Return to the Moon ...

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Well given the financial mess we're in, it's not surprise really but the Obama administration has hacked funding for a return to the Moon ...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/america...ndings-ditched

You have to wonder at the moment if maybe it will be China who will be the first to return to the Moon at the moment.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...nt_7935350.htm

[Dino]

I wasn't born in time to marvel at the Moon landing first time around, so sadly it looks like the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster was the depressing highlight for my generation of the space programme?
Of course, if all countries worked together we'd travel further and further but... just not going to happen is it?

[Captain Tancredi]

You have to wonder at the moment if maybe it will be China who will be the first to return to the Moon at the moment.

Well, they do have a slightly unfair advantage in that they just have to stand on each other's heads to get there...

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I think it kind of reinforced to me the rise in ascendancy of China - it's still on course for a Moon landing it believes in 2020-2030. America got there before, but seem to have trouble getting the resolve to return.

I guess what's kind of depressing is that I wasn't born when they landed on the Moon. I'm likely to be about 60 when they return, and it's doubtful many of the original Apollo astronauts will be alive when it happens.

On a deeper level, and one which makes me ponder, the original space race was a fight between superpowers. But right at the moment America's superpower status seems to be somewhat faltering, whereas China is becoming an unstoppable stream train.

[Rob McCow]

What might get us back to the moon a lot quicker is if NASA were given complete immunity against civil action. Rocket flight is inherently dangerous, so there is a limit to the health and safety checks that can be applied. All reasonable measures should be taken, but the safe return of astronauts can never be guaranteed.

[Si Hunt]

It does make me wonder if it's all a bit of a waste of money, all these billions ploughed into space flight. Also we should take it one step at a time - build a Space Station in orbit where people can go and live before worrying about stepping onto Mars.

And invent matter transportation as well, then we could get rid of all the roads and have lovely grass and trees there again instead.

Si.

[Dino]

What might get us back to the moon a lot quicker is if NASA were given complete immunity against civil action. Rocket flight is inherently dangerous, so there is a limit to the health and safety checks that can be applied. All reasonable measures should be taken, but the safe return of astronauts can never be guaranteed.

And yet in China's case, health and safety might be needed and explain why their space race hasn't expanded as we thought it would have?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708

I am ashamed that even though I was in my teens when this happend, it still passed me by until now...

The Intelsat 708 satellite was built by Space Systems/Loral and was to be launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center site in China aboard a Long March 3B rocket. This rocket failed at launch due to an engineering defect and caused an impact in a village near the launch site, which reportedly killed an unknown number of Chinese civilians and caused other damage.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Yeah with China I half suspect they wait until the mission is mid-way before releasing news. It wouldn't surprise me if there's been a disasterous mission they covered up.

Worst rocket disaster ever, which was covered in the BBCs excellent Space Race ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nedelin_catastrophe

[WhiteCrowNZ]

By the way I fear alas it will always be "economically inconvenient" to return to the Moon - it is indeed an expensive venture, as are all space missions.

But it's also a sad testamont to the human race. Our ancestors dreamt of going out and "touching" the Moon and other planets. Unlike any other generation, we now have the technology but lack the resolve. Put simply, we can, but won't.

Can you imagine if Christopher Columbus had returned from the New World and people had gone "well we've been there, so why go back".

[Captain Tancredi]

Can you imagine if Christopher Columbus had returned from the New World and people had gone "well we've been there, so why go back".

After 48 hours in Los Angeles, my sentiments exactly...

The suspicious part of me wonders whether the Bush administration plan which Obama has just scrapped wasn't at least partly intended as a beartrap for a future Democratic administration- two of the states which do well out of NASA contracts are Florida and Texas, both of which have sizeable electoral college votes and Florida in particular is an important swing state (especially when they can count the votes properly).