[FPSPACE] No money to put astronauts back on Moon by 2020; Moonnot a realistic goal--Augustine Panel

[David Portree]

Hi, Jens:

 

I don't think I expressed myself well. Yes, deflecting an asteroid would be a substantial challenge. The likelihood that this will be necessary next week, say, is, however, very small indeed, so anyone who tries to base a space program around the threat of a civilization-destroying impact is likely to get laughed out of Congress. And, that doesn't serve the cause.

 

But asteroid deflection is a capability we're going to want to have, or at least be closer to having than we are now. So, we should creep up on it, serving as many constituencies along the way as we can. Being able to routinely reach, characterize, and sample asteroids will provide us with a stable of experience that will stand us in good stead if an asteroid comes along with our name on it, plus a lot of handy data on asteroids. It would be irresponsible not to work toward that capability at a measured pace; it would be equally irresponsible to drop everything else and work only toward that capability. 

 

NASA doesn't *need* to stick its thumb out. We have the Space Shuttle. We might *decide* to do that, but I hope not.

David S. F. Portree

dsfportree at hotmail.com
dportree at usgs.gov
 
http://robotexplorers.blogspot.com/
http://beyondapollo.blogspot.com/
 
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/About/People/DavidPortree/
 



 
> From: dstdba at post4.tele.dk
> To: fpspace at friends-partners.org
> Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:14:31 +0200
> Subject: Re: [FPSPACE] No money to put astronauts back on Moon by 2020; Moonnot a realistic goal--Augustine Panel
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Portree [mailto:dsfportree at hotmail.com] 
> Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 2:08 AM
> 
> > I don't think that asteroids - detection and deflection - offer
> > a challenge substantial enough to support our space program at
> > anything like its present level. In any case, our program
> > shouldn't be dominated by any one goal. What space has to offer
> > is diverse, so our program needs to be diverse. Of course, we
> > can't do everything there is to do. 
> 
> [snip]
> 
> Asteroid deflection would constitute a very substantial challenge,
> if Apophis - or a similar-sized mate - were detected to be on track
> to collide with Earth this century.
> 
> Fortunately that scenario is very unlikely, and therefore it would
> be madness to spend money on asteroid deflection any time soon.
> 
> Asteroid detection costs peanuts in comparison, and makes extremely
> good sense to anyone who cares for the well-being of individual humans
> as well as for humanity as a whole. Once a small asteroid is detected
> and the impact area identified, ships can be notified and evacuation
> planned. 
> 
> So yes, I agree with you that space programs should be diverse. For
> one thing ISS offers a platform for experiments related to manned
> space travel. Odd that NASA seems heading for a situation where they
> need the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy to make the small hop up
> there! 
> 
> --
> Jens Kieffer-Olsen
> Slagelse, Denmark
> 
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