Editor's Blog1 min ago
Aim For The Moon, Seems To Be The Latest Manned Space Projects. And I.s.s.?
With I.S.S. continuing to make original research in creating a data-base of the spectrum of all that will contribute towards man's successful journey to Mars and deep space, would it not be worth considering giving I.S.S.'s engines, usually responsible for occasionally raising its height of Earth orbit, a specific boost to send it on a course to the Moon, where it could continue functioning as a multi-research lab?
Perhaps this I.S.S. could be provided with a couple of shuttle transports, facilitating short return trips to the Moon's surface.
It could also serve as a orbiting base for building communities, not only on the Moon, but also on Mars.
Then a small number of Jupiter's moons look interesting for potential human settlements.
At long last, the door to deep-space journeys is being forced open!
Perhaps this I.S.S. could be provided with a couple of shuttle transports, facilitating short return trips to the Moon's surface.
It could also serve as a orbiting base for building communities, not only on the Moon, but also on Mars.
Then a small number of Jupiter's moons look interesting for potential human settlements.
At long last, the door to deep-space journeys is being forced open!
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The orbital speed of the ISS is about 17500mph.
To put it into a free-return trajectory around the Moon, the speed would have to be increased to about 25000mph.
To achieve lunar orbit a braking manoeuvre would have to be performed.
Although orbital re-boosts are given to the ISS on a regular basis, the technology does not exist, at present, to give the ISS the necessary delta v for a lunar mission.
To put it into a free-return trajectory around the Moon, the speed would have to be increased to about 25000mph.
To achieve lunar orbit a braking manoeuvre would have to be performed.
Although orbital re-boosts are given to the ISS on a regular basis, the technology does not exist, at present, to give the ISS the necessary delta v for a lunar mission.
K: Thank you for your information. But, in principle, 'twould it not be a good idea? Send up a few additional engines, and the feasibility of such a space venture would make the necessary investment worth while, don't you think?
All the vast experience gained from ISS orbiting Earth would be a solid basis for taking a step to the Moon in preparation for Mars and beyond.
Every morsel of knowledge gained in this respect serves to facilitate man's inevitable journey into space.
All the vast experience gained from ISS orbiting Earth would be a solid basis for taking a step to the Moon in preparation for Mars and beyond.
Every morsel of knowledge gained in this respect serves to facilitate man's inevitable journey into space.
I don't think a manned laboratory orbiting the Moon would give us significant scientific gains compared with the current ISS set-up.
The Moon could be used as a viable stepping stone to the outer planets and their moons.
Manned space exploration will always be significantly more expensive than robotic missions. A manned return trip to Mars would likely take around two years. Radiation from space such as cosmic rays and coronal mass ejections would pose serious risks to the crews. The ISS is in a low Earth orbit and the crews are within the protective magnetic field of the Earth.
Compared to the Apollo Moon landings, how excited would people get over a future Moon landing or even a Mars landing ? Would a single nation be able to afford it ? Where is the political capital ?
I hope man's journey into space is "inevitable" but astronauts haven't been higher than about 250 miles (Hubble Space Telescope repair) since the Apollo 17 mission.
The Moon could be used as a viable stepping stone to the outer planets and their moons.
Manned space exploration will always be significantly more expensive than robotic missions. A manned return trip to Mars would likely take around two years. Radiation from space such as cosmic rays and coronal mass ejections would pose serious risks to the crews. The ISS is in a low Earth orbit and the crews are within the protective magnetic field of the Earth.
Compared to the Apollo Moon landings, how excited would people get over a future Moon landing or even a Mars landing ? Would a single nation be able to afford it ? Where is the political capital ?
I hope man's journey into space is "inevitable" but astronauts haven't been higher than about 250 miles (Hubble Space Telescope repair) since the Apollo 17 mission.
K: I generally agree. But, robotic missions are only as reliable as the algorithms a committee(!) has created. Granted, the Mars rovers are fed new computer programs, being either improvements/modifications of a mishap or two, thus facilitating their further exploration of that planet.
Without the intuitive and lateral thinking of a homo sapiens, many a mission would not have been concluded safely. (--> Apollo's first landing on the Moon and the false computer error; Apollo 13's amazing "recovery" from potential disaster.) Then, for robots, fed incorrect algorithms or, worse, differing units of measure, they continue blissfully into oblivion via crash-landing or disappearing into deep space.
Any manned venture beyond Earth's comfort zone will be a reality, sooner or later. No matter the technical and physical challenges, planning for such missions are finally becoming more concrete.
Setbacks, as in the recent and distant past, will always accompany each of man's journeys to the planets. Part of his ability to learn from these and ceaseless curiosity of what lies beyond will ensure his departure from Earth.
Without the intuitive and lateral thinking of a homo sapiens, many a mission would not have been concluded safely. (--> Apollo's first landing on the Moon and the false computer error; Apollo 13's amazing "recovery" from potential disaster.) Then, for robots, fed incorrect algorithms or, worse, differing units of measure, they continue blissfully into oblivion via crash-landing or disappearing into deep space.
Any manned venture beyond Earth's comfort zone will be a reality, sooner or later. No matter the technical and physical challenges, planning for such missions are finally becoming more concrete.
Setbacks, as in the recent and distant past, will always accompany each of man's journeys to the planets. Part of his ability to learn from these and ceaseless curiosity of what lies beyond will ensure his departure from Earth.
I get really angry when I read or hear about the latest space explorations, and money its going to cost that they want to achieve.
There is so much we dont know about what is beneath the seas, and only 2/3 days ago watched a documentary about scientist divers deep below the Red Sea, finding all-sorts of sea life, never seen before.
There is so much we dont know about what is beneath the seas, and only 2/3 days ago watched a documentary about scientist divers deep below the Red Sea, finding all-sorts of sea life, never seen before.
With homo sapiens stubbornly continuing to pollute the very environment upon which all flora and fauna depend -- plastic nano-particles in all oceans and even under the Antarctic and the atmosphere used as a rubbish-bin for the annual 6,000,000,000 tons of fossil-fuel exhausts, for example -- we have NO option, but to depart Mother Earth.
We can continue to learn more of many aspects of our environment and the depths of the oceans, but these I regard as potentially useful snippets of knowledge that could serve us well in attempting to create new "survival cells" on exo-planets.
We can continue to learn more of many aspects of our environment and the depths of the oceans, but these I regard as potentially useful snippets of knowledge that could serve us well in attempting to create new "survival cells" on exo-planets.
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