Moonbase Alpha?
NASA announced yesterday that plans to return to the moon by 2020 also include a major surprise - a permanent settlement designed to support people full time by 2024. While initially they will have to ferry supplies (like air, water, that sort of thing) using the new Orion spacecraft, eventually they hope to take advantage of the moon's natural resources and being processing the hydrogen, oxygen, and other resources. Hoping for an international effort, they even feel that eventually the base could be run by a commercial entity
2 comments:
It's a shame it's taken so long (as a boy, I watched all the Apollo telecasts) but I think that Robert Heinlein - author of the classic SF novella 'The Man Who Sold The Moon'- would be pleased.
(But let's hope the moon is treated a little more respectfully than its fictional counterpart in 'Space 1999'!)
Yeah, I can remember recording every single word that Walter Cronkite uttered during the 69 Apollo/Eagle mission..wish I still had them! But I have little fear that 1999 will happen...but then again...where is the waste going to go from this settlement? Back to landfills on Earth? Fat chance on that.
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