NASA Seeks To Readjust Lunar Robotic Program - Again

NASA Seeks To Readjust Lunar Robotic Program - Again
*Orbital Outposts: A Better Bet than a Moonbase?
*NASA Chief Says China May Make It To the Moon

Hmmmm, has this story been told before?
- LRK -

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NASA Seeks To Readjust Lunar Robotic Program - Again
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.nl.html?id=1199

"According to NASA sources, the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program (LPRP)
office at MSFC is either being totally shut down or dramatically reduced in size with lunar
mission coordination moving back to NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC."

Snip
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Web links that don't work, like the Pioneer 10/11, may be part of moving
items to NASA's ONE PORTAL. Still don't have a new URL for the Pioneer
10/11 move but Dr. Lasher says sometime in June. Will let you know when
that happens.

Still that is ancient history and here we are talking about the future,
which often moves further off into the future.
- LRK -

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http://exploration.nasa.gov/programs/lunar.html
Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program 

The Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program (LPRP) supports America's return
to the Moon by executing lunar robotic missions to conduct research and
prepare for future human exploration.

LPRP missions will gather data important for reducing the risks of
returning humans to the Moon by 2020, such as examining the lunar
radiation environment, which has implications for astronaut safety.
Surface imaging and mapping will assist landing site selection by
identifying terrain hazards (slope, roughness, obstacles) as well as
areas of scientific and operational interest. Temperature and lighting
conditions over an annual cycle, along with a good characterization of
dust, environmental conditions, and radiation are needed for mission and
hardware design. Resource identification and mapping will inform
decisions about possible future use of in-situ resources. Future LPRP
missions may also demonstrate prototype technologies such as precision
landing and in-situ resource utilization.

Specific LPRP activities will include topographic mapping, resource and
mineral identification and mapping, identifying permanently lighted and
permanently shadowed areas near the lunar poles, and characterizing the
radiation and dust environment and landing site hazards. LPRP is
considering a mix of orbiters, landers, and impactors to obtain required
data.

LPRP's first mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), is in
development, with launch planned late in October 2008. LRO will provide
critical information about the Moon to enable selection of safe landing
sites with compelling exploration and scientific features. Using a
robust suite of instruments to measure the topography of the moon's
surface, LRO will take high-resolution images of sites of interest,
globally assess thermal and radiation environments, and assay potential
resources.

Launching with LRO is the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite
(LCROSS). This low-cost secondary payload will investigate the presence
of lunar volatiles in a permanently shadowed region of the lunar
surface. The Lunar Architecture Team (LAT) study is examining lunar
exploration requirements needed to support a human lunar sortie by 2020.
The LAT is scheduled to conclude Phase 2 architecture refinements in
July 2007, and will assist in determining future missions and
instruments to follow LRO and LCROSS.

For more information, please see the
Lunar Precursor Robotic Program <http://lprp.msfc.nasa.gov/>,
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter <http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/> and the
Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite <http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov>
Web sites.

Snip
[Note: The above LPRP link will break. - LRK -]
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Okay, can't get out of Low Earth Orbit, maybe try building a new home
there and then just drift away when you get your act together.
- LRK -

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http://www.space.com/adastra/070316_orbital.html
*Orbital Outposts: A Better Bet than a Moonbase? *
*By Al Globus

Because we are planetary creatures, most people assume
the first and most numerous space settlements must be on the
Moon <http://www.space.com/moon/> or Mars. In fact, we may
live in orbit long before settling the Moon or
Mars <http://www.space.com/mars/>, and there may always be
far more space settlers in orbit than on any planet or moon.
Orbital settlements <http://www.nss.org/settlement/space/index.html>
are huge spacecraft, big enough for many thousands to live in
comfortably, that provide radiation protection, a breathable atmosphere,
nearly self-sufficient life support, and that rotate to provide something
that feels much like Earth-normal gravity at the rim.

Why do I think orbital settlements will precede and vastly outperform
those on planets and moons? Three reasons:

 1. It's easier.
 2. There's more.
 3. The kids will be able to visit Earth

Snip
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Well if not invented here, then maybe made in China.
Who will be the first to open a big box store on the Moon?
- LRK -

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031501830.html

NASA Chief Says China May Make It To the Moon

By Marc Kaufman

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, March 16, 2007; A06

The next humans to walk on the moon may well be Chinese, NASA's
administrator told Congress yesterday. He said that the combination of
budget cuts and restraints in the NASA lunar program and a determined and
well-funded effort by the Chinese made that once-unthinkable possibility a
real one.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told the House Committee on Science and
Technology that, based on the status of the Chinese space program and its
projected growth, China could land a man on the moon within a decade. Under
current projections, a U.S. lunar return would not take place until 2019 at
the earliest.

"If they wanted to mount a lunar mission, they could do so," Griffin said.
"And yes, they could get to the moon before we return."

The Chinese space program employs about 200,000 people, Griffin said, while
NASA has a workforce of about 75,000.

Griffin's assessment came during a day of NASA budget hearings in which both
Republicans and Democrats decried a lack of funding for NASA, which has been
given many ambitious missions.

Snip
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More links from SpaceRef below if you have not already read.
- 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

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THE DAY IN SPACE
__________________
In today's space news from SpaceRef:

-- Mars Express radar gauges water quantity around Mars' south pole
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22126

-- Ice on Mars' South Pole Is Deep and Wide
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22125

"New measurements of Mars' south polar region indicate extensive frozen
water. The polar region contains enough frozen water to cover the whole planet in a
liquid layer approximately 36 feet deep. A joint NASA-Italian Space Agency instrument on the European
Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft provided these data."

-- RNA enzyme structure offers a glimpse into the origins of life
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22137

"Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have
determined the three-dimensional structure of an RNA enzyme, or "ribozyme," that carries out a
fundamental reaction required to make new RNA molecules. Their results provide insight into what may have
been the first self- replicating molecule to arise billions of years ago on the evolutionary
path toward the emergence of life."

-- NASA, AOL, Mad Science Host the Space Pennant Design Challenge
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22136

"For some scientists and engineers, designing something that flies in
space might be the pinnacle of a career. NASA now is offering that opportunity to grade
school students. NASA, AOL's Kids Service KOL and Mad Science are teaming up for the NASA Space
Pennant Design Challenge, which begins Thursday, March 15."

-- Global 'sunscreen' has likely thinned, report NASA scientists
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22129

"A new NASA study has found that an important counter-balance to the
warming of our planet by greenhouse gases � sunlight blocked by dust, pollution and other aerosol
particles � appears to have lost ground."

-- FY08 NASA Budget Request Insufficient for Space Exploration Program
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22128

-- Statement of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin Before the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23624

-- Statement of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin Before the House
Committee on Science & Technology
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23623

-- Statement of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin Before the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23622

-- Opening Statement by Rep. Mark Udall - House Committee on Science and
Technology Hearing: NASA's Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23620

-- Opening Statement by Rep. Bart Gordon - House Committee on Science
and Technology Hearing: NASA's Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23621

"First, the FY 2008 budget request continues a pattern of Administration
requests that fail to ask for the level of funding that the White House had said NASA would need
to carry out the exploration initiative and its other core activities. Specifically, in
the three years since the President announced his exploration initiative, the White House has cut
NASA's five-year budget plan by a total of $2.26 billion. And based on this year's budget
submittal, that shortfall will worsen by another $420 million in FY 2009."

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

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