Weekly missions to the moon starting in 2020

Under their fixed $17 billion per-year budget, NASA announced that they play to send a mission to the moon in 2020, set up a base there and even travel to and from the moon on a weekly basis.  Maybe Austin Powers II was not as far-fetched after all.

NYT:

The agency’s deputy administrator, Shana Dale, said the UnitedStates would develop rockets and spacecraft to get people to the Moonand establish a rudimentary base. There, other countries and commercialenterprises could expand the outpost to develop scientific and otherinterests, Ms. Dale said.

Ms. Dale and other officials of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration said the agencyenvisioned a base at one of the lunar poles, to take advantage of thenear-constant sunlight for solar power generation. It would have an“open architecture” design to which others could add the capabilitiesthey want.

Scott Horowitz, NASA’s associate administrator forexploration, said crews of four astronauts would make weeklong missionsto the Moon starting around 2020.

As more equipment was set up,human stays would eventually grow to 180 days, and become permanent by2024. By 2027, officials said, a pressurized roving vehicle on thesurface would take people on expeditions far from the base.

Hopefully that supplies the extra motivation to eat healthy, stay fit and live as long as you possibly can so you are able to watch all this happen.

The Los Angeles Times wrote a similar piece on Monday's NASA announcement.

So how is this political?  We spend $17 billion on our space program each year.  We spend about $100 billion per year in Iraq.  NASA has to beg Congress for funds.  The neoconservatives get their war funds quite easily.  One is for scientific purposes, the other is for destruction.  One might help us learn more about how to harness solar energy, and the other makes us more energy dependent.  There is your answer.

Comments

[George]

I'm eating healthy so I can be alive when we start wars to control the moon.

You can't tell me you're not looking forward to that.

(Also, I'm glad to hear that the vehicle will be "pressurized" - that's probably good)