NASA Says It Will Set Up Polar Moon Camp

Space: 1999--Here we come!

It is about time that we went back to the moon. This is also from the New York Times:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- NASA announced Monday it will establish an international base camp on one of the moon's poles, permanently staffing it by 2024, four years after astronauts return to the moon.

It is a sweeping departure from the Apollo moon missions of the 1960s and represents a new phase of space exploration after space shuttles are retired in 2010.

After consulting more than 1,000 experts from 14 different countries, NASA decided on what deputy NASA chief Shana Dale called a ''fundamental lunar approach'' that is sharply different from its previous moon missions in nearly everything but the shape of the ship going there.

NASA chose a ''lunar outpost'' over the short expeditions of the '60s. Apollo flights were all around the center of the moon, but NASA decided to go to the moon's poles because they are best for longer-term settlements. And this time NASA is welcoming other nations on its journey.

The more likely of the two lunar destinations is the moon's south pole because it's sunlit for three-quarters of the time, making solar power easier, and has possible resources to mine in dark areas nearby, said associate deputy administrator Doug Cooke.

To get to the moon, NASA envisions an all-purpose lunar lander that could touch down anywhere and can be the first part of a base camp, said exploration chief Scott Horowitz.

''The nickname I use for the lander is, it's a pickup truck,'' Horowitz said in a Monday news conference from Houston. ''You can put whatever you want in the back. You can take it to wherever you want. So you can deliver cargo, crew, do it robotically, do it with humans on board. These are the types of things we're looking for in this system.''

In the wake of the space shuttle Columbia accident, President Bush announced in 2004 a plan to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. His plan would take 16 years, twice as long as NASA's first trip to the moon took in planning. NASA has refused to estimate a price tag for the project.

There are quite a few things we can do on the moon. The big thing would be the exploration of the moon, and even the geology there. We can certainly start with the mining on the moon--starting with the search for frozen water, but also to see what other minerals are located within its craters. The moon would be a perfect observatory--can you imagine building a telescope twice the size of the Hubble telescope and placing it on the far side of the moon? The moon would be a perfect base to construct and launch spacecraft for the manned exploration to Mars, and even to advance the survival, scientific, and mining technology needed for the manned exploration to Mars. And why bother sending all that nuclear waste into Yucca Mountain, when we can also store it on the moon.