Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission - Launch Date: October 31, 2008
http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/

Happy New Year.  I know, it is 2007, not 2008, BUT, I think someone said,
"WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK".

Many folks have enjoyed looking at the down loaded images of Mars and
through the Internet have participated in missions with spacecraft in orbit
and rovers on the surface.

Soon we will have some more images of the Moon to add to those of the
Clementine mission and those from earlier orbiters and the Apollo images.

So it should be an interesting year as we get closer to launching LRO.

Will Congress continue to fund, will the public care, will you be
interested, will I still be typing?

All those questions, see should be an interesting year, YES?
- LRK -

--------------------------------------------------------------
http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/
MISSION OVERVIEW

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission emphasizes the overall
objective of obtaining data that will facilitate returning humans safely to
the Moon and enable extended stays.

Snip

LAUNCH
+ Launch Date: October 31, 2008
+ Launch Vehicle: Atlas 401
+ Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center

NASA announced the award of launch services for the LRO mission to Lockheed
Martin Commercial Launch Services Inc. The spacecraft are scheduled for
launch aboard an Atlas V 401 rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
during a launch window that opens on Oct. 31, 2008.
http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/launch.html

Snip
--------------------------------------------------------------

So what is in your mind?
What do you believe?
What do you want to see achieved?

Let me ask, what gets you churned up in your gut enough to talk to someone
else about what you want to see happen with our leaving LEO?

What do you really want me to report on?
If I get to far a field, what would cause you to leave me talking to myself?

I want this to be an exciting year that makes life interesting.

Your ideas are greatly appreciated and I thank all of you that have sent me
material over the years.  This is your lunar-update list.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
The NSS website in the settlements section http://www.nss.org/settlement/ is
being worked on and I have been reading emails from a growing group of
volunteers.  Having added my 2 cents worth, Gordon sent me a reply, which I
would like to share with you.
- LRK -
--------------------------------------------------------------
Larry,

The first thousands to at least a few millions of space settlers will
probably take up residence on the Moon or Mars; being close to the
resources is important until a substantial space economy exists.  In
the long run, the ability of the solar system to support humans is
probably pretty large.  As O'Neill pointed out, pressurized
structures are much more economic of resources than planetary bodies
in terms of tons of stuff per human life supported.  But it will
require a big space industry to make these things.  The resources are
plentiful.  There is at least one large asteroid in the asteroid
belt, Kleopatra, which is "about the size of the state of New Jersey"
and it's believed to be mostly nickel-iron.  That one asteroid has
enough metals to build hundreds to thousands of O'Neill-type
settlement vessels.  Where we find enough nitrogen to fill them with
breathable air is an interesting question (oxygen is, of course,
plentiful).  Oxygen condenses in the form of oxide-containing
minerals, i.e. rocks.   So there's lots everywhere.   Nitrogen
doesn't, it's a volatile.  There is probably lots of nitrogen in
cometary bodies in the outer solar system, but that's a long way to
go to get it.  It has been estimated that there are enough resources
in the asteroid belt (with the possible exception of nitrogen) to
build settlements that could support "hundreds of times Earth's
population".

The economics issues attendant to making this real are very complex
and I don't think anyone understands them yet.

I think a real settlement of only thousands, especially if growing,
would excite a lot of people about the possibility of going.  How
many people play basketball for the NBA?  On the order of hundreds, I
think.  How many kids are motivated to play street and gym basketball
by the possibility, slim but real, that they could someday make it?
The problem with today's space program is that the astronaut corps
tends to be seen as an elite almost impossible to break into.

Gordon W.

p.s.  Please feel free to forward to anyone on your list that would
be genuinely interested.  My ISP won't let me send an email to a long
list, as they are trying to control spam.


On Dec 31, 2006, at 17:40 , Larry Kellogg wrote:

> Larry Kellogg here.
> PLease use larry.kellogg @ gmail.com
> as the SBC account will bounce shortly with an ISP
> change.
>
> To the discussion, I think part of the problem with
> getting a lot of people interested in any space
> settlement is that there won't be that many
> opportunities for them to go to one.
>
> In the little town of Tracy California there are
> 74,000 residents and 4 years ago there were 70,000.
> When you talk about a structure or place that will
> only hold 10,000 and cost a bundle to get there, you
> sort of pass over the idea with little thought.
>
> The idea that it is the emotions that move us fits.
> Now how do you "MOVE" someone to act for someone else
> who just MIGHT move off world to a rotating structure
> in the sky/space?
>
> The length of time it has taken to build the ISS is
> not encouraging either if you want to translate that
> into figuring out how long it would take you to build
> a structure in space.
>
> Maybe upcoming inflatable rooms in the sky will let
> folks know that you could make and inflatable MOTEL in
> the sky and from there SEE that you could build
> something to live in as well.
>
> Those folks that are in the Navy, manning submarines
> that stay under water for 90 days at a time, could
> tell you what it is like to live in isolation.
>
> So what would cause you to move to a city in the sky?
>
> The answer to that question would be items worth
> promoting.
>
> Larry


Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================