Hidden Nook
"Because in Cyberspace, no one can hear you scream."
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
The Moon It Is
[Media Source*] (From Universe Today)
NASA seems to be getting it's priorities straight. It seems that heading towards our "next door neighbor" would make more sense than visiting the red planet.
"The Moon is a natural first step," explains Philip Metzger, a physicist at NASA Kennedy Space Center. "It's nearby. We can practice living, working and doing science there before taking longer and riskier trips to Mars."
The moon does have it's advantages since their is no atmosphere one wouldn't have to worry about the dust storms that ravage the Martian surface (and I am talking about some serious global coverage).
Although the moon does have it's own problems (it's dust can irritate astronaut's and affect their suits causing leakage of air pressure) and colony on Mars would have to face the wrath of dust flying over 100 mph in your face, let alone the damage amassed against machinery and solar panels. On the moon one would not face this.
Although Mars probably has more water on it's surface than the moon, scientists are beginning to find "hints" of H2O on the surface of our lunar friend.
Lunar ice...is localized near the Moon's north and south poles deep inside craters where the Sun never shines, according to similar data from Lunar Prospector and Clementine, two spacecraft that mapped the Moon in the mid-1990s.
If this ice could be excavated, thawed out and broken apart into hydrogen and oxygen ...Voila! Instant supplies. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, due to launch in 2008, will use modern sensors to search for deposits and pinpoint possible mining sites.
And it looks like other countries are starting to show interest in the moon as well. Could this be the beginning of an international space race?
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By Darnell Clayton ⢠11:01 PM ⢠Email Post ⢠â¢
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