Should We Build a Moon Base

Moon bases are in the news again, with announcements from the U.S. government that NASA should get ready to plan a return to the lunar surface. The U.S. isnt alone—other countries are eyeing our nearest neighbor in space with both scientific and commercial eyes. And, at least one company has suggested building an orbiting station around the Moon for commercial, scientific, and tourist purposes. So, can we return to the Moon? And if so, when will we do it and who will go? Historical Lunar Steps Many decades have passed since anyone has walked on the Moon.  In 1969, when astronauts first set foot there, people talked excitedly about future lunar bases that could be built by the end of the 1970s. Unfortunately, they never happened. There have been a lot of plans made, not just by the U.S., to return to the Moon. But, our closest neighbor in space is still inhabited solely by robotic probes and the traces of the landings. There are numerous questions about whether the U.S. has the wherewithal to take the next step and create scientific bases and colonies on our nearest neighbor in space. If not, perhaps another country, such as China, will make that historic leap that has been talked about for so long.   Historically, it really did look like we had a long-term interest in the Moon. In a May 25, 1961 address to Congress, President John F. Kennedy announced that the United States would undertake the goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth by the end of the decade. It was an ambitious pronouncement and it set in motion fundamental changes in science, technology, policy, and political events. In 1969, American astronauts landed on the Moon, and ever since then scientists, politicians, and aerospace interests have wanted to repeat the experience. In truth, it makes a lot of sense to go back to the Moon for both scientific and political reasons.   What Does Humanity Gain by Building a Moon Base? The Moon is a steppingstone to more ambitious planetary exploration goals. The one we hear a lot about is a human trip to Mars. That is a massive goal to be met perhaps by the middle of the 21st century, if not sooner.  A full colony or Mars base will take decades to plan and build. The best way to learn how to do that safely is to practice on the Moon. It gives explorers a chance to learn to live in hostile environments, lower gravity, and to test the technologies needed for their survival. Going to the Moon is a short-term goal when one stops to consider the longer-term exploration of space. Its less expensive by comparison to the multi-year time frame and billions of dollars it would take to go to Mars. Since humans have done it several times before, lunar travel and living on the Moon could be achieved in the very near future using tried and true technologies in combination with newer materials to build lightweight but strong habitats and landers. This could happen within a decade or so. Recent studies show that if NASA partners with private industry, the costs of going to the Moon could be reduced to a point where settlements are more feasible. In addition, mining lunar resources would provide at least some of the materials to build such bases.   Why go to the Moon?  It provides a stepping stone for future trips elsewhere, but the Moon also contains scientifically interesting places to study. Lunar geology is still very much a work in progress. There have long been proposals calling for telescope facilities to be constructed on the Moon. Such radio and optical facilities would dramatically improve our sensitivities and resolutions when coupled with current ground and space-based observatories. Finally, learning to live and work in a low-gravity environment is important.   What Are the Obstacles? Effectively, a Moon base would serve as a dry run for Mars. But, the biggest issues that future lunar plans face are costs and political will to move forward. Sure its cheaper than going to Mars, an expedition that would probably cost more than a trillion dollars. The costs to return to the Moon are estimated to be at least 1 or 2 billion dollars.   For comparison, the International Space Station cost more than $150 billion (in U.S. dollars).  Now, that may not sound all that expensive but consider this. NASAs entire yearly budget is usually less than $20 billion. The agency would likely have to spend more than that every year just on the Moon base project, and  would have to either cut all other projects (which isnt going to happen) or Congress would have to increase the budget by that amount. The odds of Congress funding NASA for such missions as well as all the science it could be doing are not good.  Ã‚   Could Someone Else Take the Lead on Moon Colonies? Given the current NASA budget, the near-future possibility of a moon base is low.  However, NASA and the U.S. arent the only games in town. Recent private space developments may change the picture as SpaceX and Blue Origin, as well as companies and agencies in other  countries,  begin to invest in space infrastructure. If other countries head to the Moon, the political will inside the U.S. and other countries could shift quickly—with money quickly being found to jump into a new space race.   The Chinese space agency, for one, has demonstrated a clear interest in the Moon. And they arent the only ones—India, Europe, and Russia are all looking at a lunar mission. So, the future lunar base isnt even guaranteed to be a U.S.-only enclave of science and exploration. And, thats not a bad thing in the long run. International cooperation pools the resources we need to do more than explore LEO.  Its one of the touchstones of future missions and may help humanity finally take the leap off the home planet.  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹ Edited and updated by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

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The Origin Of Life And Matter - 1702 Words

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Fahrenheit (1388 words) Essay Example For Students

Fahrenheit (1388 words) Essay Fahrenheit451 And Brave New WorldFahrenheit 451 Brave New World (Analysis of Man and Society) Formore than half a century science fiction writers have thrilled and challengedreaders with visions of the future and future worlds. These authors offered aninsight into what they expected man, society, and life to be like at some futuretime. One such author, Ray Bradbury, utilized this concept in his work,Fahrenheit 451, a futuristic look at a man and his role in society. Bradburyutilizes the luxuries of life in America today, in addition to variousoccupations and technological advances, to show what life could be like if thefuture takes a drastic turn for the worse. He turns mans best friend, the dog,against man, changes the role of public servants and changes the value of aperson. Aldous Huxley also uses the concept of society out of control in hisscience fiction novel Brave New World. Written late in his career, Brave NewWorld also deals with man in a changed society. Huxley asks his r eaders to lookat the role of science and literature in the future world, scared that it may berendered useless and discarded. Unlike Bradbury, Huxley includes in his book agroup of people unaffected by the changes in society, a group that still hasreligious beliefs and marriage, things no longer part of the changed society, tocompare and contrast todays culture with his proposed futuristic culture. Butone theme that both Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 use in common is thetheme of individual discovery by refusing to accept a passive approach to life,and refusing to conform. In addition, the refusal of various methods of escapefrom reality is shown to be a path to discovery. In Brave New World, the maincharacters of Bernard Marx and the Savage boy John both come torealize the faults with their own cultures. In Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag beginsto discover that things could be better in his society but, sue to someuncontrollable events, his discover happens much faster than it would have. Heis forced out on his own, away from society, to live with others like himselfwho think differently that the society does. Marx, from the civilized culture,seriously questions the lack of history that his society has. He also wonders asto the lack of books, banned because they were old and did not encourage the newculture. By visiting a reservation, home of an uncivilized cultureof savages, he is able to see first hand something of what life and society useto be like. Afterwards he returns and attempts to incorporate some of what hesaw into his work as an advertising agent. As a result with this contrast withthe other culture, Marx discovers more about himself as well. He is able to seemore clearly the things that had always set him on edge: the promiscuity, thedomination of the government and the lifelessness in which he lived. (Allen)John, often referred to as the Savage because he was able to leavethe reservation with Marx to go to London to live with him, also has a hard timeadjusting to the drastic changes. The son of two members of the modern societybut born and raised on the reservation, John learned from his mother the valuesand the customs of the civilized world while living in a culturethat had much different values and practices. Though his mother talked of thepromiscuity that she had practiced before she was left on the reservation (shewas accidentally left there while on vacation, much as Marx was) and did stillpractice it, John was raised, thanks to the people around him, with the beliefthat these actions were wrong. Seeing his mother act in a manner that obviouslyreflected different values greatly affected and hurt John, especially when hereturned with Marx to London. John loved his mother, but he, a hybrid of the twocultures, was stuck in the middle. (May) These concepts, human reaction tochanges in their culture and questioning of these changes, are evidentthroughout the book. Huxleys characters either conform to societys demands foruni formity or rebel and begin a process of discovery; there are no people in themiddle. By doing so, Huxley makes his own views of man and society evident. Heshows that those who conform to the brave new world become lesshuman, but those who actively question the new values of society discover truthabout the society, about themselves, and about people in general. An example ofthis is Huxleys views of drugs as an escape. The conforming members of societyused widely a drug called soma, which induces hallucinations and escapes fromthe conscious world for two to eight hour periods. Those very few who didnt,John included, mainly did not because they thought the drug either unclean or aneasy escape, one not needed in a society aiming at making life very simple. Byrefusing to go along in this escape from reality, John is ultimatelyable to break from society and define his own destiny. In Fahrenheit 451 GuyMontag, the main character, is able to see through the government and theofficial polici es of his society. He does so by gradually beginning to questioncertain aspect of society which most simply accept as fact. Montags job as afireman serves as a setting to show how many people passively accept theabsurdity of their society. Instead of rushing to put out fires, as firementoday do, Montag rushes to start fires, burning the books and homes of peoplereported to have books. This was considered by most people to be a respectableprofession. But on different occasions Montag took a book out of burning homesand would from time to time read them. From this, he begins to to question thevalues of his society. Montags marriage also serves a setting to contrastpassive acceptance versus questioning of societys values. His marriage is notthe happy kind that couples today experience but more like a coexistence. He andhis wife live together and he supports her, though he apparently neither lovesher a great deal or expects her to love him. This relationship and livingarrangement, with its lack of love, is Bradburys way of showing what life couldbe like if people not only stop communicating but stop thinking and choosing,thus loosing control over their lives. Montag and his wife continue to livetogether though people in that situation today would not hesitate to terminatesuch a relationship. Montags wife apparently accepts this relationship becauseit is normal for the society in which she lives. (Wolfheim) Like Brave NewWorld_characters escaping from reality through the use of soma, Montags wife,and many other characters, escape through watching a sophisticated form oftelevision. This television system covers three of the walls of the Montags TVroom (they cant afford to buy the screen to cover the fourth wall), has acontrol unit that allows the watchers to interact with the characters on theprogram and another unit that inserts Mrs. Montags name into specific places,thus creating the image they the characters are actually conversing with them. .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 , .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 .postImageUrl , .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 , .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7:hover , .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7:visited , .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7:active { border:0!important; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7:active , .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7 .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud7811d79b340e258d1802ac45ae5f7a7:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Computer Science As A Career Essay Montags wife, having only a few friends and ones she rarely sees, spends muchof her day in this room, watching a program called The Family, agovernment sponsored program that shows the viewers what life at home should belike. The problem with this is that Montags wife takes the program as asubstitute for reality. She is almost addicted to the program, much as peoplewere with soma in Brave New World. Bradbury uses this television and itsprograms as a way of showing the escape he is worried people will look for inthe future. Without actively questioning societys values, he is concerned thatpeople will look for ways to idly spend their time. But like Marx, Montagchooses not to take part in this addiction. By abstaining, he can see theaffects its use has on the people around him, much as Marx and more importantlyJohn the Savage saw in their culture. Both authors try to show that with lifemade easier by strong government control and a lack of personal involvementpeople will no longer spen d their time thinking, questioning or developing theirown ideas. Through these various diversions from normal behavior in society,Marx, John the Savage and Guy Montag are able to see the truths behind thesocieties they live in and are able to learn about themselves. And though theirdiscoveries meant that their lives would be changed forever, the authorssucceeded in showing that the key to humanity lies in thinking and questioning. These men found themselves through their own discoveries, much as Bradbury andHuxley hope others will do.