Showing posts with label moon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moon. Show all posts
11/24/09
10/28/09
$445 million to go 25 miles up ...
Quite a price tag, considering two students from MIT did nearly that for about $150.
I'm being facetious, of course. Yes, the launch of Ares I-X was exciting (I quietly turned up the newsroom TV and watched while no one else paid attention). And yes, I'm sure the scientists at NASA will have a ton of data to pour through.
But $445 million? For one flight? On a project whose budget is arguably in even greater jeopardy than it was under former President Bush?
I don't get it. NASA seems content to aimlessly waft along with the Constellation project. There's the vague goal of returning to the moon around 2020, nearly 50 years after Apollo 17. And maybe, just maybe ... I'll see an American on Mars before I turn 60.
But I'm not holding my breadth. It's becoming clearer and clearer NASA can't function in a world without the cold war as a backdrop. As Americans combat terrorism, launching a rocket to the moon doesn't really matter anymore. It's not a symbol of our national unity and strength, it's a symbol of our decadence. And, in my opinion, it's a symbol of our scientific stagnation.
In the coming years where going to see the private sector play a larger and larger role in the American space race. That's a good thing. That's something that lets me look up at the stars and hope. And in a world without the iron curtain, it could be the only thing keeping NASA on their toes.
I'm being facetious, of course. Yes, the launch of Ares I-X was exciting (I quietly turned up the newsroom TV and watched while no one else paid attention). And yes, I'm sure the scientists at NASA will have a ton of data to pour through.
But $445 million? For one flight? On a project whose budget is arguably in even greater jeopardy than it was under former President Bush?
I don't get it. NASA seems content to aimlessly waft along with the Constellation project. There's the vague goal of returning to the moon around 2020, nearly 50 years after Apollo 17. And maybe, just maybe ... I'll see an American on Mars before I turn 60.
But I'm not holding my breadth. It's becoming clearer and clearer NASA can't function in a world without the cold war as a backdrop. As Americans combat terrorism, launching a rocket to the moon doesn't really matter anymore. It's not a symbol of our national unity and strength, it's a symbol of our decadence. And, in my opinion, it's a symbol of our scientific stagnation.
In the coming years where going to see the private sector play a larger and larger role in the American space race. That's a good thing. That's something that lets me look up at the stars and hope. And in a world without the iron curtain, it could be the only thing keeping NASA on their toes.
7/23/09
Space: A few things you may not have known about the Apollo 11 Mission
...Or may not have wanted to know.
- Neil Armstrong may have been the first man to walk on the Moon, but Buzz Aldrin was the first man to urinate there. While millions watched on live television, Aldrin relieved himself a tube fitted inside his space suit.
- After returning to the landing module, Aldrin accidentally broke the switch used to activate the ascent engines. After initial concern they managed to activate the switch using a ball-point pen.
- One of President Nixon’s speechwriters had prepared an address entitled: “In Event of Moon Disaster”. It began: “Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay to rest in peace.” If the launch from the Moon had failed, Houston was to close down communications and leave Armstrong and Aldrin to their death.
- When the astronauts took off their helmets after their moonwalk, they noticed a strong smell, which Armstrong described as “wet ashes in a fireplace” and Aldrin as “spent gunpowder”. It was the smell of moondust brought in on their boots.
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