Re: Back to the moon? When?

On Nov 8, 11:22 pm, "Erich Kohl" <ek...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi everyone,

First and foremost, let me just say that I do believe that the United
States was actually on the moon.

However, I am in a debate with someone who wants to know why it's
taking us (or anyone else for that matter) so long to go back there.
After all, if it was done once before with 1960's technology and
know-how, what's causing the delay in the expedition this time?

My theory is that it must have something to do with politics and
budget, combined with the fact that it might not be as high of a
priority as it once was when the U.S. was in an overt space race with
the Soviet Union.

Any enlightenment that can be offered will help, because I'm not sure
how else to steer my argument.

After reading 31 replies to your post, Erich,
I find that only Rand's comes close to what,
IMO, is the real answer.

In 1962, the conventional wisdom was that
direct ascent was an incredibly stupid way
to go to the moon--and certainly not a way
that could have been sustained, which it
hasn't.

It just be that the conventional wisdom
in 1962 might just have been right. We won't
go back to the moon until we adopt a LEO
an affordable and sustainable rendezvous
approach. Now that we no longer
have Saturn I's and cold-war motives, a
space transport capable of frequent, reliable,
safe, low-cost access to LEO is the first
order of business.

Len

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Back to the moon? When?
    ... States was actually on the moon. ... priority as it once was when the U.S. was in an overt space race with ... It just be that the conventional wisdom ... go back to the moon until we adopt a LEO ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • [links corrected] A pro-business way to spend the remaining 1.6435 trillion that would otherwis
    ... I keep hearing the same themes over and over such as "we can't launch from ... WHAT WE CAN DO - ALTERNATIVES TO LEO - SYSTEMS - MOST PRACTICAL OPTIONS ... mine NEAs, the Moon, other moons, ... WHAT WE CAN DO - CONPLIMENTARY LEO TO PLANETS PROPULSION SYSTEMS - USE M2P2 ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Stone Aerospace: mining the Moon by 2015?
    ... industrial team to the moon to explore for water and other fuels, and, ... transfer them to a low Earth orbit (LEO) refueling station." ... and I'd love there to be some reason to think ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Back to the moon? When?
    ... We won't go back to the moon until we adopt a LEO an affordable and sustainable ... going to be expensive is transportation costs. ... regolith or other lunar material may be useful on LEO. ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Back to the moon? When?
    ... We won't go back to the moon until we adopt a LEO an affordable and sustainable ... going to be expensive is transportation costs. ... The water would be useful on the moon; ...
    (sci.space.policy)