Former Astronaut Says Space Goals Need Revision in New Book

From what I know of Tom, he is a keen observer and a deep thinker,
and not a half-bad writer, either. Pay attention to his ideas.


Former Astronaut Says Space Goals Need Revision in New Book
Monday January 23, 6:00 am ET

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060123/nym016.html?.v=37

NEW YORK and WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- With the 20th anniversary
of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster approaching (January 28), a former
shuttle astronaut is saying that NASA needs to rethink its goals in space as
set forth by President Bush. "His decision to send Americans beyond low
Earth orbit was a long-needed statement of our nation's belief in the
benefits of exploration and discovery," says four-time space shuttle veteran
Tom Jones. "But the new vision leaves out some important details and misses
other opportunities for sustaining and strengthening our exploration
program."

Jones makes the statements in a forthcoming book, SKY WALKING: An
Astronaut's Memoir, due out next month. Jones spent eleven years as an
astronaut, completed four missions aboard the space shuttle (including one
aboard the ill-fated Columbia, which exploded three years ago on February 1)
and helped to construct the International Space Station.

With another shuttle launch scheduled for later this year, Jones is ready to
discuss his thoughts about what the future of the space program should be.
Perhaps surprisingly for a former shuttle astronaut, his first suggestion is
to move quickly to retire the shuttle in favor of a new spacecraft, the Crew
Exploration Vehicle (CEV), currently in development. Other ideas he proposes
in SKY WALKING include:

-- Using the shuttle's massive external tank and reliable boosters to

develop a heavy-lift cargo ship, which could be used to complete the

International Space Station and to lift the heavier spacecraft

required for voyages beyond low Earth orbit (and possibly open up

opportunities for tourism and industrial activity, such as orbital

hotels and lunar and asteroid refineries).



-- Populating the International Space Station before its scheduled

completion in 2010.



-- Rethinking President Bush's goal of returning astronauts to the moon.



-- Jones favors targeting near-Earth asteroids or even the Martian moons

instead. "Only if the moon hosts significant natural resources, such
as

recoverable water ice at its poles, should we make a major investment

in sending people to live and work there for the long term."

In his book he also discusses the meticulous testing and screening, and the
grueling training, that go into making an astronaut; his experiences in
space, which he describes as "incredible adventures, replete with
exhilaration, anxiety, satisfaction, disappointment, amazement, and danger;"
the personal side of being an astronaut, including the toll his career took
on his wife and family; and even the spiritual aspects of spaceflight.