| 15,682 days as of this date have gone by since the last American man (Eugene Cernan with his companion Harison Schmidt) walked on the Moon in 1972! Since then, space enthusiasts awaited with much anticipation new programs designed to get us back to the Moon and beyond. Unfortunately, for the past 40 years our political leaders have spoken with a forked tongue when it came to manned missions beyond Low Earth Orbit. As it happened, for one reason or the other, manned programs designed to take us back to the Moon were constantly re-designed by every successive occupant of the White House since Richard Nixon... And of course, the most recent program in development, George W. Bush's Constellation systems Program which had promised return to the Moon as early as 2020 has seemingly suffered the same fate. Which caused former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin to lament: "If Obama does cancel the Constellation program, it leaves NASA and the nation with no program, no plan and no commitment to any human spaceflight program beyond that of today. The original Bush plan, of course, was to return to the moon by 2020; unfortunately, the project was underfunded to the point where this might not have happened until 2030. And what’s more, decision-makers said there wasn't enough money to do both the moon and keep the ISS project going. It had to be one or the other, and let’s face it: the advantage was to the ISS because it was already out there in space, working like a charm, and the moon R&D was still working on a rocket to replace the one we used in the 60s. Consequently, the Obama Administration decided putting $6 billion into extending the life of the ISS and at the same time encouraging private spaceflight to develop a new support system for the ISS ...But until these private spaceflight companies developed this new support system NASA needed to purchase an additional $753 Million in transportation services from the Russian Federal Space agency or $63 million per seat to and from the International Space Station on the Soyuz... As we stand now in 2014 private spaceflight Company SpaceX has been successful in developing its Falcon Rocket system which carries its Dragon Cargo Vehicle to the ISS and has completed successfully a number of missions to the ISS the same goes for private spaceflight Company Orbital Sciences which also has been successful in developing its Antaries Rocket System which carried its Cygnus Cargo Vehicle to the ISS and has also completed successfully a number of missions to the ISS. But neither company has at this point in its development of its rocket systems attempted to send human beings to the space station. And as far as the Obama policy on this, the President on April 15, 2010 committed to increasing NASA funding by $6 billion over five years and completing the design of a new heavy-lift launch vehicle by 2015 and to begin construction thereafter. He also predicted a U.S.-crewed orbital Mars mission by the mid- 2030s, preceded by an asteroid mission by 2025.. Please note -- When Neil Armstrong the first man on the moon died, President Barack Obama tweeted: "Neil Armstrong was a hero not just of his time, but of all time." But, Armstrong’s final comment on Obama, on the other hand, was that the president’s policy on manned space flight was “devastating,” and condemned the United States to “a long downhill slide to mediocrity.” That was over three years ago, when three Americans who had walked on the moon, Armstrong, James Lovell, commander of Apollo 13, and Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, published an open letter to Obama pointing out that his new space policy effectively ended American participation in the human exploration of deep space. Stated Armstrong; “We will have wasted our current $10-billion- plus investment in Constellation,” he said, “and equally importantly, we will have lost the many years required to recreate the equivalent of what we will have discarded. For the United States … to be without carriage to low Earth orbit and with no human exploration capability to go beyond Earth orbit … destines our nation to become one of second or even third rate stature.” According to Gywnee Dyer in a special report to BDN Maine, "Obama was never a politician with a big international vision. He had experts to do that stuff for him, and of course they were all part of the “Washington consensus,” which is just as parochial as he was. So he canceled the big Ares rockets that would have taken American astronauts back to the moon and onwards to Mars and the asteroids. Some other spending program just yelled louder. " So as a consequence states Dyer. If NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) wants to put an American into space now, it has to buy passage on a Russian rocket, which is currently over $50 million per seat. By 2015 the Chinese will probably be offering an alternative service (which may bring the price down), and before long India may be in the business as well. But the United States won’t. There is a built in gap of between five and ten years between the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet a few years ago and the first new American vehicles capable of putting a human being into space. Even then it will only be into low Earth orbit: none of the commercial vehicles now being developed will be able to do what the Saturn rockets did 41 years ago when they sent Neil Armstrong and his colleagues to the moon." Armstrong was very blunt about Obama’s assurances that the United States was not really giving up on deep space: “While the president’s plan envisages humans traveling away from Earth and perhaps toward Mars at some time in the future, the lack of developed rockets and spacecraft will assure that ability will not be available for many years.” Not the return to the moon by 2020 planned by the Constellation program, but pie in the sky when you die. This is not a global defeat for manned exploration of the solar system. The Russians are talking seriously about building a permanent base on the moon, and all the major Asian contenders are working on heavy-lift rockets that would enable them to go beyond Earth orbit. It’s just an American loss of will, shared equally by Obama and former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. “I know China is headed to the moon,” Romney told a town hall audience in Michigan in February. “They’re planning on going to the moon, and some people say, oh, we’ve got to get to the moon, we’ve got to get there in a hurry to prove we can get there before China. It’s like, guys, we were there a long time ago, all right? And when you get there would you bring back some of the stuff we left?” Arrogant, complacent, and wrong. |
Lehigh Valley Space Frontier
December 22, 2015
The Public Voice on the
Cutting Edge of the Future
December 22, 2015
The Public Voice on the
Cutting Edge of the Future
| Lehigh Valley Space Frontier past issues |
| Videos produced by Dennis Pearson for |
| A Honeymoon Cruise to the Moon (A Near-Term Fiction,) by Ronnie Lajoie, edited and expanded by Dennis L. Pearson Picture this ... You have just gotten married and you and your new spouse begin your honeymoon by boarding a commercial space shuttle owned and operated by Virgin Galactic to take them into Low Earth Orbit. Virgin Galactic started as company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which planed to provide suborbital spaceflights to space tourists, suborbital launches for space science missions, and orbital launches of small satellites. And further in the future, Virgin Galactic hoped to offer orbital human spaceflights as well. The future being the present for our young honey moon couple. For many year's Virgin Galactic's spacecraft was launched from a large aeroplane, giving the spacecraft more initial speed and altitude than if it were launched from the ground. But for this orbital trip Virgin Galactic utilizes a single stage to orbit vehicle with vertical take-off and horizontal landing. The US Federal Aviation Administration had given the green light for the world's first commercial spaceport in New Mexico in December 2008. And since then, a number of other commercial spaceport's developed as the industry became viable and prosperous. The present year is 2031 and the following non-federal FIAA licensed Launch Sites operate in the United States: 1) Spaceport America in New Mexico 2) Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida 3) Cecil Field Spaceport in Florida 4) Oklahoma Spaceport on Oklahoma 5) Mojave Air and Spaceport in California 6) California Spaceport in California 7) Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska and 8) Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport (Mars) Virginia but other spaceports or either in the process of construction or debate in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Texas (multiple locations) Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming Then too, In 2031 the U.S. Government still operates launch sites at Edward's Air Force Base in California, Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force station in Florida and finally, Wallops' Island in Virginia. Uniquely, the Blue Origin Launch Site in Texas is operated by one provider And the Poker Flat Research Range is owned by the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute Penn State University too is in the suborbital, orbital and trans orbital business as its successful Lunar Lion X team reached the Moon in 2015 and stayed in business with the prestige it won as a Lunar X Prize winner. Located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) is situated on the NASA Wallops Island Flight Facility and enjoys an idea location. Nearby Chincoteague Island and neighboring Assateague Island offer resent amenities, including the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and the Assateague Island National Seashore. Our newly married couple for convenience has chosen the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport which is operated under the auspices of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority to be the launch point of their journey. The couple were born and raised and still live in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania and have a relatively short airplane flight or train trip or automobile ride to get to the MARS Launch site. Wouldn't it be something if their Single Launch to Orbit Rocket could land at either the Queen City or Lehigh Valley International Airports' Let it be understood that the launch of a spacecraft comprises a period of powered flight during which the vehicle rises above the Earth's atmosphere and accelerates at least to orbit velocity. Powered flight ends when the rocket's last stage burns out , and the spacecraft separates and continues free fall. If the spacecraft achieved escape from Earth's gravitation, rather than entering Earth Orbit, its flight path then will be a solar orbit of some description (since the launch pad was also in solar orbit) In this case, the total mass of the single launch to total rocket will comprise a period of powered flight during which the vehicle rises above the Earth's atmosphere and after performing a maneuver or two, the couple's shuttle accelerates to rendezvous with a passing space cruise liner accelerates to a destination point in Earth Orbit to achieve rendezvous with a passing space cruise liner. a giant rotating space hotel with all the luxury accommodations of the best hotels and Casinos on Earth.. The Space Cruise liner a joint venture between Bigelow Aerospace, Virgin Galactic, Hilton Hotels and the Walt Disney Company. The next step would be for the shuttle to dock with and join the space cruise liner (this one named the Burt Ratan) on its week-long journey to the Moon and back ... This journey in a more basic way was taken by U.S. Government employees at least 8 times between 1968 and 1972. Six of these trips resulted in 12 U.S Citizens setting foot on the Moon and 6 others sightseeing above in Low Moon Orbit , Two of these trips involving six other individuals were Moon swing-rounds - one intentional and one unintended. Concerning the intentional swing-round, our most seasoned citizens remember the inspirational Christmas reading of the Genesis Story while on board cameras transmitted lunar and earth pictures back to Earth . Concerning the unintentional swing-round, a trip that should had landed 2 additional Americans on the Moon, but instead held Americans and the world in suspense as an on board explosion canceled the Moon landing and made those fellow human beings on planet Earth wonder whether the Apollo 13 astronauts would get home safely. The married couple ( husband and wife , spouse and spouse) disembarks the Shuttle and immediately follow other passengers to the nearest observation window to watch their home planet Earth slowly recede. After several hours of planet-gazing and cuddling, the two of them finally pull themselves away from the window long enough today to check into their room. An unique room that can automatically expand from its original dimensions and detract to its original dimensions to accommodate the amount of people that enter it or leave it. The Reservation Clerk told the Couple that they had a reservation for a room on the "Sands of Mars Level," where centripetal acceleration from the rotating ship equaled the gravity of the planet Mars -- and where there was a beach party held there every other night! Then the Clerk added that the Couple ( Mr. & Mrs (What name do you want to put here?) still had not decided on what level to consummate their marriage: "Earth," "Mars," "Moon," or "Zero-G" --- Perhaps all four! Why not, the Couple had all week to enjoy these experiences or sensations. Of course, being adventurous, the couple decided to have their first dinner on the "Zero-G-Level... What a big mistake that was ... Oh well! ... At least the folks at the other table forgave them and laughed about it.... And the staff assured them that the wine stain could be removed.... Has anyone seen how the waiters and waitresses working for the 1950's style Sonic restaurant serve their orders while skating on roller skates, well up here in the Zero-G-Level it was fun to see the waiters literally swim in a waterless environment to and from each table. But of course, by the end of the trip, the couple is really glad that they can have a nice "normal" morning cup of coffee on the good old "Earth Level". That's just the way it is ... Even on Earth a group of American and Canadian Tourists visiting China welcomed the menu choice of a genuine hamburger after eating for days on end the same Chinese Menu choice. The inflexible Chinese Tour Guide had planned yet another repetitive Chinese Menu choice when faced with a mini-revolt , suddenly had to become flexible to avoid losing control of their clients. But at the same time warned his clients to be back on the bus at the planned time or else. What next for the couple on the Cruise liner? Why not give a go at bowling on the "Lunar Level." In 1/6th Gravity how wacky can these games be? And boy, You should see how far these pins fly! Perhaps not as far as Alan Shepard's unauthorized Golf Shot on the Moon. But what is obvious they split and fly much further then what they would do on Earth. Then afterwards, the Couple will find an observation window pointing at the Moon to do more gazing and of course, more cuddling. Then it's on to Beach Party # 1 back on "Mars Level." On Day 2, the passengers of the Rutan were required to participate in an Evacuation Drill, so that everyone on board would know how to get to the nearest lifeboats in case of a serious emergency. This is no different then what ocean going cruise liners put their passengers through. Except lifeboats on the space cruise liner must be prepared to deal with issues that are quite different then issues that must be dealt with by ocean liners. Each lifeboat must have enough fuel and supplies on board to sustain life all the way back to Earth; however, the nominal plan is to dock one at a time with one of the larger Earth return shuttles, like the one that brought the current passenger including the newly married couple here. As the days progress, more and more time is spent by all passengers watching the Moon as it grows larger and larger in the observation windows. Then on the day of the closest approach , there is a final briefing on the Close Pass Thrill Ride which includes the usual warning for children and people with weak hearts, The married couple and the other passengers are asked at this briefing whether any of them would change their mind about going. Mr and Mrs ________ say:" No way, We're going for it!" According to the schedule, Mr & Mrs _______ climb aboard a smaller lunar shuttle - this one would have no wings and would look like two fat sausage links: a passenger compartment and a separate fuel tank and engine section. A second shuttle just like the one being used is on standby in case of an emergency. Then your shuttle leaves the cruise liner and performs an orbital maneuver to head closer to the lunar surface. Meanwhile, the cruise liner passes the Moon at its optimum distance for a free return to Earth as the tiny lunar shuttle descends closer to the Moon and takes the adventure seekers on board on a thrill ride of one's life. The large, thick lunar glass window, held firm by strong metal straps, gives the group a wide field of view that only astronauts have while space-walking. Your lunar shuttle pilot identified craters, industrial and educational sites which could be seen on your way towards the surface - including the Gary Larsen Far Side Observatory and the University of Tranquility School of Economics and Technology at Steelworkers Bay - but eventually becomes quiet to focus on piloting, Since the moon has no atmosphere, your lunar shuttle is going to get Really close with no resistance, and it would be moving so fast that at its closest approach the landscape may become a blur...What does a cowboy say on a bucking horse? ... Yee-Hah ... That is what ____________ said in an very excited voice as his shuttle reached its closest approach to the Lunar surface. As it happened, the Orbital arc of the lunar shuttle took it back up from the surface, and after another orbital maneuver it rendezvous and docks back with the space cruise liner. Said Mrs,, the daughter of ____________ said "Wow." Over dinner at the Lunar Lagoon Polynesian restaurant, the _________ meet an elderly couple who stayed on board the cruise liner during the closest approach and who had a lovely view of the far side of the Moon. The couples share experiences and agree to exchange photographs back on Earth ... Oh did I tell you that the _________________ had the privilege of speaking to and sitting with former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. As president, Obama had canceled the government's effort to get back to the Moon to stay and then go on to Mars. His new direction for NASA was more robotic, but he promoted an effort to go to Mars and the Asteroids. As far as the Moon, his attitude was that we did that, done that... Never the less, he hoped that the new Commercial space business would pick up the slack in Low Earth Orbit and beyond... Eventually the Commercial Space Business developed the capacity to go to Low Earth Orbit and to the Moon. However, this development occurred for other reasons then Obama's approach. After some Zero-G dancing under some major moonlight, the _____ then venture over to the Crater Copernicus Casino on the Lunar Level where you could have fun with low gravity Craps and Roulette. With the Moon now receding and the Earth growing every hour, it was time to return to the observation windows frequently. Of course the main reason for people taking this cruise would be to see for themselves what once only the Apollo astronauts saw. Video recordings and virtual reality just cannot compare with the intense feelings that all this is actually happening in real time. On Departure day, it is time to say good-bye to newly met friends and take one last look out of an observation window at the rapidly approaching blue-green and swirly-white marble called Earth. Then all passengers climb aboard the same Earth space shuttle that brought them here. The _______ notice that some of the passengers are returning cruise liner staff. One of them tells the __________ that the shuttle is carrying some non-recyclable waste products from the cruise liner that will be jettisoned and burned up in the atmosphere during reentry. Once the shuttle undocks from the cruise liner, all eyes watch as it sails away once again on a journey around the Moon. And then too, all eyes strain to see the space shuttle that is taking the next batch of guests to the space liner, but that won't happen until the cruise liner has rounded the planet. All eyes strain for a glimpse of an orbiting space station, but space is big, even in Low Earth Orbit, and the shuttles return trajectory is designed to stay well away from orbiting satellites and stations. Certainly, reentry is fun, once one can get over the nervousness of seeing orange plasma engulf the shuttle. The reentry loads are not as high as launch, and since all returning guests had spent their last two hours on the cruise liner on the Earth level, they are less uncomfortable during reentry. Landing is made at a Spaceport ( this case, to one's surprise the new Queen City Space Port in Allentown Pennsylvania without incident , and all passengers get a quick check up while waiting for their luggage. Out in the parking, the __________ both seek the car with the just married foam logo still on the windshield. .... There it is ... No, that's someone else's. After the ________ find their car, they spot more just married logos on other parked cars. In amazement, the _______ said :Gee, quite a number of newlyweds must be taking the honeymoon cruise to the Moon.... "It may become more popular than going to Niagara Falls, Disney World or Las Vegas." |
| Moon Energy Systems On the Use of Solar power as a means of powering a Moon Base through the lunar night Sacremento L5 et al --- April 23, 2015 |
| Last Humans on the Moon - UTube |
| Welcome Back Baby Space X's Falcon 9 has Re-landed Imagine a re-usable rocket - space plane taking off from the Lehigh Valley International Airport destined for an orbiting space hotel or a shuttle destined to the Moon or Mars or a space taxi to some far off earth destination ... It is his far more possible now that Elon Musk's private company SpaceX has successfully re-landed the 1st stage of its Falcon 9 rocket. Meanwhile the remaining stages of the rocket delivered communication satellites into orbit |
| Buzz Aldrin Space Institute to Promote the Settlement of Mars ---- The Florida Institute of Technology has established the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute at the university, and it will be promoting the settlement of Mars. Buzz Aldrin, part of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, said that he is "thrilled to be partnering with FIT," adding that "FIT will play a key role in my ongoing legacy and Cycling Pathways to Occupy Mars. You ain't seeing nothing yet!" The Buzz Aldrin Space Institute will be supporting "commercial and international development of lunar resources to support an eventual Mars settlement," according to Florida Tech's website. Cycling Pathways to Occupy Mars is a concept of progressive missions to cis-lunar space (the sphere within the Moon's orbit), asteroids, Phobos (one of Mars' moons), and eventually to Mars itself. Aldrin has been planning missions to Mars since 1985, with a concept known as the Aldrin Mars Cycler, a "spacecraft system with perpetual cycling orbits between Earth and Mars." |
| STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY ---- H.R. 2262 — Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship (SPACE) Act of 2015 (Rep. McCarthy, R-CA, and 12 cosponsors) The Obama Administration strongly supports the development of a commercial space sector that pushes the boundaries of space exploration while creating jobs and strengthening the American economy. The American commercial launch industry is the most competitive in the world. Over the past several years, the industry has rapidly increased its share of the global market for sending satellites and other payloads into space. The Administration agrees with the goal of H.R. 2262 to bring more stability and certainty to this growing market. While the Administration does not oppose House passage of the bill, it has serious concerns with certain provisions of the bill. For example, the Administration believes that the “learning period” restricting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulation of spacecraft should be extended for a shorter period than the ten-year extension through 2025 included in the bill. Over the next few years, several American companies are expected to bring commercial orbital and sub-orbital vehicles into service. A safety framework that relies on performance-based regulations which could be satisfied by voluntary industry consensus standards would provide for a flexible approach that enhances the overall safety of the industry. FAA rulemaking activity prior to 2025 may promote, rather than hinder, the development of the commercial spaceflight industry, depending on the pace at which the market for private spaceflight services grows. With respect to space resource utilization, the Administration recognizes that steps have been taken to ensure that the bill itself is consistent with the United States' international obligations. While the Administration strongly supports the bill's efforts to facilitate innovative new space activities by U.S. companies, such as the commercial exploration and utilization of space resources to meet national needs, the Administration is concerned about the ability of U. S. companies to move forward with these initiatives absent additional authority to ensure continuing supervision of these initiatives by the U.S. Government as required by the Outer Space Treaty. The Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to address these and other concerns as the bill moves through the legislative process. Despite these concerns on November 25, 2015, President Obama signed the landmark Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (CSLCA).Which caused the National Space Socirty to congratulate President Obama and the Senate and House leadership for their hard work in hammering out a compromise between the previously passed House and Senate versions. “It is hard to over-emphasize the importance of the CSLCA,” said Dale Skran, NSS Executive Vice President. Perhaps the most historically significant part of the CSLCA calls for the establishment of a legal right for U.S. citizens to mine asteroids in a fashion consistent with international law, including the Outer Space Treaty. |
| New Horizons visits Pluto |
