http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/05/MOON.TMP&feed=rss.news

Quote :

"World's nations will shoot for the moon in the next decade n the "space race" of the early 1960s, when reporters asked U.S. rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun what he expected to find on the moon, he jokingly replied: "Russians." Nowadays, his answer might be: "Indians, Chinese, Japanese and Europeans." India, China, Japan and Europe are busy launching, or planning to launch, robotic spaceships to the moon and points beyond. Their goals will include tasks ranging from mapping minerals to seeking ice from which future astronauts might extract drinking water. More distant goals include looking for a mineral called ilmenite that some experts think is rich in an isotope called helium-3. In theory, that isotope could be shipped to Earth and burned in futuristic nuclear fusion reactors. "It's going to be a very exciting decade," said Carle Pieters, a planetary geoscientist at Brown University who is the prime scientist behind the development of a U.S. instrument that will ride aboard India's Chandrayaan-1. The device, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper -- M3 or "M Cubed" for short -- will measure wavelengths of light from the lunar surface in order to identify elements. The international space competition worries some politicians. "I know that the United States is beginning its long journey back to the moon, and then on to Mars through the Exploration program, but I worry that we are not taking these challenges from other nations seriously. The United States must maintain its global position," said Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona (Riverside County), chairman of the House Science Committee, during a budget hearing on Feb. 16. More upbeat is veteran astronaut Russell "Rusty" Schweickart, a Bay Area resident flew on the Apollo 9 mission, a 1969 test flight in Earth's orbit for a capsule that would only months later fly other astronauts to the Moon. "Lotsa room in space. ... Hopefully there will be room for all without the attitude that the presence of others is necessarily threatening," Schweickart said in an e-mail from Vienna, where he is chairing a discussion of asteroid exploration at the annual meeting of the Science and Technology subcommittee of the United Nations' Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. "I'd welcome others going to the moon ... or anywhere else. We are all Earth people," he said. Michael O'Brien, NASA's assistant administrator for external relations, which oversees the space agency's relations with the programs of other nations, is also optimistic about the skyward surge of nations. "Space is a great unifier," O'Brien said. "Compared to the time during the Cold War, when space activities really tended to separate us (as nations), now just exactly the opposite is happening. Instead of concentrating on the competitive aspects of space, we at NASA are concentrating on the aspects of space that unify us and allow us to do things that will be to the benefit of mankind." The fact that India has a space program at all surprises many Americans. The Indian space agency opened for business in 1962 and has become a respected launcher of communications and remote-sensing satellites. Still, until recently, when its lunar ambitions made news, it got little publicity in the West. Before he went into politics, India's President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was a pioneer of India's space program. "Mars and the moon have a tremendous commercial potential," he said in a 2005 interview with an Indian journal, The Hindu. "The moon has a lot of helium-3 material and also certain types of minerals. ... We have to develop complex fusion technology to use helium-3 (as fuel)." Paul Spudis, who was deputy leader of the science team for a previous U.S. robotic mission to the moon, is slated, like Pieters, to place a scientific instrument aboard India's moon-bound space probe next year. His instrument will scan the lunar surface with radar beams to try to detect any reflections characteristic of ice. In the United States, he said, "people don't know anything about the Indian space program, so they assume the Indians are overreaching (by sending a probe to the moon). But they've had their own space program for a long time ... I attended their preliminary design review (for their lunar probe) at Bangalore in November for three days, and I was very impressed. "They've thought this out very well. So I'm anticipating a successful mission." India has hundreds of well-educated space scientists, some of international stature. One, associate professor S.A. Haider of the Physical Research Laboratory at Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, said in an e-mail that "India has capability to launch not (only a) 'Moon mission' but also (missions to) Mars, Venus and other planets." Japan has five long-term plans for space, according to a March 2005 report on it space agency's Web site -- among them to "prepare for the establishment of a human lunar base" by 2025. A graphic on the site -- http://www.jaxa.jp/2025/index_e.html -- shows a design for a Japanese lunar base that would be electrified by energy transmitted via microwave beams from a giant array of solar-electric cells orbiting the moon. The Japanese also hope to develop a lunar "robot that can work with people." The Chinese are planning to send an astronaut -- a "taikonaut," as they call them -- on a "space walk" in 2007. They also hope to build a permanent space station and to develop a satellite that can be launched into lunar orbit, according to published reports. The Chinese space agency "spends about $2.6 billion per year," said Ed Buckbee, a former public affairs person at NASA. "That's a big investment for them." Some news media inside China display mixed attitudes toward their space program. In October, the Internet edition of the Oriental Daily News warned that China remains a poverty-stricken country and that "we must never crave greatness and show off, and start a space contest with America, Russia and other countries. ... Although developing space science and technology is important, it is inferior to the more pressing task of building the motherland." Bernard H. Foing, chief scientist at the European Space Agency and Smart-1 project scientist, visited NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View on Feb. 13. Now orbiting the moon, Smart-1 carries several scientific instruments that are scanning its chilly, nearly airless lunar surface. These include what Foing called "eternal peaks of light" -- mountaintops at the lunar poles that are so high they are always bathed in solar rays. They'd be ideal spots for solar-electric arrays to energize lunar bases, he said. Europe's long-term goal is a "human outpost on the moon," he said. Why go? Among many reasons, Foing said, is that the moon might contain relics of the origins of Earthly life. Billions of years ago, asteroid impacts on Earth could have splattered terrestrial crust onto the moon. That means that primeval fossils of Earth's earliest creatures might be scattered across the lunar terrain. For this reason, Foing jokingly calls the moon "Earth's attic." Pieters of Brown University doesn't know what kinds of benefits -- say, new types of energy sources or valuable elements that might be extracted more easily and cost-effectively than on Earth -- might come from the moon. But she's confident benefits are there, only 240,000 miles from Earth. Speaking metaphorically, she said: "I'm certain there will be 'gold in them thar hills.' I just don't know what the 'gold' looks like.' " Moon missions Lunar missions planned by nations worldwide include: China: A lunar orbiter is being prepared for launch in 2007 or 2008, followed by lunar-landing probes and, after 2017, landings by astronauts. Europe: A probe, Smart-1, is circling the moon. The European Space Agency hopes to send landing probes to our sister orb in later years. India: Chandrayaan-1, a robotic spaceship, is scheduled for launch in September 2007. Its goals include orbiting the moon to map its minerals and seek frozen-water deposits that might be consumed by future astronauts. Japan: A robotic probe, SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) is slated to visit the moon later this decade. However, its timing is uncertain because of repeated launch delays and the Japanese space program's well-publicized technical problems of the past decade. United States: NASA plans to launch its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in late 2008 as a prelude to President Bush's goal to send American astronauts back to the moon, perhaps as soon as the second half of the next decade."

Looks like the militarization of space is going to heat up.

3/5/2006 1:11:02 PM

fighting in space is going to be awesome

3/5/2006 2:01:31 PM

we do NOT want fighting in space, especially in orbit of earth. the amount of "space junk" that would create could be crippling to any space program or satellite network.

3/5/2006 2:43:43 PM

That's exactly what the martians are waiting for.

3/5/2006 2:57:19 PM

http://www.negrospaceprogram.com/

3/5/2006 4:39:43 PM

Not 100% relevant, but not worthy of its own thread either (yet):

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1723913,00.html?gusrc=rss

Synopsis: It may have rained alien microbes over India pretty recently. It'd be the first scientifically confirmed encounter with alien life forms ever.

3/5/2006 10:35:14 PM

3/5/2006 11:00:03 PM

Aside from Star Wars and the X-Men, of course.

3/5/2006 11:02:55 PM

Quote :

"U.S rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun"

LOL

3/6/2006 12:23:04 PM

Holy Shi'ite!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/04/science/space/04rock.html?8dpc

Quote :

"Iran Joins the Space Club, but to What End? The spacecraft is small by world standards — a microsatellite of a few hundred pounds. Launched in October by the Russians for an oil-rich client, it orbits the earth once every 99 minutes and reportedly has a camera for peering down on large swaths of land. But what makes this satellite particularly interesting is not its capabilities, which are rudimentary, but its owner: Iran. With last year's launching and another planned in the next few weeks, Tehran has become the newest member of the international space club. The question now asked in Washington and other capitals is whether Iran's efforts are simply part of its drive to expand its technical prowess or an attempt to add another building block to its nuclear program. In that sense, it is the newest piece of the Iranian atomic puzzle. To some government analysts and other experts in the West, Iran's space debut is potentially worrisome. While world attention has focused on whether Iran is clandestinely seeking nuclear arms, these analysts say the launchings mark a new stage in its growing efforts to master a range of sophisticated technologies, including rockets and satellites. The concern is that Tehran could one day turn such advances to atomic ends. "It may appear tempting to dismiss Iranian efforts" as relatively crude, said Dr. John B. Sheldon, an analyst at the Center for Defense and International Security Studies in Britain who recently wrote a report on Tehran's space program. "But Iran has already demonstrated a persistence and patience that would indicate it is prepared to play a long game in order to achieve its ambitions." Iran has publicly rejected the goal of developing unconventional arms. It says its space and rocket efforts are either entirely peaceful, aimed at improving the state's telecommunications and monitoring natural disasters (strong earthquakes shook Iran on Friday), or are military efforts meant to enhance its defenses with conventional weapons. But some Western analysts note that such technologies can also have atomic roles and that a crucial element of a credible nuclear arsenal is the ability to launch a missile accurately and guide a warhead to its target. While Iran now depends on Russia to launch its satellites into orbit, it has vowed to do so itself, and is developing a family of increasingly large rockets. In theory, the biggest could hurl not only satellites into space but warheads between continents. "The real issue is that they have a very large booster under development," said Dr. Anthony H. Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington who wrote a recent report on Iran's nuclear effort. He said Tehran's bid to develop new rocket and space technologies might be nothing more at this point than its exploring of technological options, at times quite modestly, as in its recent effort to loft experimental satellites. "That doesn't mean the potential should be minimized," Dr. Cordesman said. "We know these states can achieve technical surprise." On Sunday, Iran said it test-fired a fast underwater missile that could evade sonar and on Friday announced that it had launched a new rocket that can carry multiple warheads and elude radar. The military actions, accompanied by film clips on state television during a week of naval maneuvers, seemed calculated to defy growing pressure on Tehran. So far, American officials say they have not protested Iran's space program. Intelligence agencies reviewed information about the satellite launching last fall, but concluded that it warranted no action. Nor has the United States urged Russia — a key player in the current negotiations with Iran over its efforts to enrich uranium — to halt the launchings. But a senior American official who spoke anonymously because he was unauthorized to address the topic publicly said the United States was "taking another look" at pressing Moscow to end the space assistance as a way of pressuring Iran to stop the enrichment of nuclear material. Analysts across the political spectrum seem to agree that the Iranian missile and satellite programs bear watching, even if judged as presenting no current threat to the United States. "It's clearly interesting to see what direction they're going," said David C. Wright, a space analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a policy research group in Cambridge, Mass. The United Nations Security Council is now debating possible sanctions against Iran because many states worry that Tehran's atomic push conceals a clandestine effort to acquire an atom bomb. American intelligence agencies estimate that it is 5 to 10 years away from having enough material for a nuclear weapon. John D. Negroponte, the director of national intelligence, recently called the danger that Tehran "will acquire a nuclear weapon and the ability to integrate it with ballistic missiles Iran already possesses" a cause "for immediate concern." Iran has missiles that can reach about 1,000 miles, or as far away as Israel and, as Mr. Negroponte put it, has "the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East." American intelligence officials estimate that it might field an intercontinental missile by 2015, but such forecasts are always rough approximations. Scores of nations have satellites, including Algeria, Greece, Spain and Tonga. But only a dozen or so have rockets big and powerful enough to put satellites into orbit. In the Middle East, only Israel can now do so. Tehran's effort to build a fleet of rockets, and to buy and make satellites, has received technical help from not only Russia but China, India, Italy and North Korea. Its effort began during the war between Iran and Iraq, from 1980 to 1988, when Baghdad fired many rockets and Tehran worked hard to respond in kind. A recent report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a respected arms analysis group in London, sketched the Islamic state's progress. At first, Iran bought Russian Scud missiles and then learned how to make them on its own, calling them Shahab-1, Persian for shooting star. The missiles, 36 feet tall, can throw one-ton warheads roughly 200 miles. By 1991, Iran learned how to extend their range to about 300 miles, naming the new weapon Shahab-2. Iran fired waves of these missiles in 1994, 1999 and 2001 at the armed camps of the National Liberation Army of Iran, a dissident force based in Iraq committed to overthrowing the Islamic regime in Tehran. During that period, Iran also sought to develop a new, more powerful family of missiles, Shahab-3. Based on a North Korean model, they stand 56 feet tall. In recent military parades, Iran has draped them with banners reading, "We will crush America" and "Wipe Israel off the map." Iran cloaks its advanced rocket work in as much secrecy as possible, making it hard for Western analysts to discern the details. But they say many signs and declarations indicate that Tehran is working hard on missiles powerful enough to launch satellites into space or warheads between continents. Charles P. Vick, an expert on the Iranian rocket program at GlobalSecurity.org, a research group in Alexandria, Va., said one strategy was apparently to stack a Shahab-1 or Shahab-2 atop a Shahab-3, making a tall missile with two stages. It might have a range of nearly 2,000 miles. Other variants, Mr. Vick said, would go further."

4/4/2006 12:18:08 AM

Quote :

"Dr. Cordesman and Khalid R. al-Rodhan of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said in a recent report that advanced models, if perfected, would "enable Iran to target the U.S. Eastern Seaboard." Tehran has been more open about its satellite program, making many claims over the years but to date managing only baby steps. All the while, Iranian scientists have hailed the potential benefits of participating in the space age. In a conference presentation, S. Mostafa Safavi of Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran discussed the value of earth-observation satellites for tracking floods, fighting fires, gauging earthquake damage, finding evacuation routes and identifying high-risk areas. He also praised reconnaissance satellites, able to peer down on the planet's surface with more powerful cameras, for their ability "to identify smaller features of military interest." For instance, Mr. Safavi noted their capacity to track "departing and arriving vessels at commercial and military ports," calling such observations "an important factor in intelligence surveillance." In April 2003, the Iran Space Agency (http://www.isa.ir/en/rs) was founded to coordinate and publicize the nation's space efforts. The agency held meetings that drew experts from around the world, its agenda often centering on the use of space cameras to aid land planning and to manage natural catastrophes. In May 2004, for instance, the agency sponsored a regional workshop in Tehran entitled: "Space Technology for Environmental Security, Disaster Rehabilitation and Sustainable Development." Hassan Shafti, the agency's president, opened the session with remarks "in the name of God, the Compassionate and the Merciful," according to a transcript. He said the wise application of space technology would raise the quality of life, adding that his agency would play "an important role" in the design, manufacture and launching of Iranian and regional satellites. But it turned out that a Russian company in the Siberian city of Omsk built Iran's first satellite, Sina-1, named after a Persian philosopher. And the Russian military launched the spacecraft from a remote base in the wilds of northern Russia. A day earlier, Iran's president declared that Israel "must be wiped off the map," producing global shockwaves that overshadowed the space debut. Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer who publishes Jonathan's Space Report and tracks the Iranian program, said information about the satellite's mission came out slowly, with few details. "It's not clear how much of that is because of military involvement," he said, "or how much is because they don't know how to do public relations." A month after the satellite's launching, Ahmad Talebzadeh, director of the Iran Space Agency, said Sina-1 could be used to spy on Israel but added that the wide availability of commercial satellite photos made such espionage unnecessary. Dr. McDowell of Harvard said commercial imagery was often too old and imprecise for spying and setting military targets. "You want to check if the tanks or facilities have moved," he said. "You want to see with your own eyes." It is unclear if and when Iran might acquire a satellite powerful enough to do such military reconnaissance, which can also give early warning of surprise attack. Experts say Sina-1 is too basic for anything more than general observations. Dr. Sheldon of the Center for Defense and International Security Studies, a private group at Henley-on-Thames in England, said his own analysis suggested that Sina-1 was probably meant for telecommunications, not earth observations. Iranian officials say that by 2010 they hope to have roughly a half-dozen satellites in orbit, including a large $132 million one known as Zohreh, or Venus. To be made and launched by Russia, the telecommunications craft is to relay data, audio and television signals. Yiftah S. Shapir, a space analyst at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, questioned Iran's ability to achieve its ambitious goals. "Iran is motivated," he said in a recent report, adding, however, that "the engine is stalled, and important projects are being delayed." He laid such failures "to the government's inherent inability to coordinate government agencies, resolve conflicting demands and mobilize the required resources." Mr. Vick of GlobalSecurity.org said Iran has long discussed building a tiny satellite on its own and launching it atop one of its own rockets. In theory, he said, it might fly into orbit atop a Shahab-4 or similar Iranian vehicle. But Mr. Vick said the Iranians had given no clear indication of when they may attempt that milestone. "It's gone backwards and forwards several times, and left a lot of us wondering what is real and what isn't," he said in an interview. "For now, they're trying to absorb the technology to do this on their own." Dr. Sheldon of the Center for Defense and International Security Studies predicted that Iran would one day master the fundamentals in regard to its nuclear, ballistic missile and space efforts but made no guess as to whether such accomplishments would take years or decades. "The Iranians," he said, "are prepared to play a long game.""

Also: We're going back to the moon. This time to build a base.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/25/AR2006032500999.html

4/4/2006 12:18:52 AM

if we dont build a base, someone else will

4/4/2006 12:23:56 AM

this time

space food is going to be AWESOME

4/4/2006 12:24:17 AM

Tang ftw

4/4/2006 1:12:30 AM

Quote :

"Their goals will include tasks ranging from mapping minerals to seeking ice from which future astronauts might extract drinking water."

You can't even drink water without some heavy purification applied in many parts of the world and they want to drink moon water? I guess they would be good to go with one of those britta faucet attachments. I'd still be concerned about getting moontezuma's revenge.

[Edited on April 4, 2006 at 7:18 AM. Reason : -]

4/4/2006 7:17:58 AM

asian peoples are notoriously lactose intolerant, so at least they won't steal our right to the green cheese

Quote :

"space food is going to be AWESOME"

freeze dried curry and lo mein

[Edited on April 4, 2006 at 9:29 AM. Reason : .]

4/4/2006 9:29:12 AM

Quote :

"You can't even drink water without some heavy purification applied in many parts of the world and they want to drink moon water? I guess they would be good to go with one of those britta faucet attachments. I'd still be concerned about getting moontezuma's revenge."

A. there is no bacteria on the moon (well, that we know about) that can contaminate the water
B. the astronauts recycle piss water already... i don't think it would be that hard to filter moon-water using existing technology.

4/4/2006 10:43:31 AM

SPACE PUSSY

4/4/2006 10:47:52 AM

4/4/2006 11:45:13 AM

IN AD 2101...

4/4/2006 5:34:16 PM

In the year 9595, a race of deformed turkey was genetically developed by chicken scientists as revenge against his bird brother. These turkeys would exit the womb doused in gravy; gravy filled with the giblets...from a monkey. The French craved it and as a result, Turkey became the only food source for France...which is now called RoboFrance29. I was later killed by the chickens. So, of course, you can see why I'm angry at those chickens.

4/4/2006 9:34:09 PM