The Moon to Mars Plan: A possibility or fantasy?
President Bush placed the Mars missions high in his budgeting for the United States’ government, but when the budget grew tighter, cuts had to be made. The president, however, still strove to make Mars exploration possible. Although the Martian Rovers are continually discovering new information about the red planet, human trips still seem a thing of the distant future. But with Bush’s new plans, a trip from the Moon to Mars might make the expedition more possible.
Called the Vision for Space Exploration, the new plan works to “implement a sustained and affordable human and robotic program to explore the solar system and beyond; extend human presence across the solar system, starting with a human return to thee Moon by the year 2020, in preparation for human exploration of Mars and other destinations; develop the innovative technologies, knowledge, and infrastructures both to explore and to support decisions about the destinations for human exploration; and promote international and commercial participation in exploration to further U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests” . NASA plans to delegate certain tasks in order to complete their goals, though their plan lays out a specific implementation for flights to the moon. Their four-part plan spans three decades, slowly expanding exploration out over the solar system. Firstly, NASA focuses on the International Space Station and returning the Space Shuttle back to usage in space flight. Then, by 2008, NASA plans to “initiate a series of robotic missions to the Moon to prepare for and support future human exploration activities”, culminating in an extended human expedition to the Moon somewhere between 2015 and ...
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...anets and learning more about the solar system around us.
Works Cited
Miller, Karen. “Mars Mice”. 22 September 2004. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Homepage. 26 October 2004.
<http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/livingthings/20jan_marsmice.html>.
Phillips, Tony. “Greenhouses for Mars.” 22 September 2004. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Homepage. 26 October 2004.
<http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/livingthings/25feb_greenhouses.html>.
The Vision for Space Exploration. February 2004. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters, Washington D.C. 26 October 2004. <http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/55583main_vision_space_exploration2.pdf>.
Wheeler, Larry. “House Budget Panel Deals Setback NASA’s Moon-Mars Plans”. Florida Today. 21 July 2004. 26 October 2004. <http://www.space.com/news/nasa_budget_040720.html>.
America went to the moon in the 1960’s, during a time of war, a time that was so far behind in technology compared to now, but yet human beings went to the moon . Human beings are capable of many wonderful things and their potential has no limits, except for the limits that are placed by government and society. Neil deGrasse Tyson attempted to liberate NASA from the limits of low funding by giving a speech to the U.S Senate. Tyson used emotion and logical thinking to make the complexity of NASA as relatable to the audience as possible, and by doing so he wanted to convey to them how important NASA is in our society today and the future of the human kind.
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” was stated by Neil Armstrong once a national goal was accomplished. Landing successfully on the moon was a major goal for astronauts of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin were honored to be the very first of mankind to step foot on the moon, and allowed America to set future goals for outer-space journeys. With the assigned Apollo mission, America was granted much needed hope. Astronauts of NASA in the Apollo Program accomplished John F. Kennedy’s goal of placing the first man on the moon safely for the United States.
“In a fraught fiscal climate, NASA should focus on what it does best and on what offers the best return on investment. Solar system exploration meets both criteria: the U.S. has long led the interplanetary charge, and the resulting scientific benefits have come at a relative bargain. This year NASA 's planetary science program cost about $1.5 billion -- less than what NASA spent designing a congressionally mandated rocket, the Space Launch System, which appears more likely to satisfy aerospace contractors than to aid the cause of space exploration. Such directives from lawmakers all too often land in NASA 's lap without the funds to carry them out (To The
This may simply be a pie in the sky, however, as the romance of manned space flight is what keeps the program in the public eye in the first place. Thus, while the administration may focus a somewhat larger portion of their funding toward unmanned exploration, the real reason for NASA as a public entity is so Americans and the world can watch with some measure of their old fascination the spectacle of human beings stepping beyond their earthly cribs into the cosmic playground. Works Cited Chaikin, Andrew. A. A Man on the Moon, New York: Penguin, 1994. Gatland, Kenneth.
Despite how extreme Congress's plan appears to be, it does not really change NASA overall direction. Humans have not traveled...
Have you ever looked up in the sky and wondered if there is life elsewhere in the universe? Have you ever looked at a photograph of Mars and wondered if there really was ever life on it? People have a wide variety of opinions regarding these questions and with good reason. As far back as the broadcast of H. G. Well's novel, "The War of the Worlds", the world has been fascinated with the possibilities of what Mars may hold. Over time, the majority of people have come to realize that there is no way that life can currently be on Mars. Those who are uncertain think there may be microscopic bacteria underground.
It is within man’s blood and nature to explore, and space is our next New World. Man’s first achievement in space travel was the launch of the Sputnik on October 4, 1957. For the next decades, space travel was roaring like a rocket, fueled by man’s desire to explore, man’s desire for knowledge, and man’s desire to beat his enemies. However, these impulses have died out as the well of government funding has been diverted to wars and debts, and the interest of the American people has been diverted to wars and debts. Amidst all these issues it is debated as to whether or not space travel is worth the money and the attention of scientists, particularly since humanity faces so many issues on earth currently. However, because of the past inventions, current services, and future benefits, space travel is indeed worth the money and attention of governments and people. It is within our hands to control man’s advancement, and space travel is the next venue to do so.
TheSpaceRace.com - Timeline of Space Exploration. (n.d.). TheSpaceRace.com - Timeline of Space Exploration. Retrieved April 27, 2014, from http://www.thespacerace.com/timeline/
middle of paper ... ... NASA Marshall. Marshall: Launching the Future of Science and Exploration. 15 February 2010 http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/home/index.html>. NASA Public Affairs.
Carl Sagan once said “every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring—not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive. If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds.” The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, is executing Sagan’s words every day. President Dwight D. Eisenhower created NASA in 1958 with the purpose of peaceful rather than military space exploration and research to contribute to society. Just 11 years after the creation, NASA put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, the first humans to accomplish this feat.
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It was July 20 1969, the day that reshaped our nation and gave us unparalleled dreams for the future. The impact of the day goes far beyond our pride and nationalism; that day would change space exploration and technology forever. Just like a shooting star, that day would give us a glimpse of hope. A chance to see an event so breathtaking and defying, it would be man’s greatest accomplishment in the 20th century. As millions of people watched from their TV sets, a rush of euphoria came over the nation as Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the surface of the moon. It was the first time in the history of mankind that we would step on the surface of another celestial body. John F. Kennedy dared us to dream, he inspired the nation to reach for the moon, to set ourselves apart from the rest of the world. The Space Race was symbolic of many things. Our future as the technically dominate nation was secured in place; just as secure as Old Glory would be, when she was driven down into the soil of the moon. We not only reached the moon, we conquered it as a nation; united.
(Source K) Flowers, Sarah. “Understanding: Space Travel.” Rev. of Understanding: Space Travel. PoQuest. N.p., Aug. 2000. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. .
In the place where humans are going to live permanently there has to be a plant growing station, or room. In this room there will be LED lights that only turn off the most efficient light used by the plants. CO2 is already on the planet; all we need now is water. To grow plants and to live, we must have fresh, distilled water. Our rovers have discovered water in the soil of Mars.
Since the beginning of time, mankind has sought after learning about and exploring the universe. This yearning drove us to achieve such great things as the journey to the moon and the discovery of water on mars. Nowadays, several people argue as to whether or not space exploration is worth the effort. I believe that it is humanity’s instinctual nature to pursue a better understanding of ourselves, and our universe. Further understanding of our universe will lead to the discovery of new technologies and ways to secure humanity’s survivability. As such, this essay will argue that space exploration is a necessity to our kind and that NASA should be progressively more financed.
Most people think that the costly downside to funding space exploration is a reason to avoid spending money on sciences and instead spend it on problems here on earth, but such funding for space exploration actually promotes economical as well as scientific benefits. Space exploration is an important expenditure for the high cost because of the potential for numerous benefits such as the possibility to find useful resources to cultivate, space exploration and satellites produce many thousands of jobs in our economy, and it creates and discovers newer and better technologies through research and development.