Legacy of Apollo:)

[Pawelk198604]

A lot of people forget about it, but this month it been 41 years since the last Apollo 17 lunar mission I wonder if humanity will return to the moon for my life, I was born in 1986, so I could watch a live astronauts walking on the moon's surface. My mom told me how the whole family watched Neil Armstrong on the moon, my aunt had a black and white TV, and Poland was the only country of the Eastern Bloc which was broadcast live landing of Apollo 11, which really pissed off our Soviet "comrades"

Flight to the Moon, was in many languages ​​including Polish language synonym for impossibility.

The astronauts of the Apollo program had to **** off many grumblers, because their favorite word is devalued. While it pisses me that these grumblers, and so they were looking for a reason to question the legacy of the Apollo program that supposedly astronauts have never been to the moon, that the American flag fluttering while it should not. that the shadows are where they should not. All these conspiracy theories me a little pissed off.

Meanwhile, I wonder when humanity return to the moon. It pisses me off too lethargy ESA. When the ESA to build its own manned spacecraft. So that we Europeans do not have to take hitchhiking from NASA or Roskosmos

[PrISM]

If the Chinese announce they're going to send men to the Moon, we'll be there in a month; three weeks to assemble the rocket and a few days to fly there.

[Pawelk198604]

I hope it will not. It would be better if the Americans or the Russians flew there first. At least that would be some hope that the treaty of neutrality will respektowan moon, and the moon will be available to all. Anyway, now the intenet are frauds usurping the properity rights for the of the Moon surface, this is ridiculous.

It's funny and scary at the same time.

[Kryten]

If the Chinese announce they're going to send men to the Moon, we'll be there in a month; three weeks to assemble the rocket and a few days to fly there.

Most Western news outlets reported they already had after the chang'e 3 landing (of course in reality it's some unfunded engineering proposals, but nobody lets stuff like that get in the way of a good story). Response from the American public? Diddly squat.

[Simon Ross]

Well, I was born in 1960 so was lucky enough to see the first moon landing as it happened. In honesty, I don't think I will live long enough to see us return.

If Apollo has a legacy, it is as a tribute to what can be achieved when NASA has a clear political vision and the funding to make it happen. Sadly today, NASA is a pale shadow of it's former self :-(

[The Jedi Master]

China is the next big space power. Even setting politics aside (I'm an American), I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

[crazyewok]

China is the next big space power. Even setting politics aside (I'm an American), I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

Probably not it in a decade or two they start minning NEO for resources, in which case I doubt they will share there riches.

[mdatspace]

Most Western news outlets reported they already had after the chang'e 3 landing (of course in reality it's some unfunded engineering proposals, but nobody lets stuff like that get in the way of a good story). Response from the American public? Diddly squat.

Most comments on CNN could be summed up like this:

"China is 50 years behind and we did that before them".

[crazyewok]

Most comments on CNN could be summed up like this:

"China is 50 years behind and we did that before them".

Resting on past laurals is a very sure and fast way for a superpower to die.

[mdatspace]

Resting on past laurals is a very sure and fast way for a superpower to die.

Agreed. I was one of the few who were hoping that Chang'e 3 would restore focus on space, but it only showed the complacency our fellow Americans have.

They won't be able to rest on their laurels after the Chinese pull it out from under them.

Edited December 29, 2013 by mdatspace

[Motokid600]

Which might be what it takes to put Americans back in space. But if its all for just a bunch of flag waving then forget it scrap the program before it even starts. We must go there and build. Nothing more..

[Warhorse]

Well, Elon Musk claims that he wants to retire on Mars. A landing or three on the moon would be a reasonable training effort towards that goal.

[mdatspace]

Which might be what it takes to put Americans back in space.

I hope it is. We have sat here for a few years in our complacency.

[Tiberion]

You guys have a funny idea of what "doing nothing" is. We have been running a long term science project with multiple nations to find out whats its like to live in space. For more than a decade now. Maybe you have heard of it? International Space Station.

And then we have sent robotic missions to Mars to explore it, learn about its geology and environment. We need to know a lot about it before we send people there. Whatever China is doing on the Moon, we're doing on Mars.

We're not ready to make an outpost on the Moon or Mars. We need more scientific understanding of life in space, of construction in space. The moon we have pretty good understanding of. Mars less so, though the 3 rovers and all the orbiters have taught us a lot.

A manned mission to the moon would be of some value to us, but not a lot. We'll need a lander some day, maybe for Mars, maybe for the Moon, but not now. And I think the planned flight to rendezvous with the captured asteroid is worth as much "space exploration logistics" experience as another Moon program.

And we have about as much work done on a manned Martian landing as China does on a manned Moon landing. No concrete commitment, no hardware built, no flights planned. We each have studies and proposals for how it would work and how much it might cost. Oh, and we each have politicians saying we're going to do it, or that its the end goal of our current programs, or whatever.

I think the main issue is that a lot of people here are looking for the glory of space travel, the adventure aspect, the WOW moment. I like those too. But they come after all the 'boring' science stuff. That is where we are now, and it's important.

So, aside from some "cool factor" what would we get out of a moon landing thats better than continuing to progress towards exploring Mars? Even if it takes a while.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Tiberion

[liweih]

The only hope of that, for now, depends on two countries, China & the US. The American said they are planning to return to the moon but NASA is suffering from budget reduction. Private companies like the SpaceX? I think they focus more on commercial missions which make profit. Russia and ESA are similar. So, China may be the last hope for you to see another man stepping onto the moon. However, there are many uncertainties waiting in the future. First, the gov has never made an manned mission announcement yet. All we know right now is pre-project research. Second, China still need to establish their own heavy load rocket which can support a manned mission. Third, no one know about how the economy will change. The US did Apollo when she was the strongest but China is still rising. A mission only aiming to put a foot step on the moon will be considered ineconomical.

[Nibb31]

Exactly what Tiberion said. I couldn't have phrased it better.

[Tiberion]

The only hope of that, for now, depends on two countries, China & the US. The American said they are planning to return to the moon but NASA is suffering from budget reduction. Private companies like the SpaceX? I think they focus more on commercial missions which make profit. Russia and ESA are similar. So, China may be the last hope for you to see another man stepping onto the moon. However, there are many uncertainties waiting in the future. First, the gov has never made an manned mission announcement yet. All we know right now is pre-project research. Second, China still need to establish their own heavy load rocket which can support a manned mission. Third, no one know about how the economy will change. The US did Apollo when she was the strongest but China is still rising. A mission only aiming to put a foot step on the moon will be considered ineconomical.

I assume you meant to say that the Americans are NOT planning on returning to the moon? Because the NASA administrator has outright said several times that the US will not lead or do another manned moon mission. They are focused elsewhere, though they did offer support to other space agencies who might want to try.

There actually is at least one private company that is developing their own unmanned lander, with the end goal of being able to return a small amount of moon-matter each trip. Its a single stage craft and small enough to launch on a commercial launcher, so we're talking not much mass returned. Their first mission will just be a landing though, no return.

I mean, there isn't a lot of reasons to send people to the moon for short stays outside of national pride or being able to say you did it. You might be able to send a mission specialist along to find some more unique rocks, but a rover can do most of that. And its a ton of risk and logistics and money to do it, so there needs to be compelling reasons.

I think we're probably best off using robotics there until we're ready to say "Okay, lets land a habitation module and send a team to live there for a year."

[Pawelk198604]

Most comments on CNN could be summed up like this:

"China is 50 years behind and we did that before them".

Perhaps, but China quickly catching the gap.

So it may well be the official language of the United Federation of Planets will be Chinese:D

[liweih]

I assume you meant to say that the Americans are NOT planning on returning to the moon? Because the NASA administrator has outright said several times that the US will not lead or do another manned moon mission. They are focused elsewhere, though they did offer support to other space agencies who might want to try.

There actually is at least one private company that is developing their own unmanned lander, with the end goal of being able to return a small amount of moon-matter each trip. Its a single stage craft and small enough to launch on a commercial launcher, so we're talking not much mass returned. Their first mission will just be a landing though, no return.

I mean, there isn't a lot of reasons to send people to the moon for short stays outside of national pride or being able to say you did it. You might be able to send a mission specialist along to find some more unique rocks, but a rover can do most of that. And its a ton of risk and logistics and money to do it, so there needs to be compelling reasons.

I think we're probably best off using robotics there until we're ready to say "Okay, lets land a habitation module and send a team to live there for a year."

Yeah, you are right. Robotic missions are more realistic for now. Curiosity is a good example, a mobile lab on mars. I hope we can have a similar one on the moon. I do wish we can see man stepping on the moon once more after all these year. But I don't expect we can see a mannad lunar mission within 10 years, or maybe 20 years. However, I think I can live to see one before my end of life. There is always ambitions in human spirit.

[Pawelk198604]

Yeah, you are right. Robotic missions are more realistic for now. Curiosity is a good example, a mobile lab on mars. I hope we can have a similar one on the moon. I do wish we can see man stepping on the moon once more after all these year. But I don't expect we can see a mannad lunar mission within 10 years, or maybe 20 years. However, I think I can live to see one before my end of life. There is always ambitions in human spirit.

I wonder why NASA had become so lazy? Once missions of Apollo Program, were the inspiration for dreamers around the world, but that's the past.

[3_bit]

On the bright side, give it another 50 years after the Chinese Moon landings and they'll surrender on the Moon as well. (reference to the American flags on the Moon being bleached white by the sun)