On Mon, 1 Aug 2005 14:55:26 +0200, "Henk Boonsma"
wrote:

Judging from the plans salvaged by The Orlando Sentinel the 'new' Moon plans
look like a continuation of the Apollo project, *on a tight budget*.

That is indeed true enough. The only real difference is a large
technology update. However, in this case it is not "flags and
footprints", but construction, exploration, research and still going
places where no one has been before.

I'm even more skeptical of the claim that the hardware can be reused for a
Mars misson.

And you are right to be. This system would indeed need a serious
upgrade before NASA launched anyone towards Mars.

The reuse of Shuttle hardware to built a hardware booster and a crew launch
vehicle seems sensible given the cost constraints, but the usage of a solid
first stage seems risky to me.

The SRBs carry some risk, but NASA has not yet messed up in that area
at least. There is also no better option for getting some nice mass
quick and cheap into orbit and beyond.

Their astronauts will certainly have a rapid and bumpy ride to orbit
now that these SRBs are not being held back by the Shuttle and ET
mass.

It all boils down to the fact that we're continuing where Apollo left off,
only now NASA will have to do it on a shoestring budget.

That seems like a good idea. Innovation.

I'm pretty sure the Mars plans will be either shelved or a more realistic
budget will need to be drawn up, probably involving international partners.

NASA will not be allowed to go to Mars any time soon. First they have
to prove that they will not make another ISS on the Moon.

What you certainly could see in the near "moon phase" future is a few
trips to some asteroids. Near Earth asteroids I should mention, when
something like Ceres is a before "mars phase" thing.

It should certainly be interesting to see how they will be able to
stick to a low mass object. No doubt going about like a rock climber
does it. Otherwise it is one bounce and you go into orbit.

Before all this they have to find their water. Just like any colony
plan needs to first do. Asteroids have water. Just a shame about all
the other gunk that comes mixed it. It could be easily filtered into
pure water at least.

Cardman.