Solar HERO: And then we walked away, and we never went back

[Basil]

It makes me :cry: (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020628.html)

It makes me :weep: (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020128.html)


Some wonder why I hunger so for Solar HERO. It's because I want to pretend humanity did not take the smallest of baby step down the road to a future of hope and promise, then turn away and ignore that road because of a short-term cost. :thumbdown

[Lord Liaden]

Well, perhaps the Chinese and the Indians will take the next step.

[L. Marcus]

Hah! At this rate, Europe will go to the Moon before you! :king:

[Nyrath]

The classic tagline is "NASA's Apollo program was the Gateway to the Stars. Next time we ought to open it..."

Robert Heinlein said something to the effect of it is guaranteed that there will be men in space, but there is no guarantee that they will be speaking English.

[Cancer]

Demonstrate a way to make money by going to the Moon (or Mars, or the asteroids, or...) and we'll get there soon. Until then, in our avarice-driven society, it'll never happen.

[aylwin13]

Demonstrate a way to make money by going to the Moon (or Mars, or the asteroids, or...) and we'll get there soon. Until then, in our avarice-driven society, it'll never happen.
Cancer...

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/bunnysad.jpg

[Gnaskar]

Never say never. Never is only a decade away.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9355479/
http://www.space.com/news/050919_nasa_moon.html
Or you can check up on the progress at NASAs home pages:
http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/esmd/home/programs.html

The one good thing President Bush did while in office was agreeing to restarting the space exploration era. Oh, and Mars is next.

EDIT: Project Constellation is the name of the plan.

[Lord Liaden]

Demonstrate a way to make money by going to the Moon (or Mars, or the asteroids, or...) and we'll get there soon. Until then, in our avarice-driven society, it'll never happen.

It would help if the Moon could conceivably have oil deposits. :rolleyes:

[Hyper-Man]

It would help if the Moon could conceivably have oil deposits. :rolleyes:


Oil wouldn't be worth the fuel spent to get there and back.

However, sizable quantities of Helium 3 (http://www.asi.org/adb/02/09/he3-intro.html) might be as a fuel for nuclear fusion that doesn't destroy it's containment vessel via stray neutrons.

[Sundog]

Oil wouldn't be worth the fuel spent to get there and back.

However, sizable quantities of Helium 3 (http://www.asi.org/adb/02/09/he3-intro.html) might be as a fuel for nuclear fusion that doesn't destroy it's containment vessel via stray neutrons.


Given we can't do H++ Fusion reliably yet, I think that may be a ways off.

[Hyper-Man]

Given we can't do H++ Fusion reliably yet, I think that may be a ways off.

It's somewhat of a chicken vs. egg situation.

Reactor tech specific to Helium 3 (which requires far lower temperatures than Hydrogen/Deuterium fusion) is somewhat at a dead end without a more steady and larger supply of fuel. A potentially LARGE quantity of fuel is to be had on the surface of the Moon for a HUGE cost and payoff IF the technology can be developed.

[Dholcrist]

This is why I think that projects like X-Prize are our salvation. Much like Heinlein's vision was of humanity's first ventures into space in the pre-Apollo era, the key to ascension to the heavens is a profit driven venture done by a private corporation. Once a private corporation is able to put a man in space, they'll figure out the cheapest way to do it, and try to gobble up every inch they can. This will start a race of sorts amongst competing companies, and before we know it there'll be all kinds of things going on up there.

At least, that's my theory. Oh ya, and the Star Ladder projects will also be a pretty huge boon once those get off the ground (no pun intended).

[Clonus]

Demonstrate a way to make money by going to the Moon (or Mars, or the asteroids, or...) and we'll get there soon. Until then, in our avarice-driven society, it'll never happen.

"Avarice" aside, any meaningful foothold in space needs to be self-supporting to a significant extent. Otherwise we are limited to transient stunts.