Twigz
12-05-2006, 04:28 PM
Man is going to live on the moon.
Unveiling a bold plan to set up a permanent structure on the moon, NASA said yesterday that it plans to build an international base camp at one of the moon's poles in the next 20 years.
The south pole probably will be chosen because it has more sun.
Construction will follow a series of flights scheduled to begin by 2020, and the base will be permanently staffed by 2024.
"We're going for a base on the moon," declared NASA's Scott Horowitz.
What the lunar base will look like has not been determined, nor would NASA estimate a price tag.
The plan is a sweeping departure from the short, but spectacular, Apollo moon missions of the 1960s.
"This is not your father's Apollo," said John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. "This is not a flag-and-footprints" mission.
And this time, NASA is welcoming other nations to come along.
The space agency is looking for international and commercial partners to share the cost and possibly provide components such as power systems, living quarters and resources for surface travel.
The Apollo flights all went to the moon's center, but the space agency decided to go to the poles because they are better for long-term settlements.
The most likely destination is the south pole because it has sunlight three-quarters of the time, making it easier to use solar power.
Another reason for choosing the poles is that scientists suspect they have valuable resources such as hydrogen, ice and other materials.
For the first four years, the base won't be built up enough for long visits, so astronauts will only spend a week at a time. But after that, NASA envisions people living on the moon for six-month stints.
To get to the moon, the space agency will use two vehicles - the Orion exploration vehicle and an attached lunar lander.
Unveiling a bold plan to set up a permanent structure on the moon, NASA said yesterday that it plans to build an international base camp at one of the moon's poles in the next 20 years.
The south pole probably will be chosen because it has more sun.
Construction will follow a series of flights scheduled to begin by 2020, and the base will be permanently staffed by 2024.
"We're going for a base on the moon," declared NASA's Scott Horowitz.
What the lunar base will look like has not been determined, nor would NASA estimate a price tag.
The plan is a sweeping departure from the short, but spectacular, Apollo moon missions of the 1960s.
"This is not your father's Apollo," said John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. "This is not a flag-and-footprints" mission.
And this time, NASA is welcoming other nations to come along.
The space agency is looking for international and commercial partners to share the cost and possibly provide components such as power systems, living quarters and resources for surface travel.
The Apollo flights all went to the moon's center, but the space agency decided to go to the poles because they are better for long-term settlements.
The most likely destination is the south pole because it has sunlight three-quarters of the time, making it easier to use solar power.
Another reason for choosing the poles is that scientists suspect they have valuable resources such as hydrogen, ice and other materials.
For the first four years, the base won't be built up enough for long visits, so astronauts will only spend a week at a time. But after that, NASA envisions people living on the moon for six-month stints.
To get to the moon, the space agency will use two vehicles - the Orion exploration vehicle and an attached lunar lander.