Re: A lunar rover

Joe Strout (joe@xxxxxxxxxx) wrote:
: In article <1124723542.409983.271700@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
: dbohara@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

: > As the moon is a lot closer and probably of more near term intetrest
: > than Mars, I am really surprised that we do not have a rover on the
: > moon.

: Well, this is easy to understand when you consider that (1) it takes
: years for any space mission to go from drawing board to touchdown, and
: (2) until very recently (i.e. the President's speech in January 2004
: [1]), the Moon was taboo at NASA, and had been since the close of Apollo.

Nonsense, Clementine went up in 1994.
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/clementine1.html

The poster makes a good point. We SHOULD have a lunar rover given the
great success of the MER missions.

: > It could go around peering into lava tubes and such. Maybe we
: > should all be pushing NASA for such.

: NASA's already planning renewed lunar missions, including rovers. We
: just have to be patient -- while consideration (2) above no longer
: applies, consideration (1) still does.

Given that Clementine occurred a decade ago, it makes no sense that we
ignored the moon right afterward. In short, we should have been sending
probes there all along.

Eric

: Best,
: - Joe

: [1] http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040114-3.html

: ,------------------------------------------------------------------.
: | Joseph J. Strout Check out the Mac Web Directory: |
: | joe@xxxxxxxxxx http://www.macwebdir.com |
: `------------------------------------------------------------------'
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: I NEED HELP
    ... They are executing in touch with the apartment now, ... define amnestys later. ... Where did Youssef consult the beam over the ... imply rural and screams our revolutionary, ridiculous registers ...
    (sci.crypt)
  • NASA Team Demonstrates Robot Technology For Moon Exploration
    ... NASA TEAM DEMONSTRATES ROBOT TECHNOLOGY FOR MOON EXPLORATION ... NASA will exhibit a robot rover equipped with a drill ...
    (sci.space.news)
  • Re: Across the moon in eighty days
    ... Pat Flannery wrote: ... >>shape of letters or logos, and this it is hoped will bring in funding. ... >>If the rover averages five feet a second it should be able to 'write' ... photographs of footprints on the moon demonstrate. ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Apollo. The only thing I never understood
    ... > actually pick up the rover quite easily, as it weighed only about 80 pounds ... > on the moon. ... He wrote that while the rover had a reverse gear, ... Yet Young and Duke did compete to see who could jump the highest, ...
    (sci.space.history)
  • Re: Across the moon in eighty days
    ... >>> Check out Heinlein's THE MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON for similar ideas. ... >>> rover breaks down. ... hemisphere of about six million square miles toward earth. ... Naming a rock, ...
    (sci.space.policy)
Quantcast