December 05, 2006

It's Moon Base Alpha! "NASA said it will establish an international base camp on one of the moon's poles, permanently staffing it by 2024, four years after astronauts land there." Projected bill: US$104 billion.
  • Given that the War In Iraq costs $250 Million/day, the moonbase is roughly equivalent to 416 days of war. Today is Day 1357. We could be building entire fucking moon colonies.
  • Y'know that thought occurred to me too. It used to be that people complained about moon missions being expensive....
  • The more I see of the course of affairs on our once-fair planet, the more I think we should do this. Stephen Hawking could be onto something. ;]
  • Dibs on being the Official Lunar Blogger. Just give me a room with a view and a wifi connection.
  • And from the moon We watched the earth in the sky And slowly Watched it die From afar And when we knew That it was gone We wrote Sad songs Of what had been But we knew We had to try another day So the best scientists They invented a way And so we went Jumping in our Flying cars We headed Out to Mars To start it all over again
  • $12 billion of that cost is due to TSA security... not only do they need to launch 720 tons of X-ray equipment into orbit, but NASA is now forced to develop a water vapor catalyst since no liquids will be allowed into space.
  • Yes, kids, had the US forsaken the path of war in Iraq, we could have had 3 permanent moon bases with another on the way.
  • Another good 'un, Argh! Must admit I feel my life's been cheated by the lack of space exploration. grown dim, the dreams of domed cities set among the moon's stark craters and those terraforming companies never burgeoned and now their lustre's lost with the low-gravity medical clinics we've yet to build: yes, I still ache to walk on Mars
  • Kewl! It's about time we ramped up on space exploration. The last twenty years have been pretty slow going. All that money we put into war, that could have been put into education, health, environment, and exploration--wasted./sad
  • Yay Argh! By 2024 the US flag may not be quite so prominent on the next expedition to the moon, which is probably a good thing. As long as someone does it. And it's not like the moon has much of an atmosphere or ocean we can screw up. Look out, universe, here we come!
  • That's awsome! Tonight I'm going to party like it's space 1999
  • That's awsome! Tonight I'm going to party like it's space 1999
  • I guess this means we can't blow up the moon. Not even a quarter-moon?
  • I'm there, daddy-o!
  • Bagsy I get to be Martin Landau! Who wants to be Barbara Bain?
  • !
  • Didn't Japan make a similar promise in the mid-1990s to have a permanent moon base by 2016 or thereabouts?
  • *looks forward to Clavius moonbus trip to TMA-1*
  • I am of the opinion that a moonbase and a war in Iraq are almost equally shameful and silly-assed ways of spending a hundred, or several hundred, billion dollars.
  • A moonbase with low gravity could grow giant crops to feed the Earths hungry - until the War of Lunar Independence, which starts with the Tranquility Base Tea Party. Stan, I'm being flippant, you do have a point.
  • The moon is rich in the isotope Helium-3, which does not exist naturally on Earth. Helium-3 can be used for fission to create power without any harmful radiation byproduct or pollution, unlike the isotopes we currently use which spew out at least 80% of their potential power in the form of alpha radiation. There is so much H3 on the moon that it has been estimated that it could power the earth for thousands of years. One shuttle bay full could power the US for several years alone. The moon is also rich in other valuable resources such as hafnium & tungsten, among others.
  • Of course, Stan, you're right. But if billions of dollars are going to be funnelled to the military-industrial complex anyway -- and I have my doubts that something other than that could happen -- I'd much rather have it be spent moonbases than on wars.
  • G'wan then, get ya! Get outta here! Off my planet! Damnable moon-monkeys.
  • Everything I know, I learned from Wikipedia. What I read there about Helium-3 is that it could power the Earth for thousands of years, if there were huge amounts of it lying around on the moon- the article seems to say there aren't- which could be delivered by some practical means to all our working, clean, safe fusion reactors. But hey- maybe we'll make it work; we were living in caves not too long ago, and now look at the mess we're in all we've achieved. But yeah, I get the whole advancing-the-frontiers thing. It's a worthier business than plenty of others we're in. It's just frustrating that we can't feed the world or have libraries that are open more than two afternoons a week, because We Can't Afford It. If there were some weird substance on the moon that would make people want to Do Right due to exposure to Utopions or something, I'd say shit, let's go get it.
  • They're just preparing for a lunar installation of the fearsome Electrolux Death Ray.
  • Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.
  • Lab demo (QT video).
  • *moons the thread*
  • Space is a lonely place.
  • "Well, I'd like to visit the moon On a rocket ship high in the air Yes, I'd like to visit the moon But I don't think I'd like to live there Though I'd like to look down at the earth from above I would miss all the places and people I love So although I might like it for one afternoon I don't want to live on the moon" Muppet wisdom. Gotta love it.
  • *shakes fist To the moon, Alice!
  • This is cool. I'll never forget the awe I felt, the summer I turned 6, watching Neil Armstrong et. al., or just looking up at the moon in the night sky. It's kind of the awe by which all other awes are measured, for me. Now if we could only have leadership who could get the ball rolling on an alternative-energy Apollo Project....
  • what a complete waste of money!
  • *confiscates smokey69's spacesuit*
  • Damnable moon-monkeys. what a complete waste of monkey!
  • Stars occupy minute areas of space. They are scattered a few billion here, and a few billion there, as if seeking consolation in numbers...
  • Stars are holes in the celestial sphere, thru which the light of heaven shines. They are big enough for a man to climb thru, if you could get up there. You could probably grab hold of a giant bird to do it.
  • No, you idiot! You just climb inside a Giant's ass and cling to a turd - then make him bend over and - BAM! - poo that sucker up to the heavens. Choose TURD, not BIRD.
  • Hmm . . turd . . bird . .. . turd or bird . . . hmmmm . . . Tird? Burd? . . . Birdy turdy . . . hmmm . . bird or turd, bird or turd . . . *Ka-VOTE!*
  • I prefer to bring the heavens to me by asking politely. Pffft, men. Always want to do things the hard way.
  • Damnable moon-monkeys. I like the moon-monkeys.
  • I am of the opinion that a moonbase and a war in Iraq are almost equally shameful and silly-assed ways of spending a hundred, or several hundred, billion dollars. Well, at least it won't be killing half a million people... But, yeah, I'm right there with ya.
  • To prepare for Moon Monkeys, you can always play the game
  • You could climb inside a burnun seed pod, then let it get attached to a traverser's leg as it climbs the web to the moon.
  • So what kind of lure do you need to catch these moon bass, anyway?
  • I use a fluttering cheesepopper with a dangly bit.
  • (Moon) Base, how low can you go?
  • >>Well, at least it won't be killing half a million people... Hence my 'ALMOST equally shameful...' etc. Although the thing that occurs to me now is, we'll probably end up building our moon base next door to the Chinese moon base, get into a snit about Who Owns Which Parts Of The Moon (the particulars of which, I predict, will make me even more depressed about Modern Humans than I already am), and end up in a Moon War! -which will be cool until it turns into an Earth War. There's your half-a-million people and THEN some.
  • Moon war? Don't tell Koko -- she could wipe us all out with her giant ass.
  • Bitch!
  • *licks finger, traces imaginary '1' in air*
  • Will kids who are born on and grow up on the moon drop their drawers to "earth" people?
  • Looking for "drop their drawers to 'earth' people"! *BZZZTT*
  • bees, your poem expresses just what I feel. I grew up knowing, just knowing I'd go into space one day, and live on a moon colony. And now, it ain't happening. So sad.
  • *nudge*