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Jonah;

I think you are basically correct but the moon is about 225,000 miles
not 160,000 and there are economies in launching from 1/6 th the
Earths gravity. However, you comments about the necessary infra
structure and economies from unknown minable resources are basically
correct. Most critiques I have heard are from business analysts who
are claiming there is not enough money to accomplish his goals but he
won't be around (in office, at least) to have to deal with any of
what he is proposing.

I think this is a political diversion and an attempt to piggy back on
the successes of Spirit (despite Beagles demise and the unknown
Opportunity). It is politics, politics, politics! It is not binding
on anyone I can discern and will be a boon-doggle to the aerospace
industry amongst others and does not really represent real science
exploration.

'Nuff said.

Martin
>
>
>Someone here is horrendously misinformed. It's either me, or the
>President of the United States. I would not mind at all if someone
>pointed out why it is, indeed, me, but here's my beef:
>
>I dig space exploration as much as the next guy, but it seems to me that
>Bush's new space initiative (establishing an ISS-style base on the moon
>by 2015, then using that as a jumping off point for manned missions to
>Mars) is just outright nuts. Has he been watching too much Star Trek?
>
>I mean, we have a difficult enough time maintaining the ISS. And it's
>scientific benefits are debatable (Time Magazine lavbeled it "space
>pork"; see also Bob Park's excellent book "Voodoo Science"). And when you
>compare it's cost/benefit ratio to unmanned exploration, like Hubble or
>the Spirit rover now cruising around Mars, it seems especially dubious.
>So imagine how much more difficult it would be to construct and maintain
>and operate and if need be evacuate such a station that's 160,000 (am I
>right?) miles away, not just 125. I've seen the Apollo crafts at the
>Smithsonian, and they don't look like they carry lots of cargo.
>
>Bush also thinks the manned missions to Mars could be launched from the
>moon. I'm no rocket scientist, but I do know that launching a human into
>space in any way (never mind 140,000,000 miles to Mars - and that's just
>1 way!) requires lots and lots of people, lots of safety checks and lots
>of fancy equipment. How are you going to manage to construct and operate
>Cape Canaveral 2 on THE MOON?
>
>And aside from the technological difficulties, what's the reward for all
>this? My favorite laugher was when Bush said his plan would let us
>harvest the moon's abundant natural resources. Say what?!?!? I know of no
>valuable resources there - and even if there are some, how could they
>possibly be so valuable that spending billions of dollars to recover
>small quantities of them makes any economic sense?
>
>So please tell me: am I a space moron? Am I missing the obvious? Or is
>the mainstream media in serious derelect of duty in not pointing out the
>scientific illogic of this plan?
>
>Scratching my head,
>Jonah Cohen
>Outreach & Public Programs Manager
>Science Center of Connecticut
>
>
>"Too many whites are getting away with drug use.
>The answer is to... find the ones who are getting away with it, convict
>them,
>and send them up the river."
>       -Rush Limbaugh
>
>
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>
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--
Martin Weiss, PhD
Director of Science
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111 th Street
Flushing Meadows, New York 11368
718 699 0005 x 356

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