to happen until I have tested my pulse drive. Not as fast as FTL but not far off. Testing begins when our team gets funding from NASA or ESA. I'm open to other offers btw.

 

[Remus]

and Indian program

Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!11

 

[15357]

It's not going to happen until I have tested my pulse drive. Not as fast as FTL but not far off. Testing begins when our team gets funding from NASA or ESA. I'm open to other offers btw.

#1. Nuclear Pulse Propulsion?

#2. How much do you need to get it done before 2012? Because I am getting off this planet before the shit hits the fan.

 

[No Limit]

For the record, a single trained geologist on the surface of mars could probably get more data and work done in one day than a rover could in a month. Also there are many things that a set of human eyes and intuition can detect that a brainless automated rover just can't perceive.

How so? It's not like they have a better view than a robot would. And their heavy suits and equipments would slow them down considerably just as if they were a robot. So what advantages do people actually have in that enviroment over robots? A robot can dig, pick up a sample, and do many types of different analysis right there on the spot.

You're right- it is safer to tread water than to attempt to swim.

In respect to your anolagy we're not really attempting to swim by sending people there. I'm not really sure what we are trying to do by doing that. People have absolutely no advantage over a robot in those situations, in fact they have many disadvantages.

The moon has all the Helium3 Obama is a dumbass.

Lol, this guy.

A robot will never feel what Neil Armstrong felt.

So?

 

[15357]

So?

You have no soul.

 

[Tyguy]

I want an underground moon city. There are too many people in the world, traffic is terrible enough as it is.

It's weird to think about how young we are as a species and it annoys me to an extent. Only 12 people have walked on the moon...that's ridiculous. We should have a Six Flags up there by now.

 

[Remus]

What's really annoying is that it's not technology holding us back from having a base on the Moon or Mars, but politics and money.

 

[15357]

All I want are some aliens to shoot. Damn you politics!

 

[No Limit]

Why would you guys seriously want to have a base on the moon? Aside for "hey man, thats so cool, we have a base on the moon"? Is bragging rights really worth what would probably amount to decades of work, a number of lives lost, and a cost that will amount to trillions of dollars? What would make our investment worth it? They don't have any real natural resources (despite what hl2.net's resident expert unozero says). And I see very little other benefit.

 

[StarBob]

I want an underground moon city. There are too many people in the world, traffic is terrible enough as it is.

It's weird to think about how young we are as a species and it annoys me to an extent. Only 12 people have walked on the moon...that's ridiculous. We should have a Six Flags up there by now.

Or whaling on the moon...

No but really, so many people are so up in arms about the Obama Space Plan, but no one has ever been willing to give NASA a significant budget since their research stopped being a direct benefit to military applications. They should just commercialize their whole system... put advertisements on space the space shuttle... have product watermarks on hubble images... then either they'd fund themselves or they'd annoy people to the point that they'd get more funding.

 

[15357]

Oh man. Humanity makes me sad.