Random thoughts on politics, current events, popular culture, and whatever else interests me.
Friday, May 10, 2019
Thursday, May 09, 2019
What happens after NASA returns astronauts to the moon in 2024?
The plan to accelerate the lunar exploration program’s pace is an excellent one, if only because it concentrates NASA’s and contractor engineers’ attention on the goal. As the Apollo program demonstrated, a hard and fast deadline works to make the goal of landing people on the moon and returning them safely to Earth happen and not be forever delayed until it gets cancelled. That is what happened to the previous two attempts proposed by both presidents Bush.>/P>
Wednesday, May 08, 2019
Tuesday, May 07, 2019
Monday, May 06, 2019
Sunday, May 05, 2019
Saturday, May 04, 2019
Friday, May 03, 2019
China is not attempting to beat the Americans and her allies to the moon. However, Beijing recognizes that the current moon race is more of a marathon than a sprint. If the Americans and their allies are on the moon and China is not, the result would be an irrecoverable loss of face for the Chinese state. The entire raison d’etre for China’s government system is that is represents the future. Success in exploring the moon and accessing its resources represents proof of that principle. That principle applies to the United States as well. Chinese astronauts on the moon and no Americans there would be a foreign policy disaster.
NASA and FEMA are practicing a simulation of an asteroid strike disaster at the annual Planetary Defense Conference. Several organizations participated, including NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office, the European Space Agency's Space Situational Awareness-NEO Segment and the International Asteroid Warning Network.