Wandering Soul

I am really tied up with my B-school applications, but I just had to take time out to post this one!

On this day exactly half a century ago, mankind set out on a quest to explore the final frontier. The USSR launched the Sputnik 1, earth’s first artificial satellite, on October 4, 1957. It was the era of the Cold War, and this launch started the space race between USA and USSR. Here’s the front page of The New York Times announcing the launch of Sptunik 1:

The mission of Sputnik 1 was to study the density of high atmospheric layers. It fell from orbit on January 4, 1958 and burnt up after completing 1440 orbits. Those 3 months were by far the most important period in the history of space exploration, and set the stage for man’s foray into space.

NASA is going to the same old moon, with a spaceship that looks similar to a 1960’s Apollo capsule, but the space agency said that it’s going to do something dramatically different this time: Stay there!!

Unveiling the agency’s bold plan for a return to the moon, NASA said it will establish an international base camp on one of the moon’s poles, permanently staffing it by 2024, four years after astronauts land there. Why? Two reasons, according to NASA - prepare for future exploration, with Mars the next stop, and expansion of human civilization.

The destination will mostly be the moon’s south pole because it’s sunlit for three-quarters of the time. That offers a better location for solar power, plus the site has possible resources to mine nearby. To get to the moon, NASA will use two vehicles - the Orion exploration vehicle and an attached all-purpose lunar lander that could touch down anywhere and be the beginnings a base camp.NASA’s exploration chief Scott Horowitz says that the lander is like a pickup truck. You can put whatever you want in the back. You can take it to wherever you want. So you can deliver cargo, crew, do it robotically, do it with humans on board.

The estimated time frame for NASA’s lunar plans are:
2009 - a first test of one of the lunar spaceships.
2014 - the first manned test flight of the Orion crew exploration vehicle, but no moon landing.
2020 - the first flight of the four-astronaut crew to the moon.

For four years, the lunar base won’t be built up enough for long visits, so astronauts will only spend a week at a time. But after that, NASA envisions people living on the moon for six-month stints.

NASA also hopes that hydrogen, oxygen and other moon resources can be used as supplies for the lunar outpost. Eventually, getting oxygen there may be simple enough that it could be turned over to a commercial supplier. NASA’s vision for the moon is more than just American astronauts - it includes space travelers from other countries and even commercial interests, if possible.

Well well, the day isn’t far when we will get to see hoardings and neon signboards advertising the newest restaurant or the nearest oxygen supply depot on the moon. And imagine astronomers will look at the moon through a telescope and identify the Lunar Ritz. Nice!