The New Space Race: Pence Announces America's Return to the Moon
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Growing up, the space race of the '60s enthralled me. My grandfather instilled a love of space exploration in me, mainly because he was friends with the late Apollo 15 astronaut Jim Irwin. I had the pleasure of meeting him, though I was too young to remember it, but the photo he autographed for me hangs proudly in my hallway at home.
Even though I maintained an interest in the Space Shuttle program, it didn't grip me like the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs did. I've long been disappointed that we haven't traveled outside of Earth's orbit since I was a month old. The thrill and excitement of going to the moon has eluded at least two generations, but that drought will soon come to an end.
Vice President Mike Pence announced on Tuesday that the United States has set a goal of returning astronauts to the moon by the year 2024 — that's right, just five years away! Pence spoke at the meeting of the National Space Council at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where he outlined a plan to put American men and women on the moon in less time than it took the United States in the '60s.
Referring to President Trump's Space Policy Directive-1 (SPD-1), which he signed in 2017, the vice president spoke of how the original goal of returning to the moon isn't good enough:
The truth is, despite the dedication of the men and women who are designing and building and testing the SLS, you all know the program has been plagued by bureaucratic inertia, by what some call the “paralysis of analysis.” The nation actually learned, with great disappointment, in recent weeks, that the date for its first flight for the SLS has been pushed back yet again, to 2021.
You know, after years of cost overruns and slipped deadlines, we’re actually being told that the earliest we can get back to the moon is 2028. Now, that would be 18 years after the SLS program was started and 11 years after the President of the United States directed NASA to return American astronauts to the Moon.
Ladies and gentlemen, that’s just not good enough. We’re better than that. It took us eight years to get to the Moon the first time, 50 years ago, when we had never done it before, and it shouldn’t take us 11 years to get back.
Pence stated that such an aggressive goal will take an "all hands on deck" approach and will necessitate a partnership between public and private space enterprises. He also noted that getting back to the moon is a critical objective because we're not the only ones trying to step up the game of space exploration:
We have the technology to return to the Moon and renew American leadership in human space exploration. What we need now is urgency.
Now, make no mistake about it: We’re in a space race today, just as we were in the 1960s, and the stakes are even higher.
Last December, China became the first nation to land on the far side of the Moon and revealed their ambition to seize the lunar strategic high ground and become the world’s preeminent spacefaring nation.
And for more than seven years, without a viable human space launch program of our own, Russia has been charging the United States more than $80 million a seat every time an American astronaut travels to the International Space Station.
But it’s not just competition against our adversaries; we’re also racing against our worst enemy: complacency.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine echoed Pence's statement and remarked that the agency will be ready to meet the objectives:
We have the technology to return to the Moon and renew American leadership in human space exploration. What we need now is urgency.
Now, make no mistake about it: We’re in a space race today, just as we were in the 1960s, and the stakes are even higher.
Last December, China became the first nation to land on the far side of the Moon and revealed their ambition to seize the lunar strategic high ground and become the world’s preeminent spacefaring nation.
And for more than seven years, without a viable human space launch program of our own, Russia has been charging the United States more than $80 million a seat every time an American astronaut travels to the International Space Station.
But it’s not just competition against our adversaries; we’re also racing against our worst enemy: complacency.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine echoed Pence's statement and remarked that the agency will be ready to meet the objectives:
It is the right time for this challenge, and I assured the Vice President that we, the people of NASA, are up to the challenge.
We will take action in the days and weeks ahead to accomplish these goals. We have laid out a clear plan for NASA’s exploration campaign that cuts across three strategic areas: low-Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars and deeper into space. I have already directed a new alignment within NASA to ensure we effectively support this effort, which includes establishing a new mission directorate to focus on the formulation and execution of exploration development activities.
The moon isn't the end goal. Although the moon provides plenty of opportunities to explore and study, it will also serve as a gateway to our missions to Mars. The Moon to Mars program will include building an outpost on the moon that will help us get to Mars by the 2030s.
Pence announced that our neighbors in Canada have agreed to help us with this effort.
This news excites and awakens the little kid inside of me. I love the idea that, before too long, Americans will once again walk on the moon and lead the way in exploring space. I can't wait to see my niece — who recently decided that she wants to be an astronaut — take her first steps on the moon or maybe even lead the way to Mars.
I just hope and pray that we won't let this dream slip away.
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That is an odd comparison. In the 1960s we did not even know if it was possible. We pioneered the technology and ultimately accomplished the goal with technology that pales in comparison to a smart phone.
Nowadays we have tons of experience and vastly superior technology. Yes, starting a new program and getting it done in a few years is a major challenge, but hardly a comparison to the awesome accomplishments of NASA, et. al. of the 1960s.
Back in the 60's and early 70's the only objective was, run as fast as we can to get there, a very limited stay time on the surface, and run quickly back. Now we need to put infrastructure in place on the moon for an extended stay. One part of the infrastructure that I would think necessary is fueling stations in orbit around the earth, moon, Mars, and eventually Venus. With fueling stations you can get heavier payloads to the destination faster and back faster and once back orbiting earth an easier transition back into the atmosphere without the fear of burning up.
The article compares the project of the 1960s to the current initiative and notes that it is done in half the time. My point is that is an apples-oranges comparison. Totally different objectives, technology, experience, etc.
Taking ½ the time is a meaningless comparison.
I’m all for it! Won’t get my hopes up just yet though. We have the technology and know-how. What we don’t have is the funding. Apollo had the benefit of a huge budget commitment.......4.4% of our federal budget at times. We’ve been hovering around .5% since 2008 and most Americans already think NASA has a much bigger share of the federal budget than it actually does. It would take some YUGE, bipartisan, budget increases for several years to get it done and politicians would need to convince their constituents that NASA is a bargain...which it really is.
Won't happen in this political climate. The Dems will never grant funding as it would be considered a win for Trump. They wouldn't want Trump to be associated with anything as inspiring to the US as a second moon landing.
If dems want a shot at flipping Florida and Texas in 2020, they need to play ball on NASA. This issue is a win-win for the Trump admin.
Right.......Nobody would want those jobs that would need to be filled at Jacobs Engineering, Northrop Grumman or the other NASA contractors. Nobody would see the benefits of new storage battery technology or renewable energy concepts it would take for prolonged visits to the moon. We’ve got more important stuff to worry about than jobs and energy......
Not arguing your point but
in theory we are at full employment, ( while many rocket surgeons may be underemployed ) and this administration is ignoring solar and wind in favor of coal and other fossil fuels.
Sodium battery technology would be a boon to the 'space industry' but has little government funding, and if left to this Administration, will likely be perfected and dominated by the Chinese.
I will keep looking for the link I used yesterday ( that seed has vanished ) about Trump pushing subsidies and tax credits for Oil exploration and coal mining while ignoring natural gas companies that helped get him elected, and completely ignoring wind and solar, he especially dislikes wind.
and...
As for Obama & Solyndra, doesn't that meme get old? This article is pertinent and the last two paragraphs address Solydra ( again ).
As far as an individual taxpayer, I love the credit, saved me 1,000 on taxes this year again. Unfortunately I will be paying a lot more this year, regardless as itemizing just isn't what it used to be.
Nerm_L did a seed on the big blades and I had pics from Corsicana to Denton with those rear axle steerable rigs tying up traffic at every major off ramp it seemed.
Quite a site on 35 and 287 as they wind their wast to the northwest wind farms.
Sorry for the "long winded" response, lol
What? You can't blow up a coal mine????
Battery research moves pretty fast, but real world battery advances creep at a very slow pace. It’s an economy of scale thing. Right now, nobody can compete with li ion...especially when guys like Musk have made them so cheap to produce. There is also significant infrastructure to support li ions too. IMO, we jumped to quick on the lio ion bandwagon. Just like we jumped too quick on CFL light bulbs, knowing LED was right around the corner.
Musk will corner the the market on li ion, then your right, China will retool for the next generation tech, just like they did with LED, and kick everyone’s ass.
Well I started out owning $9K
I transferred 6500 into a 401K
and got it down to 6K
as opposed to 4K last year.
anyway
Viva la Texas
Que Viva El Tejano
Don't sell those Lithium stocks just yet. ( At least until I dump mine,
)
Sodium can't compete with small sizes required for phones and laptops.
And they have so far only been able to make test batteries in an airless environment.
So they sound like a savior for EVs and moon/space vehicles where size doesn't matter so much.
They may even be cheaper to make on the moon or in space...
The choice is becoming more clear all the time.
Inspire our youth to pursue science and engineering by revitalizing our very capable and cost effective space program that can and will develope the technologies we will need to face future challenges.
or
Tell kids they are going to die in 12 years.....
"We choose to go to the moon, again. We choose to go to the moon in this next decade and do the other things, not because we've already done them 60 years ago, but because we are hard up for something to distract the American people with from the dumpster fire in the oval office, because that goal will serve to organize and measure our waning energies and skills, because that rehashed challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too..."