Looking up continues to be interesting - just reflecting

We just read about LRO finding the precise location of Lunokhod 1 and 2 on the Moon. The below link talks about how the reflectors left on the Moon have degraded and that the one placed by Lunokhod 1 no longer worked. Now that the location of them has been verified part of this report won't be correct or at least is dated, since now that we know exactly where Lunokhod 1 is, it has been determined we can see reflected laser pulses and very well indeed.

Dust may indeed be a problem and hopefully we will send more robots to the Moon to look into the Lunar environment. I say robots, since at the moment we may have to wait awhile to send humans.
- LRk -

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http://news.discovery.com/space/moon-mirror-apollo.html
Lunar Mirror Mystery Solved
Reflectors placed on the moon during Apollo missions practically stop working during a full moon. Now we may know why.

Sun Mar 14, 2010 06:43 AM ET
Content provided by Stuart Gary, ABC Science Online

THE GIST:

* Reflectors were placed on the moon during Apollo missions.
* During a full moon, their reflectivity drops by a factor of 10.
* New research proposes that dust on the reflectors heats up during a full moon, distorting their shape.

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Another article on the results of LRO finding the Lunokhod rovers. Nice picture on the web site.
- LRK -

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http://news.discovery.com/space/lost-and-found-soviet-lunar-rover.html
Lost and Found: Soviet Lunar Rover

Analysis by Irene Klotz
Tue Apr 27, 2010 03:09 PM ET

In November 1970, a Soviet probe landed on the surface of the moon and released two ramps. A rover, named Lunokhod 1, descended to the surface to take pictures and conduct experiments. It carried with it a French-made light reflector, which could be used by scientists on Earth to compute distances and better understand lunar geology.

Ten months later, Lunokhod 1 fell silent, its location on the moon unknown. Over the years, scientists occasionally beamed a laser around its last known coordinates, hoping for a return beam from the reflector. They got no response and figured the rover had fallen into a crater or parked itself beneath a cliff, blocking its reflector from Earth.

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Posted this link before. If you didn't check it out here is a paragraph that shows what can be done with new information by dedicated personnel. What other information will we see from the Moon?
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-20100426.html
NASA's LRO Team Helps Track Laser Signals to Russian Rover Mirror

snip
“Getting more than a few photons back from an unknown location at the distance of the moon is quite an achievement. The rediscovery of the Lunokhod-1 retroreflector was made possible by the LRO camera team and by the diligence of Tom Murphy,” said Gregory Neumann, Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter team member from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “That we have located it so quickly and ranged to the Lunokhod rover, last heard from Sept. 4, 1971, is a tribute to Tom's team and to the amazing LRO observatory and instrument teams.”

snip
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The former Soviet Union had a lot of Lunar firsts. Other nations may well add some to their credit as well. For now we in the USA will have to be satisfied with the results from orbiters. It would be nice to be able to do more with the information from LRO.
- LRK -

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http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/lost-soviet-reflector-found-on-moon-100427.html
Lost Soviet Reflecting Device Rediscovered on the Moon
By SPACE.com Staff

posted: 27 April 2010
09:57 am ET

A long lost light reflector that was left on the surface of the moon by the former Soviet Union has been rediscovered by a team of American physicists after nearly 40 years using lasers beamed from Earth.

snip
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Well another reason to look up. :-)

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

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
==============================================================
http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/359938main_LRO_factsheet.pdf
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - Fact Sheet

Return to the Moon: The First Step The United States has begun a program to extend human presence in the solar system, beginning with a return to the Moon.

[Beginning with a return to the Moon - has a nice sound to it - Make It So! - LRK -]
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==============================================================

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

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

LRO Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - Something we can watch now

---------------------------------------

http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/

LRO Observations

View the full gallery of images gathered from LRO's instruments and the associated information products derived from them. Thus information, including boulder distribution maps, slope maps and digital terrain models will guide engineers and scientists as they develop their plans for how they will continue to explore the moon.

* New Lunar Images and Data Available to the Public
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/image_release.html

* 3D Measurements of Apollo 14 Landing Site
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc-20100129-apollo14.html

* LRO Team Begins to Release New Image Series
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc-20100107-new-images.html

* LROC Prepares for Planetary Data System Data Transfer
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/index.php?/archives/159-LROC-NAC-Image-Prerelease.html

* NASA Unveils Latest Results From Lunar Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/agu-results-2009.html

* Diviner Observes Extreme Polar Temperatures
http://www.diviner.ucla.edu/blog/?m=20091215

* Latest Results Help Prepare for Next Stage of Scientific Discovery
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/agu-results-2009.html

* Popular Science Recognizes LRO in 'Best of What's New'
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/popular_science.html

* Adler Planetarium to construct a 3D overflight simulator for its
"Shoot for the Moon" exhibit
http://www.biztechmagazine.com/article.asp?item_id=681

* LCROSS Impact Data Indicates Water on Moon
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/prelim_water_results.html

* LRO Gets Additional View of Apollo 11 Landing Site
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc_200911109_apollo11.html

snip
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LRO has been sending us back images of various Apollo sites and of the Soviet Lunokhod rovers.
The Rovers had laser reflectors and the one from Lunokhod 2 has been used for returning signals from Earth. Now the other reflector from Lunokhod 1 has been found and laser beams
sent to it and reflected back to Earth.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-20100426.html
NASA's LRO Team Helps Track Laser Signals to Russian Rover Mirror

Using information provided by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) instrument teams, researchers at the University of California San Diego successfully pinpointed the location of a long lost light reflector on the lunar surface by bouncing laser signals from Earth to the Russian Lunokhod 1 retroreflector.

The initial imaging of the two Russian rovers, Lunokhod 1 and 2 were made earlier this year by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team, led by Mark Robinson from Arizona State University in Tempe.

On April 22, Tom Murphy from the University of California San Diego and his team sent pulses of laser light from the 3.5 meter telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, zeroing in on the target coordinates provided by the LROC images and altitudes provided by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter.

“We quickly verified the signal to be real and found it to be surprisingly bright: at least five times brighter than the other Soviet reflector, on the Lunokhod 2 rover, to which we routinely send laser pulses,” said Tom Murphy, an associate professor of physics at the University of California San Diego. “The best signal we’ve seen from Lunokhod 2 in several years of effort is 750 return photons, but we got about 2,000 photons from Lunokhod 1 on our first try. It’s got a lot to say after almost 40 years of silence.”

Since Apollo deployed laser retroreflectors, astronomers have routinely used them track how the moon is slowly moving away from the Earth. This helps scientists develop a better understanding of the processes that are causing this motion, including what’s occurring inside the moon’s core and the tidal motions on the Earth.

snip
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What did they say, the best return signal from Lunokhod 2 has been 750 photons. That is a reflected laser beam bouncing back from the Moon some quarter of a million miles away and you catch 750 photons. Now they are excited about being able to catch 2000 photons, and I thought
my old flashlight with tired batteries was dim.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon
- LRK -

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http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/lost-soviet-reflector-found-on-moon-100427.html
Lost Soviet Reflecting Device Rediscovered on the Moon
By SPACE.com Staff

posted: 27 April 2010
09:57 am ET

A long lost light reflector that was left on the surface of the moon by the former Soviet Union has been rediscovered by a team of American physicists after nearly 40 years using lasers beamed from Earth.

The French-built laser reflector was sent aboard the unmanned Soviet Luna 17 mission, which landed on the moon on Nov. 17, 1970 and released a robotic rover that roamed the lunar surface and carried the sought after laser reflector.

The Soviet lander and its rover, called Lunokhod 1, were last heard from on Sept. 14, 1971.

"No one had seen the reflector since 1971," said Tom Murphy, an associate professor of physics at the University of California San Diego. Murphy leads a team of scientists in a long-term effort to use laser reflectors to measure the shape of the lunar orbit and look for deviations in Einstein's Theory of General Relativity.

"We routinely use the three hardy reflectors placed on the moon by the Apollo 11, 14 and 15 missions, and occasionally the Soviet-landed Lunokhod 2 reflector – though it does not work well enough to use when illuminated by sunlight," Murphy said. "But we yearned to find Lunokhod 1."

snip
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Well another reason to look up. :-)

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

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
==============================================================
http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/359938main_LRO_factsheet.pdf
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - Fact Sheet

Return to the Moon: The First Step The United States has begun a program to extend human presence in the solar system, beginning with a return to the Moon. Returning to the Moon will enable the pursuit of scientific activities that address our fundamental questions about the history of Earth, the solar system, and the universe— and about our place in them. Returning to the Moon will allow us to test technologies, systems, flight operations, and exploration techniques to reduce the risk and enable future missions to Mars and beyond.

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

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Space Policy Online

Space Policy Online
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/

There is so much information now on the Internet that finding what you want can be as much by accident as by choice.
Maybe smaller bytes, more often, will be easier to chew.
I am finding that individuals do make a difference.
Who knows what you might accomplish.

This web site can take you to a lot of information about space.
- LRK -

-----------------------------------------

http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/
SPACEPOLICYONLINE.COM
Your first stop for information news, information, and analysis about Civil, Military, and Commercial Space Programs.

[See the navigation column on the left for internal links. - LRK -]

http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=123
About Us

SpacePolicyOnline.com provides news, information and analysis about the policy aspects of the full scope of the U.S. space program -- civil (NASA, NOAA, FAA/OCST, and other civil agencies), military (DOD and the intelligence community), and commercial -- as well as international space activities and space law. Many excellent websites already exist about NASA's space activities, but the space program is much more than NASA.

Marcia S. Smith is the founder and editor of SpacePolicyOnline.com.
She has almost four decades of experience in space policy, including 31 years at the Congressional Research Service on Capitol Hill (1975-2006), and three at the National Research Council's Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (2006-2009).
She is the North American Editor of the journal Space Policy, and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Astronautical Society (AAS), and British Interplanetary Society (BIS). A short biography is available here.

Laura M. Delgado joined SpacePolicyOnline.com as a correspondent in September 2009. Ms. Delgado is currently pursuing an MA in International Science and Technology Policy at the George Washington University's Space Policy Institute (SPI). She is also a 2009 Harry S. Truman Scholar and a Northrop Grumman Fellow at SPI. In June 2009, she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico. From 2007 to 2009, Ms. Delgado worked as a research assistant with the Department of Political Science at UPR on a project analyzing the effects of corruption on electoral behavior at the municipal level. In May 2008, Ms. Delgado became the first Puerto Rican to obtain the Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Internship at the Space Studies Board of the National Academies. Previously, she worked as an Intern for Development at the NAIC-Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. In 2007 Ms. Delgado interned at the Office of then-Congressman Luis Fortuño (now governor of Puerto Rico). Her research interests include international relations theory as applied to space policy, as well as space security and management issues.

[I came upon the web site in my search for earlier documents relating
to NASA programs. - LRK -]
http://spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_fjrelated&view=fjrelated&id=70&Itemid=117
Other Reports of Interest

The following are links to reports, articles, briefings and speeches from Government agencies, organizations and individuals that may be of interest.

snip
Pre-2008

A Journey to Inspire, Innovate and Discover: Report of the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Exploration Policy (the "Aldridge Report"). June 2004. Chaired by E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, Jr.
http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/read/government/spaceexplorationreport

Report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, which investigated the 2003 space shuttle Columbia tragedy (the CAIB report). August 26, 2003. Chaired by Adm. Harold Gehman (Ret.)
http://caib.nasa.gov/

Anyone, Anything, Anytime, Anywhere: Final Report of the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry (the "Walker report"). November 2002. Chaired by the Honorable Robert S. Walker.
http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/read/government/aerospacereport

Report of the Commission to Assess U.S. National Security Space Management and Organization (the Rumsfeld "Space Commission" Report). January 2001. Chaired by Mr. Donald Rumsfeld. [Mr. Rumsfeld previously chaired a commission on ballistic missile defense that is sometimes confused with this one since both often are referred to as the "Rumsfeld Commission." The BMD report is also available on the Internet.)
http://www.dod.mil/pubs/spaceintro.pdf

Report of the Advisory Committee on the Future of the U.S. Space Program (the "Augustine Committee" report). December 1990. Chaired by Mr. Norman Augustine.
http://history.nasa.gov/augustine/racfup1.htm

Leadership and America's Future in Space: a Report to the Administrator by Dr. Sally K. Ride (the Sally Ride report). August 1987.
http://history.nasa.gov/riderep/main.PDF

Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (the "Rogers Commission report"). June 6, 1986. Chaired by William P. Rogers.
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/docs/rogers-commission/table-of-contents.html

Pioneering the Space Frontier: An Exciting Vision of Our Next Fifty Years in Space. Report of the U.S. National Commission on Space (the "Paine report" ). May 1986. Chaired by Dr. Thomas O. Paine.
http://history.nasa.gov/painerep/begin.html

The Post-Apollo Space Program: Directions for the Future. (The "Space Task Group report"). September 1969. Chaired by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/taskgrp.html

snip

[Another of the 'Quick Links' is on "Our Hearing Summaries" which has links to summaries. - LRK -]

http://spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_fjrelated&view=fjrelated&layout=blog&id=65&Itemid=120
Senate Appropriations CJS Subcommittee on NASA FY2011 Budget Request:
A SpacePolicyOnline.com Hearing Summary PDF Print Email
Written by Laura M. Delgado
Monday, 26 April 2010 22:00
The Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing on NASA's FY2011 budget request on April 22, 2010. A SpacePolicyOnline.com summary of the hearing is available here.
http://spacepolicyonline.com/pages/images/stories/Mikulski_NASA_budget_final.pdf

House Authorization Hearing on NASA's Exploration Plans: A SpacePolicyOnline.com Hearing Summary PDF Print Email
Written by Laura. M. Delgado
Saturday, 27 March 2010 11:32
The Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics of the House Science and Technology Committee held a hearing on March 24, 2010 on "Proposed Changes to NASA's Exploration Program: What's Known, What's Not, and What Are the Issues for Congress?" A SpacePolicyOnline.com summary of the hearing is available by clicking here.
http://spacepolicyonline.com/pages/images/stories/House_NASA_exploration_final.pdf

snip

[You might want to check out the "Space Law" tab as well. - LRK -]
http://spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=59&Itemid=54

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Will leave you there while I go do some reading myself.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

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
==============================================================
http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4407/sp4407.htm
EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN

Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program

Volume 1
Organizing for Exploration

Volume 2
External Relationships

Volume 3
Using Space

Volume 4
Accessing Space

Volume 5
Exploring the Cosmos

Volume 6
Space and Earth Science

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

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

What a crooked road to space we travel --- Apollo, Space Station, Shuttle, SEI, VSE, Asteroid, Mars.

What a crooked road to space we travel --- Apollo, Space Station, Shuttle, SEI, VSE, Asteroid, Mars.

With high roads, and low roads, and even a turn around now and then.
Bumps and divots, and a rock or two we have come to expect.

I wish now that I had paid more attention in my history classes and had a better understanding of human nature. I find that I am having to do a lot of research to refresh my memory on our attempts to go to space and why we haven't done more.

I have a ways to go before I grasp what has taken place or attempt to guess where we will end up. I thought I might share some of the sources I have been looking at and let you reflect on our space history as well.
- LRK -

The first two are by G. Ryan Faith -LRK -

[G. Ryan Faith is an independent technology consultant and Adjunct Fellow for Space Initiatives at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, (CSIS). CSIS is a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. CSIS’ research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed here publication should be understood to be solely those of the author.]

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http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1610/1
President Obama’s Vision for Space Exploration
by G. Ryan Faith
Monday, April 19, 2010

President Obama’s April 15th rollout of a new direction for the American space effort has elicited reactions ranging from Elon Musk’s praise for “an ambitious and exciting new plan that will alter our destiny as a species” to a letter from Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Gene Cernan warning that this new policy “destines our nation to become one of second or even third rate stature.” However, much like the discussion immediately following the 2004 unveiling of the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE)—before NASA’s release of its plan to implement national policy, the Constellation program/Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS)—the value of this new policy won’t be fully apparent until more details about implementation are available for public discussion.

It is important to note that Presidential space policies generally lack very specific budgets, mission architectures, and especially technical details, and the devils in any space policy inevitably lie in the details. Had the Space Shuttle been able to perform as originally planned, or had Space Station Freedom been built on time with all of its capabilities intact, or had the National Aerospace Plane, DC-X, VentureStar, or any one of a host of other vehicles become operational, we would be looking at a very different space exploration environment today. Nonetheless, there are a few elements in the new Presidential policy that open up a number of interesting opportunities.

This piece—the first of two parts—discusses implications of this new policy’s guidance on crew transportation and heavy lift. The second part of the article will discuss other elements of President Obama’s new policy regarding political sustainability, international cooperation, and other policy implications.

snip
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Part 2. - LRK -

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http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1616/1
President Obama’s Vision for Space Exploration (part 2)
by G. Ryan Faith
Monday, April 26, 2010

On April 15th President Obama outlined the administration’s new plan for civil space exploration in a speech at the Kennedy Space Center. This article is part 2 of an analysis of the President’s announcement. The first part of the analysis discussed the cancellation and modification of the previous crew and cargo transportation efforts and the extent to which these changes represent a fundamental shift in the US approach to civil space exploration.

President Obama’s new policy reflects the findings of the Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee (also known as the Augustine Committee). The Augustine Committee found that the Constellation program was over budget and behind schedule, although the extent to which this is either a result of underfunding and the normal teething pains associated high technology procurement, or is symptomatic of poor technological decisions, is beyond the scope of this article. What is clear is that interactions among the White House, Congress, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and NASA tightened the program’s time and cost constraints, making it ultimately unsustainable politically and programmatically. Although President Obama’s new plan represents a sharp departure from the Constellation program, begun under the previous administration, the new policy follows much of the same thinking that appears in President Bush’s 2004 Vision for Space Exploration.

On April 15th President Obama outlined the administration’s new plan for civil space exploration in a speech at the Kennedy Space Center. This article is part 2 of an analysis of the President’s announcement. The first part of the analysis discussed the cancellation and modification of the previous crew and cargo transportation efforts and the extent to which these changes represent a fundamental shift in the US approach to civil space exploration.

President Obama’s new policy reflects the findings of the Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee (also known as the Augustine Committee). The Augustine Committee found that the Constellation program was over budget and behind schedule, although the extent to which this is either a result of underfunding and the normal teething pains associated high technology procurement, or is symptomatic of poor technological decisions, is beyond the scope of this article. What is clear is that interactions among the White House, Congress, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and NASA tightened the program’s time and cost constraints, making it ultimately unsustainable politically and programmatically. Although President Obama’s new plan represents a sharp departure from the Constellation program, begun under the previous administration, the new policy follows much of the same thinking that appears in President Bush’s 2004 Vision for Space Exploration.
snip
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There are many links to what is happening now but I needed to look at some of what went on before or was said was going to happen, and a bumpy road it was. look at SEI seemed to be a place to start.

I was recently in Washington, D.C. and stood on the steps of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and inside looked at a real lunar module, the second one built for the Apollo program.
http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal112/
- LRK -

President George Bush stood on those steps and made his SEI announcement.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/public_papers.php?id=712&year=1989&month=all
Remarks on the 20th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing --- 1989-07-20

Thank you all very, very much. And thank you, Mr. Vice President, for your introduction and for undertaking to head the National Space Council and for already demonstrating your skill for leadership there. And thanks to all of you, who have braved the weather to join us today.

Behind me stands one of the most visited places on Earth, a symbol of American courage and ingenuity. And before me stand those on whose shoulders this legacy was built: the men and women of the United States astronaut corps. And we are very proud to be part of this unprecedented gathering of America's space veterans and to share this stage with three of the greatest heroes of this or any other century: the crew of Apollo 11.

It's hard to believe that 20 years have passed. Neil [Armstrong] and Buzz [Aldrin], who originated the moonwalk 15 years before Michael Jackson ever even thought of it. [Laughter] And Michael Collins, former director of this amazing museum and the brave pilot who flew alone on the dark side of the Moon while Neil and Buzz touched down -- Mike, you must be the only American over age 10 that night who didn't get to see the Moon landing. [Laughter]

snip

So, today is not only an occasion to thank these astronauts and their colleagues -- the thousands of talented men and women across the country whose commitment, creativity, and courage brought this dream to life -- it's also a time to thank the American people for their faith, because Apollo's success was made possible by the drive and daring of an entire nation committed to a dream.

In the building behind me are the testaments to Apollo and to what came before -- the chariots of fire flown by Armstrong, Yeager, Lindbergh, and the Wrights. And in the National Archives, across the great expanse of grass, are preserved the founding documents of the idea that made it all possible -- the world's greatest experiment in freedom and diversity. And here, standing between these twin legacies, is a fitting place to look forward to the future, because the Apollo
astronauts left more than flags and footprints on the Moon; they also left some unfinished business. For even 20 years ago, we recognized that America's ultimate goal was not simply to go there and go back, but to go there and go on. Mike Collins said it best: ``The Moon is not a destination; it's a direction.''

snip

In 1961 it took a crisis -- the space race -- to speed things up. Today we don't have a crisis; we have an opportunity. To seize this opportunity, I'm not proposing a 10-year plan like Apollo; I'm proposing a long-range, continuing commitment. First, for the coming decade, for the 1990's: Space Station Freedom, our critical next step in all our space endeavors. And next, for the new century: Back to the Moon; back to the future. And this time, back to stay. And then a journey into tomorrow, a journey to another planet: a manned mission to Mars.

Each mission should and will lay the groundwork for the next. And the pathway to the stars begins, as it did 20 years ago, with you, the American people. And it continues just up the street there, to the United States Congress, where the future of the space station and our future as a spacefaring nation will be decided.

snip
---------------------------------------------

Well, it was decided by the United States Congress, NOT to 'go back to the Moon, this time to stay.'
It turns out there is more to getting programs funded than to just declare that they should take place.
I need more understanding of how politics works and I have just been one of those guys that likes to tinker.
I really have not been interested in money or getting projects funded.
I guess that is why I am not the CEO of Rocket Company.
- LRK -

And then there were the studies to determine what was to be done and when the cost estimates, right or wrong, came in, SEI was dead. There are a lot of paths here and some throwing of stones, and leaving items for you to trip over. Makes for an interesting story, but one with a sad ending.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://history.nasa.gov/seisummary.htm
Summary of Space Exploration Initiative
By: Steve Dick, NASA Chief Historian

On July 20, 1989 President George H. W. Bush announced plans for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). On the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, Bush delivered a speech on the steps of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum calling for construction of the Space Station Freedom, sending humans back to the Moon, and ultimately sending astronauts to Mars. In announcing his plans Bush specifically invoked history and exploration: “From the voyages of Columbus – to the Oregon Trail – to the journey to the Moon itself – history proves that we have never lost by pressing the limits of our frontiers.” He noted that in 1961 it took a crisis to accelerate the civilian space program, and that he was acting in 1989 not impelled by crisis but to seize an opportunity in the best tradition of American history. He proposed not a 10-year Apollo-style plan, but a long-range continuing commitment based on the three above elements, ending with “a journey into tomorrow – a journey to another planet – a manned mission to Mars.” The President noted it was humanity’s destiny to explore, and America’s destiny to lead. He ended by asking Vice President Quayle to lead the National Space
Council in determining what was needed to carry out these missions in terms of money, manpower and technology.

Following this announcement NASA Administrator Richard Truly initiated a study of the options to achieve the President’s goals, headed by Johnson Space Center Director Aaron Cohen. On 29 November 1989, Truly briefed the National Space Council’s Blue Ribbon Panel on the resulting “90-Day Study.” The study estimated SEI’s long-term cost at approximately 500 billion dollars, a truly staggering figure, even spread over 20 to 30 years. The Vice President asked the National Academy of Sciences to assess the scope and content of the NASA study, as well as alternative approaches and technology issues. Although the Academy largely concurred with the NASA study, White House and Congressional reaction to the NASA plan was hostile, primarily due to the cost estimate. NASA was repeatedly rebuffed in its efforts to gain Congressional support for the plan. President Bush sought international partners, but the program was too expensive even for an international endeavor.

In August 1990 President Bush established a Committee, headed by Norm Augustine, to make recommendations for the space program. Among the recommendations in the Augustine report, released on 17 December, 1990, was that NASA should focus on space and Earth science, while transitioning human exploration to a “go-as-you-pay” strategy. The President ordered NASA to implement these recommendations. Dan Goldin was brought in as the new NASA Administrator, and during his tenure near-term human exploration beyond Earth orbit was abandoned, and the
“faster, better, cheaper” strategy was applied to space science robotic exploration. As a result the Clinton Administration’s 1996 National Space Policy officially removed human exploration from the national agenda.

snip
---------------------------------------------

A November 1989 90-Day Study that is 159 pages long. Lots of ideas, drawings and plans for a space station, going to the Moon, and to Mars.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://history.nasa.gov/90_day_study.pdf (11.6 MB)
NASA Moon/Mars Database Report

This is an internal NASA report prepared for NASA Administrator Truly by a team led by Johnson Space Center Director Aaron Cohen. It was commissioned by Admiral Truly after the President's July 20 speech, and its purpose is to provide a database for the Space Council to
refer to as it considers strategic planning issues.

The report will be used as an input and one data source for Council consideration of approaches to program, schedule and technology, international cooperation and management.

The Space Council will examine the reference.cases described in the report and also intends to examine a range Of robust technical alternatives and approaches to mission planning°

The report does not contain any specific recommendations.

The report does not contain any estimates of total mission cost.

The report provides information regarding the potential benefits of the human exploration initiative, international, participation considerations, and potential management system enhancements.

snip
---------------------------------------------

And here is a July 1991 study by International Security and Commerce Program, Office of Technology Assessment that is 112 pages long. (and my eyes are getting tired reading, wish I was younger.)
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/32992.pdf (2.7 MB)
Exploring the Moon and Mars: Choices for the Nation
July 1991
OTA-ISC-502

Foreword

The United States has always been at the forefront of exploring the planets. U.S. spacecraft have now journeyed near every planet in the solar system but Pluto, the most distant one. Its probes have also landed on the Moon and Mars. Magellan, the most recent of U.S. interplanetary voyagers, has been returning thought-provoking, high-resolution radar images of the surface of Venus.

Scientifically, the prospect of returning to the Moon and exploring Mars in greater detail is an exciting one. President George Bush’s proposal to establish a permanent lunar base and to send human crews to explore Mars is ambitious and would engage both scientists and engineers in challenging tasks. Yet it also raises a host of issues regarding the appropriate mix of humans and machines, timeliness, and costs of space exploration. This Nation faces a sobering variety of economic, environmental, and technological challenges over the next few decades, all of which will make major demands on the Federal budget and other national assets. Within this context, Congress will have to decide the appropriate pace and direction for the President’s space exploration proposal.

This report, the result of an assessment of the potential for automation and robotics technology to assist in the exploration of the Moon and Mars, raises a number of issues related to the goals of the U.S. civilian space program. Among other things, the report discusses how greater attention to automation and robotics technologies could contribute to U.S. space exploration efforts.

In undertaking this report, OTA sought the contributions of a broad spectrum of knowledgeable individuals and organizations. Some provided information, others reviewed drafts. OTA gratefully acknowledges their contributions of time and intellectual effort.

NTIS order #PB91-220046

snip
---------------------------------------------

Here is a reference that is helping me understand what goes on in picking what NASA does or does not do, concerning our quest for becoming adept at living in space and exploring other astronomical bodies. There are a number of references listed and I have ordered a couple of books to add to the ones already on my coffee table. I don't think it will help my sore jaw from gritting my teeth.
- LRK -

For now, the next reference should round out my understanding.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
Mars wars : the rise and fall of the Space Exploration Initiative /.
Thor Hogan. p. cm. -- (The NASA history series) (NASA SP-2007-4410)
...
history.nasa.gov/sp4410.pdf (107 p. 2.52 MB)
snip
---------------------------------------------

Thor Hogan makes reference a number of times to what David S. F. Portree has compiled in his Monograph 21 David covers a lot of those paths that we tried to follow.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://history.nasa.gov/monograph21/humans_to_Mars.htm
Humans to Mars

Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950-2000 (NASA SP-2001-4521) by David S. F. Portree. A complete PDF version of Monograph 21.
http://history.nasa.gov/monograph21.pdf

Humans to Mars is also available to be downloaded by chapter. The low-res version is best for Web viewing. The hi-res version is best for printing.
snip
---------------------------------------------

Please don't shoot the messenger.

There is a lot of information available and often numbers are thrown around without a reference to what they mean or the background that surrounds them, like $300B - $500B to go the Moon, or was that to the Moon, Mars and for a space station. Was it for a 10 year or 20 year or a 30 year time span?

And today, when you add up what NASA is going to be getting a year, what would that number equate to if you said it was for 10, 20, or 30 years?

---------------------------------------------
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/factsheet_department_nasa/
FY2011 Request: $19.0 billion
FY2010 Enacted: $18.3 billion
---------------------------------------------

And when we pick our path to space are we going to try to walk all of them at once, or will we take a journey that has a goal with a number of stops along the way? How many times will we get lost and find we are back to where we started before? Do we have a limited budget that constrains us to be efficient in our selections or do we have a patron saint that will leave sacs of coins along the way? Do I have to produce something to earn my keep or can I pick and chose what I want and take as much as I want?

All those questions and more when you start looking at the details and packing your bag. :-)

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

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
==============================================================
http://history.nasa.gov/sei.htm
The Space Exploration Initiative

[Links to several articles. - LRK -]
snip
==============================================================
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Budget
Each year, the United States Congress passes a Federal Budget detailing where federal tax money will be spent in the coming fiscal year.

The following charts detail the amount of federal funding allotted to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) each year over its past fifty year history (1958-2008) to operate aeronautics research, unmanned planetary and manned space exploration programs.

snip
==============================================================

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

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

Starry-Eyed Hubble Celebrates 20 Years of Awe and Discovery

I was reminded by Bob in Texas, that Hubble Telescope has been in space looking out into the Universe for 20 years. He sent me the next two links and the YouTube presentation lets you know that we are just a speck in the vastness of space.

Here I thought I was something special but there is so much more out there. :-)
- LRK -

------------------------------------------------------

Hubble’s Ultra Deep Field Now in 3D
http://badatsports.com/2009/hubbles-ultra-deep-field-now-in-3d/

Hubble took the deepest look in the darkest patch of sky for a second time with even more sensitive lenses and measurements have predictably found the eternal quote to be true:

This time though it was able to use red shift relations to map the image in 3D.

[Watch the YouTube presentation and fly though space and back into time. - LRK -]
------------------------------------------------------

There is some interesting information on this second link and more links you might like to check out.
- LRK -

------------------------------------------------------
Starry-Eyed Hubble Celebrates 20 Years of Awe and Discovery
http://www.hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2010/13/full/

NASA's best-recognized, longest-lived, and most prolific space observatory zooms past a threshold of 20 years of operation this month. On April 24, 1990, the space shuttle and crew of STS-31 were launched to deploy the Hubble Space Telescope into a low Earth orbit. What followed was one of the most remarkable sagas of the space age. Hubble's unprecedented capabilities made it one of the most powerful science instruments ever conceived by humans, and certainly the one most embraced by the public. Hubble discoveries revolutionized nearly all areas of current astronomical research, from planetary science to cosmology. And, its pictures were unmistakably out of this world.

At times Hubble's starry odyssey played out like a space soap opera, with broken equipment, a bleary-eyed primary mirror, and even a space shuttle rescue/repair mission cancellation. But the ingenuity and dedication of Hubble scientists, engineers, and NASA astronauts have allowed the observatory to rebound time and time again. Its crisp vision continues to challenge scientists with exciting new surprises and to enthrall the public with ever more evocative color images.

NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) are celebrating Hubble's journey of exploration with a stunning new picture, online educational activities, an opportunity for people to explore galaxies as armchair scientists, and an opportunity for astronomy enthusiasts to send in their own personal greetings to Hubble for posterity.

snip
------------------------------------------------------

If I had read my NASA News email post I would have realized that there was something to celebrate. A success story that had its ups and downs. Some of those funding issues like we keep hearing about. And some of the human error that creeps into projects, then finding ways to make it work.

Never give up, never give up, we can make it work, just give me a chance. :-)
Now twenty years old with a renewed life, looking out ever further into space.
- LRK -

------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/apr/HQ_10-092_Hubble_20th_image.html
J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
410-338-4514
villard@stsci.edu
April 23, 2010
RELEASE : 10-092

NASA's Starry-Eyed Hubble Telescope Celebrates 20 Years of Discovery

WASHINGTON -- As the Hubble Space Telescope achieves the major milestone of two decades on orbit, NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute, or STScI, in Baltimore are celebrating Hubble's journey of exploration with a stunning new picture and several online educational activities. There are also opportunities for people to explore galaxies as armchair scientists and send personal greetings to Hubble for posterity.

NASA is releasing a new Hubble photo of a small portion of one of the largest known star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula. Three light-year-tall towers of cool hydrogen laced ith dust rise from the wall of the nebula. The scene is reminiscent of Hubble's classic "Pillars of Creation" photo from 1995, but even more striking.

To view the photo, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

NASA's best-recognized, longest-lived and most prolific space observatory was launched April 24, 1990, aboard the space shuttle Discovery during the STS-31 mission. Hubble discoveries revolutionized nearly all areas of current astronomical research from planetary science to cosmology.

Over the years, Hubble has suffered broken equipment, a bleary-eyed primary mirror, and the cancellation of a planned shuttle servicing mission. But the ingenuity and dedication of Hubble scientists, engineers and NASA astronauts allowed the observatory to rebound and thrive. The telescope's crisp vision continues to challenge scientists and the public with new discoveries and evocative images.

"Hubble is undoubtedly one of the most recognized and successful scientific projects in history," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Last year's space shuttle servicing mission left the observatory operating at peak capacity, giving it a new beginning for scientific achievements that impact our society."

snip
------------------------------------------------------

Want to help the Hubble folks?
- LRK -

------------------------------------------------------
http://www.galaxyzoo.org/
Welcome to Galaxy Zoo, where you can help astronomers explore the Universe

Galaxy Zoo: Hubble uses gorgeous imagery of hundreds of thousands of galaxies drawn from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope archive. To understand how these galaxies, and our own, formed we need your help to classify them according to their shapes — a task at which your brain is better than even the most advanced computer. If you're quick, you may even be the first person in history to see each of the galaxies you're asked to classify.

More than 250,000 people have taken part in Galaxy Zoo so far, producing a wealth of valuable data and sending telescopes on Earth and in space chasing after their discoveries. The images used in Galaxy Zoo: Hubble are more detailed and beautiful than ever, and will allow us to look deeper into the Universe than ever before. To begin exploring, click the 'How To Take Part' link above, or read 'The Story So Far' to find out what Galaxy Zoo has achieved to date.

Thanks for your help, and happy classifying.

The Galaxy Zoo team.

snip
------------------------------------------------------

Well that is what I have on the Hubble for the moment and I will get back to reading about the "Mars Wars." Then I will do some more research and try to understand why we are not
going to the Moon as planned.

Will have more on that later.
(I feel like I am watching an old Saturday Matinee, will the train run over the pretty lady tied to the railroad tracks or will she be saved at the last minute?
Come back next week and see the thrilling ending.)
- LRK -

------------------------------------------------------
Mars wars : the rise and fall of the Space Exploration Initiative /.
Thor Hogan. p. cm. -- (The NASA history series) (NASA SP-2007-4410)
...
history.nasa.gov/sp4410.pdf (107 p. 2.52 MB)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hogan, Thor.
Mars wars : the rise and fall of the Space Exploration Initiative /
Thor Hogan.
p. cm. -- (The NASA history series) (NASA SP-2007-4410)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Space Exploration Initiative (U.S.)
2. Space flight to Mars--Planning--History--20th century.
3. United States. National Aeronautics and Space
Administration--Management--History--20th century.
4. Astronautics and state--United States--History--20th century.
5. United States--Politics and government--1989-1993.
6. Outerspace--Exploration--United States--History--20th century.
7. Organizational change--United States--History--20th century.
I. Title.
TL789.8.U6S62 2007
629.45’530973--dc22
2007008987

snip
------------------------------------------------------

And if you missed the present discussion about funding, or not, for the Constellation program, watch the recent Webcast of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations where NASA Administrator Bolden was questioned April 22, 2010.
- LRK -

------------------------------------------------------
http://appropriations.senate.gov/

Under Recent Webcasts -
4/22/2010
Video of Hearing on FY 2011 NASA Budg
http://appropriations.senate.gov/webcasts.cfm?method=webcasts.view&id=a5d75507-dc17-4f57-b550-4981ac513b07

snip
------------------------------------------------------

I need to unclench my jaws and take a deep breath. Breath in, breath out.

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

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
==============================================================
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/hubble_20/
Amazing Space

Celebrating Hubble's 20th Anniversary

The Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope sparked a revolution in astronomy when it opened its “eye” on the universe 20 years ago. The telescope’s “hall-of-fame” images and spectacular discoveries of black holes, far-flung galaxies, and gas shrouds around dying, Sun-like stars have forever changed our view of the cosmos.

[Nice video and other Hubble information and activities. - LRK -]

snip
==============================================================

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

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

Where has all the HE-3 gone? Where can I get some?

---------------------------------------------

http://www.thermo.com/eThermo/CMA/PDFs/Various/File_52281.pdf
June 16, 2009
Re: Global He3 Shortage – The Impact upon Products with Neutron Detectors and Our Action Program

Dear Colleagues and Customers:
Since the late 60’s the neutron detector of choice has been the He-3 filled proportional tube. He-3, which has negligible natural abundance on earth, has been readily available as it is a by-product of the large quantities of Tritium provided to support nuclear weapons programs. The reduction in the weapons programs has removed this source of He-3 to the point where the stock of He-3 is insufficient to support the current demand for neutron detectors. The development of a source of He-3 by producing Tritium is characterized by a lengthy time to production and by very high cost and would not be available for at least one year.

At the same time Homeland Security requirements have driven a greatly increased demand for neutron detectors. The statement below is taken from a DOE (Department of Energy) coordinated Neutron Detection Technologies Workshop in which we are participating.

Over the past 5 years, the demand for helium-3 (He-3) for neutron detectors has increased greatly, and the available supply of He-3 is projected to fall significantly short of demand in the near future. The primary reason for the increase in demand is the expanded use of He-3 in neutron detectors for national security, nonproliferation, defense, border security, and homeland security applications. He-3 is the material of choice for neutron detection because of the ease of discrimination between neutrons and gamma rays.

snip
---------------------------------------------

A need for Helium 3, right now, here on Earth.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://introtoeppfall09.blogspot.com/2009/11/helium-3-shortage-causes-scare.html
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Helium 3 Shortage Causes Scare

In recent years there has been technology created that has utilized helium 3 as an agent to detect nuclear bombs. According to The New York Times, the Department of Homeland Security has spent over $230 million to develop better technologies to detect smuggled nuclear weapons, but there has been a sudden halt in the development of these new machines because the United States has run out of supply of the raw material helium 3. Helium 3 is a rather rare form of the element that is generated when tritium decays. Experts say that most tritium production stopped in 1989. Official governmental actors have openly criticized the lack of preparedness for this shortage. Investigations into the matter uncovered research that indicated that the demand for helium 3 "appeared to be 10 times than that of the supply".

If fully developed, the Government planned on "a worldwide network" using the new detection technology that could detect plutonium or uranium in shipping containers. The Government hoped to provide 1300-1400 of these machines at a cost of $800,000 a piece to ports around the world in hopes to deter terrorists from trying to deliver nuclear bombs to big cities. However, these hopes seemed to have been thwarted by the lack of availability of helium 3. Critics argue that although there seemed to be a plentiful amount after the Cold War, researchers should have indicated that although plentiful, the supply would not be sustainable for long term, continued use. Others who did recognize the limited supply however, weren't worried about sustainability, relying on the expectations that new technologies would be developed that would not utilize helium 3 as much, if at all.
snip
---------------------------------------------

The government has an investment in the use of Helium 3 and needs more.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://www.proportionaltech.com/new_site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143&Itemid=1
He-3 shortage and solutions
Written by Administrator
Tuesday, 01 December 2009 17:42

A critical shortage of He-3 gas has been revealed recently by expert groups (see reports here), who have urged that the government take action towards the development of alternative neutron detection technologies. Such developments are crucial to ensure the continuation of DNDO and DHS efforts to secure the country against radiological and nuclear threats, and also support commercial and research demand for neutron detectors in fields of neutron science, medicine, oil and gas exploration and basic low temperature physics. Currently all large scale applications of He-3 have been placed on hold awaiting a presidential commission decision on the priority of the different areas of need.

Proportional Technologies Inc. is bringing to market a technology for the detection of neutrons that does not require the use of He-3 gas. This development, funded over the past 5 years by the DOE, the DTRA and NIH, uses B-10, a material that is high in natural abundance, and has easy, economical isotopic separation methodology. The patented boron-coated straw (BCS) detector (U.S. Patent 7,002,159) can match or exceed the performance characteristics of typical He-3 tubes, and can support large-scale deployments; as such, it constitutes an excellent alternative to He-3 based detectors in the large scale applications of interest to the DHS and DOE, such as portal monitoring, stand-off detection, and portable devices that represent the greatest drain on He-3 world resources.

snip
---------------------------------------------

Money spent on finding substitutes for Helium 3.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6712/is_33_244/ai_n45231171/
Helium-3 Shortage For Radiation Portal Monitors Is Severe, DHS Warns
Defense Daily, Nov 18, 2009

By Calvin Biesecker

The White House has convened an interagency policy committee to address the nation's shortage of Helium-3 (He-3) gas used in a variety of applications, including neutron detector tubes that are part of radiation portal monitors (RPM), and decided in September that no new He-3 will be given for RPM production for now, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told Congress yesterday.

The shortage of He-3 is "severe," Dr. William Hagan, acting deputy director for the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), told the House Science Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight. Demand will "outstrip supply by a factor of 10," he said.

He-3, which is a non-radioactive gas given off as a byproduct of tritium decay--tritium being a key component in nuclear weapons--is required to produce currently deployed RPMs and the next-generation systems, called Advanced Spectroscopic Portals (ASPs). The gas is also a critical component in medical imaging systems, the oil and gas industry and high-energy research.

snip
---------------------------------------------

A number of uses for Helium 3 and not enough to go around.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/us/23helium.html
Shortage Slows a Program to Detect Nuclear Bombs
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: November 22, 2009

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security has spent $230 million to develop better technology for detecting smuggled nuclear bombs but has had to stop deploying the new machines because the United States has run out of a crucial raw material, experts say.

The ingredient is helium 3, an unusual form of the element that is formed when tritium, an ingredient of hydrogen bombs, decays. But the government mostly stopped making tritium in 1989.

“I have not heard any explanation of why this was not entirely foreseeable,” said Representative Brad Miller, Democrat of North Carolina, who is the chairman of a House subcommittee that is investigating the problem.

An official from the Homeland Security Department testified last week before Mr. Miller’s panel, the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of the House Science Committee, that demand for helium 3 appeared to be 10 times the supply.

Some government agencies, Mr. Miller said, did anticipate a crisis, but the Homeland Security Department appears not to have gotten the message.

The department had planned a worldwide network using the new detectors, which were supposed to detect plutonium or uranium in shipping containers. The government wanted 1,300 to 1,400 machines, which cost $800,000 each, for use in ports around the world to thwart terrorists who might try to deliver a nuclear bomb to a big city by stashing it in one of the millions of containers that enter the United States every year.

At the White House, Steve Fetter, an assistant director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, said the helium 3 problem was short-term because other technologies would be developed. But, he said, while the government had a large surplus of helium 3 at the end of the cold war, “people should have been aware that this was a one-time windfall and was not sustainable.”

snip
---------------------------------------------

Where might I go to find more Helium 3?
Could it be on the Moon, that Moon that we have been there, and didn't develop a paying industry.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/proj?rm=he3
Lunar Mining of Helium-3

There is no doubt that one of the most difficult problems that a peaceful world will face in the 21st century will be to secure an adequate, safe, clean, and economical source of energy. Existence of lunar helium-3, to be used as fuel for fusion reactors, is well documented; verified from numerous Apollo and Luna mission samples, current analyses indicate that there are at least 1 million tonnes em

snip
---------------------------------------------

Helium 3 on the Moon. Hmmmm, I thought we were going to go check that out but I guess planting a flag is enough, been there.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/LEA/whitepapers/Van_Cleve_nac_he3_abstract_01.pdf
PREPARING THE GROUND FOR A HELIUM-3 ECONOMY FROM A POLAR LUNAR OUTPOST.
J. VanCleve1. 1Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. (1600 Commerce St.,
Boulder CO 80301, jvanclev@ball.com)

Introduction: Helium-3, deposited by the solar wind in the lunar regolith, may potentially be used as fusion power for terrestrial electricity and deep-space propulsion[1,2]. It could be a key resource in selfsustaining interplanetary economy, since the establishment of controlled d-3He fusion would endow this resource with a value of roughly $3M/kg, assuming that fuel comprises 20% of the cost of $0.10/kWh electricity. There are no terrestrial sources of 3He sufficient to sustain industrial-scale use. The value of a Helium-3 deposit, like that of any other mineral resource increases more rapidly than linearly with concentration. While the highest solar wind flux is found in Farside equatorial regions, mature, titanium-rich soils of the Nearside maria retain more of the solar wind, with the net result that the Nearside maria yielded the best 3He concentrations in the Apollo samples. Concentrations may be significantly higher in undisturbed regolith[3], giving the best lunar regolith an energy density about half that of gasoline. The polar
regions are expected to be relatively barren of 3He, because of low solar wind exposure [4] and poor soil retention; so at first glance the Solar Polar lunar outpost recommended by NASA’s Lunar Architecture Team (LAT) is unpromising for the characterization and development of this potentially important resource.However, there are several reasons to consider the value of a polar outpost in preparing for the large scale extraction of 3He:

snip
---------------------------------------------

Besides Neutron detectors, Helium 3 might just help solve our energy problem.
I am sorry, there just isn't enough to go around.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------
http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/pubs/wcsar
Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR) Report List

WCSAR reports cover the FTI discovery of lunar helium-3 and explore
lunar mining feasibility and the helium3-fusion connection; 1987-1993.

snip
---------------------------------------------

Who might go to the Moon to scrape up some Helium 3. Doesn't look like that will be NASA.
Maybe those civilian space enthusiasts will find there is money in them thar lunar hills.
Send in the robots and a technician or two.
Scrape up enough to make do.
Do it for me, I tell you true.
- LRK -


---------------------------------------------
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=10924
STATUS REPORT
Date Released: Thursday, November 6, 2003
Source: Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

RETURN TO THE MOON

A return to the Moon to stay would be at least comparable to the first permanent settlement of America if not to the movement of our species out of Africa.

I am skeptical that the U.S. Government can be counted on to make such a "sustained commitment" absent unanticipated circumstances comparable to those of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Therefore, I have spent much of the last decade exploring what it would take for private investors to make such a commitment. At least it is clear that investors will stick with a project if presented to them with a credible business plan and a rate of return commensurate with the risk to invested capital. My colleagues at the Fusion Technology Institute of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Interlune-Intermars Initiative, Inc. believe that such a commercially viable project exists in lunar helium-3 used as a fuel for fusion electric power plants on Earth. Lunar helium-3, arriving at the Moon as part of the solar wind, is imbedded as a trace, non-radioactive isotope in the lunar soils. There is a resource base of helium-3 about of 10,000 metric tonnes just in upper three meters of the titanium-rich soils of Mare Tranquillitatis. The energy equivalent value of Helium-3 delivered to operating fusion power plants on Earth would be about $4 billion per tonne relative to today's coal. Coal, of course, supplies about half of the approximately $40 billion domestic electrical power market.

A business and investor based approach to a return to the Moon to stay represents a clear alternative to initiatives by the U.S. Government or by a coalition of other countries. A business- investor approach, supported by the potential of lunar Helium-3 fusion power, and derivative technologies and resources, offers the greatest likelihood of a predictable and sustained commitment to a return to deep space.
snip
---------------------------------------------

Too bad we have already been to the Moon.
I thought I was going to see more activity before I died.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

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
==============================================================
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Schmitt
Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is an American geologist, a former NASA astronaut, University Professor and a U.S. Senator for one term.

He is the twelfth and last of the Apollo astronauts to arrive and set foot on the Moon (crewmate Eugene Cernan exited the Apollo Lunar Module first). However, as Schmitt re-entered the module first, Cernan became the last astronaut to walk on and depart the moon. Schmitt is also the only person to have walked on the Moon who was never a member of the United States Armed Forces (he is not the first civilian; Neil Armstrong left military service prior to his landing in 1969).

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

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

The tired, totally irrelevant "been there" thing

Suggest you read another blog that better explains the empty feeling I have.
- LRK -

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http://lunarnetworks.blogspot.com/2010/04/buzz-has-been-there.html
The tired, totally irrelevant "been there" thing
Friday, April 16, 2010

Paul D. Spudis
The Once and Future Moon
Smithsonian Air & Space Blogs

During a carefully staged appearance at Kennedy Space Center
yesterday, President Barack Obama rolled out his plans for the U. S.
space program. Although there weren’t many surprises (the White House
Office of Science and Technology, under the direction of John P.
Holdren, had released a fact sheet days earlier outlining details),
one startling part of the speech was that we are abandoning the Moon
as a goal. Though hinted at in several statements by people around the
President, including NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Apollo 11
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, a path away from human return to the Moon is
now officially the direction of Obama’s space policy.

The speech detailed aspects of the administration’s new space budget,
which will eliminate Project Constellation, contract with commercial
entities for human transport to LEO, and spend money for development
of new technology so as to “revolutionize” our access and capabilities
in space. The Moon was finally mentioned near the end of the speech
and I felt it would be fitting to use the President’s own words as the
title for this post, and then give my views of the Moon’s place in the
template of space exploration.

I’ve heard the “been there” line many times since 2004 when President
George W. Bush announced the Vision for Space Exploration, so hearing
it one more time was not a particularly jarring experience. But stop
for a moment to consider exactly what President Obama said. Lunar
return critics give many reasons to NOT go to the Moon: they think
that it’s scientifically uninteresting, it doesn’t contain what we
need, it will turn into a money sink (preventing voyages to many other
destinations in space – perhaps one on their list), that there are
more pressing needs here on Earth, and I’m sure others that I haven’t
yet heard. But this new space policy rationale is unique and carries
with it different and significant implications for our nation’s
exploration of space.

We have now added a new requirement for U.S. space missions – we must
go to a place never before visited by humans. Of course, some will
argue that such a concept is implicit in the word “exploration” but
until recently, exploration encompassed a much wider concept where
exploration was followed by exploitation and settlement by many people
from many walks of life using many different skills toward a myriad of
goals. I wonder if supporters of this new space policy have stopped to
consider the implications of the “not been there” requirement. The new
meaning of exploration contains within it the seeds of its own
termination: after you’ve touched the surface, planted a flag, and
collected some rocks or deployed an instrument, that destination is
“done.” Or does such a formulation apply only to the Moon?

snip
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There is more on the blog and I hope you read it all.
I have said enough for today.
I will wait a bit and see what falls out of the sky.
- LRK -


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http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/index.php?/archives/183-Retracing-the-Steps-of-Apollo-15-Constellation-Region-of-Interest.html
Retracing the Steps of Apollo 15: Constellation Region of Interest

http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/images/
LROC Images
LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera), which is aboard the lunar
satellite LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter), is currently collecting
data and returning an immense wealth of information in the form of
images of the Moon. Below you will find our major resources of
released images and data from LROC:

snip
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Thanks for looking up with me.(Hopefully still)
- LRK -

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
==============================================================
http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2010/04/16/not-your-grandfathers-space-program.html
Not Your Grandfather's Space Program
Obama offers new road map for NASA

By Ron Cowen, Science News

Speaking at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center April 15, President Obama
outlined a new plan for the space agency that would forgo sending
astronauts back to the moon, but would send humans to an asteroid in
2025 and into orbit around Mars a decade later.
Click here to find out more!

The strategy would rely on private aerospace companies to ferry crew
and supplies into space. It would also cancel a program known as
Constellation, which is aimed at developing a heavy-lift rocket and
vehicles to carry astronauts back to the moon, in favor of pursuing a
new rocket that would take humans beyond well beyond that destination.

“I am very happy about the introduction of new innovative commercial
approaches in human space flight, because we’ve been trapped into a
very bad cul-de-sac for 40 years,” says planetary scientist and former
NASA associate administrator for science Alan Stern of the Southwest
Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Stern predicts that Congress is
likely to approve Obama’s plan.

In Obama’s blueprint, NASA would get an additional $6 billion over the
next five years to begin developing new space technologies, refocusing
its efforts away from designing space transportation vehicles. The
plan would, however, keep plans to develop the Orion crew vehicle,
which would be the only U.S. space transport vehicle once the shuttle
is retired later this year. And in 2015, the agency would evaluate
plans for a rocket that would carry astronauts into deep space.

Early next decade, Obama said, “a set of crewed flights will test and
prove the systems required for exploration beyond low Earth orbit,”
culminating in the first human journey to an asteroid in 2025.

Journeys to Mars orbit in the mid-2030s would be followed by a landing
on Mars, “and I expect to be around to see it,” the president told the
cheering crowd.
snip

Hmmmmmmm, 20 more years away, I wonder if I will be around to see it
if I am 90 years young. - LRK -
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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A Fifteen Course Dinner and now the Check Please! - Pie in the sky for Dessert would be nice

I have this ill feeling in my stomach.
I think I eat something that doesn't agree with me.
- LRK -

Well I listened and watched and read President Obama's speech to the folks at KSC.
He says he expects to see us send humans around Mars in his lifetime with his plan.

Elon Musk of Space X has a statement of support - AT LONG LAST, AN INSPIRING FUTURE FOR SPACE EXPLORATION.
http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20100415

Space.com has an article in agreement - Obama Aims to Send Astronauts to an Asteroid, Then to Mars
http://www.space.com/news/obama-space-plan-speech-100415.html

The National Space Society sent me an e-mail with the subject - NSS Press Release on President's Visit to Kennedy Space Center - NSS APPLAUDS PRESIDENTS COMMITMENT TO THE MISSION OF NASA AND THE ROLE OF SPACE IN PROVIDING FOR THE FUTURE.
http://www.nss.org/

Remarks by the President on Space Exploration in the 21st Century as posted on the NSS site.
http://www.space.com/news/obama-space-plan-speech-100415.html


We have been planning a long time to send humans to space. The International Space Station was going to be used to test our ability to withstand the effect of microgravity on the human body. It has been limited in scope due to budget limitations, reduction in scope and experiments canceled. Added to that just the delays in competing construction.

We have had testing on the ground for being able to withstand long periods in confined environments, with some success and some failures. We have tried to make complete ecological environments like Biosphere 2 with problems.
- LRK -

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2
snip
Biosphere 2 had two closure experiments, Missions 1 and 2. The first, with a crew of eight people, ran for two years 1991-93. Following a six month transition period during which researchers entered the facility through airlock doors and conducted research and system engineering improvements, a second closure with a crew of seven people was conducted March 1994-September 1994. In the course of that second mission, a dispute over management of the financial aspects of the project caused the on-site management to be locked out, and the mission itself to be ended prematurely.

snip
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There has been much work done on Habitability Designs for living in space and testing the ability to get along with each other and how to feed and care for humans in confined spaces.
- LRK -

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http://hefd.jsc.nasa.gov/
Habitability and Environmental Factors Division

The Habitability and Environmental Factors Division (HEFD) at NASA/Johnson Space Center is responsible for providing a safe and productive environment for any human spacecraft or habitat and overseeing the research and technology development to enable humans to safely and effectively live and work in space. This work includes human factors and habitability systems; air and water quality, toxicology, microbiology, acoustics and radiation health; and rapid prototyping and integration of human-centered and vehicle systems. HEFD is comprised of two branches:
snip
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We have not gone to a celestial body and stayed long enough to prove our ability to survive and make use of the resources available on location.
Going back to the Moon to stay was going to be a proof test and shake out the problems of living off planet.

You can read an in depth report of how we were going to use the Lunar Resources. Topics covered included: Astrophysics, Earth Science, Heliophysics, Planetary Protection, and Planetary Science.
- LRK -

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http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/LEA/finalReport.pdf (138 page, 15.4 MB)
NP-2008-08-542-HQ

NASA ADVISORY COUNCIL WORKSHOP ON SCIENCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE LUNAR EXPLORATION ARCHITECTURE FEBRUARY 27–MARCH 2, 2007 • TEMPE, ARIZONA

snip
The overall objective of the workshop was to provide input from the scientific community through the NASA Advisory Council to the NASA Administrator regarding science associated with the return-to-the-Moon phase of the VSE. Findings developed during the “Workshop on Science Associated with the Lunar Exploration Architecture” are intended to form a basis for Council recommendations regarding planning and implementation of NASA’s Lunar Exploration Architecture and related science programs Through attendance of their representatives, workshop considerations and findings became immediately available to the two Mission Directorates.

snip
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President Obama said, "Now, I understand that some believe that we should attempt a return to the surface of the Moon first, as previously planned. But I just have to say pretty bluntly here: We’ve been there before." . . .

Yes, we have been to the Moon, but done what? A three day stay is not surviving on another planet for six months or two years, it is only three days in transit to the Moon and not six to eight months in space like Mars if you use chemical propulsion. Will the VASIMR engine be tested on the ISS before the shuttle missions stop? We haven't developed nuclear power for powering ION engines on a true spaceship to do it in a shorter time. (39 days?) We don't know if we could survive off world and you don't extract someone from Mars at a moments notice. Orbiting Mars sounds like a one time Apollo mission to me. Been there and then cancel further missions.
- LRK -

The President said. "But I want to repeat -- I want to repeat this: Critical to deep space exploration will be the development of breakthrough propulsion systems and other advanced technologies. So I’m challenging NASA to break through these barriers. And we’ll give you the resources to break through these barriers. And I know you will, with ingenuity and intensity, because that’s what you’ve always done. (Applause.)" . . .

Yes it has been done, when properly funded, and NO it han't been done when funds were withdrawn and missions canceled Too many missions canceled for lack of funds or changes in World conditions and political will. As I see it the goal should be to learn how to live off world. That means more than just throwing darts at a sky map and saying why don't we go here today.
- LRK -

Well what is it going to take to get back to the Moon? Do we have to borrow a Shuttle and change out the engine in space like Jack Medaris did in "BACK TO THE MOON" by Homer H. Hickam, JR.?

Speaking of Homer H. Hickam, JR., maybe we should read his comments about the decision to cancel plans to go to the Moon.
- LRK -

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http://www.homerhickam.com/cgi-bin/blog.cgi?id=48
Homer Shrugs - 2010-04-07 07:19:40
Dear Readers:

Well, here it is April, 2010, and the dust still hasn't quite settled on the Obama's Administration's 2011 budget proposal which cancelled NASA's plan to return Americans to the moon, recommended increased reliance on commercial firms to carry Americans into low earth orbit, and a smorgasbord of baffling, nonspecific ideas for going into deep space.

snip
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Maybe I have created some indigestion pains but let me share some more food for thought.
Dr. Ronald Wells wrote me this.
- LRK -

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Obama's decision to cancel Constellation will have dire consequences
for both the future economy and security of this country in spite of
his rousing speech in Florida today. Armstrong, Lovell, and Cernan as
well as 27 other former astronauts, going all the way back to the
Mercury program, flight controllers, and a former Administrator of
Manned Spaceflight during the Apollo period are correct in that
assessment.

There is no way that a commercial spacecraft can be ready to go to the
ISS in the foreseeable future (5-10 years), never mind to the Moon or
to Mars or to some asteroid. Commercial companies do not have the
expertise, the safety record, the ability to prove the craft ready for
human flight, nor the launch facilities and personnel to oversee such
launches. Yes, Obama says NASA has always relied on private enterprise
to build its rockets; but he fails to point out that behind every
commercial engineer stood a NASA engineer overseeing design, quality
control, and production schedules. NASA and the commercial companies
formed tightly knit teams, which have not been allowed for under the
Obama plan. The follow-on heavy launch vehicle, Ares V, was following
a developmental schedule similar to the construction of the Saturn V
rocket that took the Apollo astronauts to the Moon. Ares V was
destined to lift twice the payload to the Moon and form the basis of
travel on to Mars. It WAS the next generation vehicle for America's
deep space program, but Obama wants to start over with a new design
after nearly $10 billion have already been spent on Constellation
which was following the tightly knit cooperative approach so necessary
on a major space endeavor.

On the other hand, the launch last October of Ares I-X, the first step
towards Ares V and the developmental version of the rocket to take
Orion to the ISS was successful, and would be human-rated long before
any commercial vehicle, domestic or foreign. Buzz Aldrin may support
Obama's decision but there is a formidable array of his colleagues who
have as much, if not more, experience than he has in space exploration
and how to administer it, who do not agree with him. Other Apollo
astronauts have written to Chairman Wolf of the Appropriations
Committee expressing their disagreement over the proposed
cancellation! Fortunately, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas has
introduced Senate bill S.3068 which would restore funding to
Constellation and mandate that it be completed.

Those who insist that Constellation is an exemplar of what is wrong
with NASA have no sense of history, or of the significance that the
program had for pure science and the future of the economy of this
country and also its foreign policy. The NASA Advisory Council (NAC),
chaired by former Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, a more
cohesive and experienced panel of scientists than the Augustine
Commission, Obama's politically appointed panel, examined the
Constellation program on four different occasions during its
development. They found nothing wrong each time with the exception of
underfunding by Congress, the main reason the program is behind
schedule.

The NAC also set up a marvelous science program to be carried out at
Shackleton base near the lunar South Pole, an enterprise, not unlike
Antarctica, which would have conducted science in 5 major areas:
astrophysics, earth science (yes, earth science from a Moon base),
heliophysics, planetary protection, and planetary science--all of
these areas fell into the overarching exploration themes that answer
why we needed to go back to the Moon: human civilization, scientific
knowledge, exploration preparation, global partnerships, economic
expansion, and public engagement.

Obama can intimate that we've "been there, done that" as a reason for
cancelling a Return to the Moon, but his Vision for the Future is
remarkably barren of a similarly detailed plan forming a change we can
believe in! Schmitt has perfectly characterized both the President and
Aldrin with the last two sentences of a Letter to the Editor of the
Wall Street Journal (3/08/2010): "With his ongoing retrenchment and
politicization of NASA, the president is signaling to the young and
the world that the U.S. has withdrawn from the future of humankind in
space. Mr. Aldrin's characterization of the president's budget as a
"bold initiative" would be laughable if it did not represent such an
abysmal lack of understanding of the consequences of this proposed
retreat from American greatness."

Obama's speech today does not alter that assessment. The same can be
said for other critics of NASA and the Constellation Program, such as
the Planetary Society officers, and even those in NASA who lack the
courage and the conviction to stand up against the President, starting
at the top! NASA Administrator Bolden, Deputy Administrator Garver,
and Science Advisor Holdren do not have the expertise to manage
anything approaching what the Constellation program represented for
America's future. In the words that Homer Hickam (author of "Rocket
Boys", a.k.a. "October Skies") used today, they do not have the
experience even to manage "a boy scout jamboree". Remember that
shuttle astronaut Bolden believes we can get to Mars in weeks instead
of months, evidence that he does not understand Hohmann transfers, and
Garver's experience rises to the level of a Public Affairs Officer.
Watching Obama & his Administration dismantle American exceptionalism
by ceding it to China, Russia, and other countries and replacing ours
with smoke and mirrors is truly a disheartening experience.

R. A. Wells
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Time for a glass of water and a couple of Alka-Seltzer.
My apologies if I caused any upset stomachs.
- LRK -

In my eighteen years supporting NASA at Ames Research Center I saw a number of reorganizations and when I left there were a lot of empty rooms and halls that echoed with ghosts of past missions canceled. I thought we had plans to go to mars and the stars by taking steps that would assure a good footing and prove we knew how to survive in the thin air of space. You don't climb Mt Everest in a direct climb, you establish base camps and adjust to the knew environment, then you proceed, picking your steps carefully lest you fall to your death or freeze in an unexpected storm. The Moon just makes sense as a base camp to check out our new tools giving us the needed information to make the final climb to space.

If you want to make a direct climb now, my blessings go with you. I hope I don't have to step over your corpse.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

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
==============================================================
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html
LRO Sees Apollo Landing Sites
07.17.09

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has returned its first imagery of the Apollo moon landing sites. The pictures show the Apollo missions' lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon's surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules' locations evident.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, was able to image five of the six Apollo sites, with the remaining Apollo 12 site expected to be photographed in the coming weeks.

The satellite reached lunar orbit June 23 and captured the Apollo sites between July 11 and 15. Though it had been expected that LRO would be able to resolve the remnants of the Apollo mission, these first images came before the spacecraft reached its final mapping orbit. Future LROC images from these sites will have two to three times greater resolution.

snip

http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery.html

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/index.html

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

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