ALL SCI-FI

[Gord Green]

NASA is working hard to fly astronauts into deep space, but has since decided to skip a moon landing using its ultra-powerful Space Launch System rockets. Instead, the space agency plans to send astronauts to Mars by 2033.

There may be hope for a moon mission in the commercial sector, though.

Tech mogul Elon Musk, for example, plans to slingshot two civilians around the moon (but not land on it) in 2018 using his rocket company, SpaceX. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, who owns the rocket company Blue Origin, is eager to colonize the moon.

Should neither company get people to the lunar surface, five teams competing for the $20 million Google Lunar XPRIZE competition might, as soon as the end of 2017. Their mission includes landing a robot on the surface and broadcasting high-definition footage.

A $4 million "Apollo Heritage Bonus Prize" will go to whichever team can record the first live-video stream or panoramic image from the site of Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, or 17 and include views of lunar hardware.

If they succeed, there may be an iconic flag in the frame — and we might settle the question of what they actually look like after spending more than 45 years under the sun.

Jennifer Welsh contributed to this post.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/american-flags-moon-disintegrating-153000977.html

[Gord Green]

Boeing as a manufacturer of commercial planes, the aviation company revealed this week that it is working to send people into space.
This week, the company revealed plans for its Deep Space Gateway and Transport systems that could help NASA increase space exploration from the moon to Mars.

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), which is being developed with help from Boeing, would put a habitat for astronauts in cislunar space (translation: near the moon). The Deep Space Gateway would then act as a launching pad for missions to Mars.

"The ability to simultaneously launch humans and cargo on SLS would allow us to assemble the gateway in four launches in the early 2020s," Pete McGrath, director of global sales and marketing for Boeing's space exploration division, said in a statement.
Science

Boeing Is Teaming Up With NASA on a Mission to Mars
Although most travelers only know Boeing as a manufacturer of commercial planes, the aviation company revealed this week that it is working to send people into space.

This week, the company revealed plans for its Deep Space Gateway and Transport systems that could help NASA increase space exploration from the moon to Mars.

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), which is being developed with help from Boeing, would put a habitat for astronauts in cislunar space (translation: near the moon). The Deep Space Gateway would then act as a launching pad for missions to Mars.

"The ability to simultaneously launch humans and cargo on SLS would allow us to assemble the gateway in four launches in the early 2020s," Pete McGrath, director of global sales and marketing for Boeing's space exploration division, said in a statement.

The docking system at the Deep Space Gateway would be something similar to what's already installed at the International Space Station to house the Deep Space Transport vehicle. When astronauts board this spacecraft, they would then be propelled to Mars, where they could attempt a landing and surface mission or enter orbit and conduct experiments there.
Once the Mars mission is complete, the spacecraft could turn around and head back to the gateway. There it would be serviced and prepared to go out on another mission.

If all goes according to plan, by the end of the 2020s the system would be ready for testing to prove whether or not it's safe to send to Mars.
This article was originally published on TravelAndLeisure.com

[Brent Gair]

Although I'm on-board with this concept, I have very little faith that NASA and Boeing can overcome the multiple levels of administrative and political inertia to get anything done in a timely manner. By the time they accomplish anything, they may find themselves lagging at the dull, trailing edge of technology.

On the one hand, you have a government agency headed by a political appointee, answering to a president, funded by congress and audited by the GAO. That's a lot of elected bosses answering to the taxpayers every couple of years. Boeing is a publicly traded company owned by all sorts of entities from individuals to banks, pension funds and other companies (I think 1/3 of Boeing is owned by other private companies).

For the most part, the monetary stakeholders of both NASA and Boeing are a risk averse bunch (taxpayers and stockholders looking for dividends or equity value).

Again, I truly hope this works out and I'm 100% behind getting Americans into deep space. And I'm more confident than ever that it WILL happen. I'm just not sure NASA and Boeing will be there first.

[Gord Green]

I share your POV on the problems with our space program. The real issue is the layers of red tape and politics involved.

With the trend to privatization the added problems of regulations and political oversight may still slow things down, but I am hesitantly optimistic.

[Bud Brewster]

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And what can we learn from all this?

Well, it's obvious that the smart people with brains who became billionaires realize that the future belongs to those who know that money which is spent on an ambitious space program is an investment that pays generous dividends.

Meanwhile, the shortsighted government idiots who became elected officials by making bogus promises to the less educated voters have neither the balls nor the brains to appropriate funds for projects that will advance both mankind and technological progress.

It's a sad face that we elected an alleged "business man" to the Oval Office because we were disgusted with the "swamp" of Washington politics. Unfortunately, this business man is abysmally ignorant of anything related to science, and he has no interest in any of the government programs which protect the environment or promote NASA.

Good Lord, what were we thinking?
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)