NASA had Been Designing Lunar Bases for Decades Before Armstrong First Set Foot on the Moon - by spacewriter
Interestingly, Neil Armstrong figured prominently as part of the group of astronauts who would be involved. But, the program as described by the Air Force got canceled and came back to life as Project Mercury. As we all know, Armstrong eventually did fly to space and become the first person to set foot on the Moon.Not to be left out of the Moon race, the U.S. Army came up with Project Horizon. It was a 1959 feasibility study for a lunar military base. German-U.S.
Mission planners who weren’t planning to nuke the Moon did come up with good plans for long-term habitation. They designed living modules that would be buried under the lunar regolith. The underground cities would protect the lunar visitors from radiation, meteorite bombardment, and other surface hazards. In addition, the mission teams thought long and hard about utilizing natural resources to extract water, oxygen, and other materials for use by the inhabitants.
Much of that In-situ Resource Utilization is part of modern-day mission planning not just for future lunar bases. Mars mission infrastructure benefits from it, too. Many early ideas about lunar mining form part of what NASA hopes will be lunar bases within the decade and Mars habitats in the far future.The history of lunar base mission planning contains many more projects that never made it past the drawing boards in their original form. But, they weren’t totally discarded.
Nearly 55 years have passed since Neil Armstrong first walked on the Moon. The mission plans he followed may have been born in the first half of the 20th Century, but they set the groundwork for the Apollo missions and beyond. And, the ideas in those plans still echo through to modern scenarios. Today, we watch the Artemis program slowly make its way through huge challenges, and the Gateway project take shape. New generations of planners are involved: scientists, astronauts, engineers, and others create new and improved lunar settlement plans. And, they aren’t just U.S. plans.for example. Underlying all those scenarios are some of the basic principles first set out by 20th Century planners and well-informed science fiction writers who brought the idea of lunar bases to the public.
Argentina Últimas Noticias, Argentina Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
Ready to launch: National Air and Space Museum set to reopen with new galleriesRobert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, an online publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of 'Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018. He previously developed online content for the National Space Society and Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, helped establish the space tourism company Space Adventures and currently serves on the History Committee of the American Astronautical Society, the advisory committee for The Mars Generation and leadership board of For All Moonkind. In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History.
Leer más »
NASA SpaceX Crew-5 Astronauts Dock Arrive at International Space StationSpaceX Dragon Endurance docked to the International Space Station and Crew-5 members enter to join the Expedition 68 crew. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina arrived at the Internatio
Leer más »
NASA, SpaceX Crew-5 astronaut mission arrives at the International Space StationNASA's SpaceX Crew-5 mission arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday afternoon following a 29-hour journey from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
Leer más »
NASA astronaut Nicole Mann makes history as first Native American woman in spaceNicole Mann, a member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, is headed to the International Space Station as commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission.
Leer más »
World Space Week: Sustaining astronomy in an age of satellite megaconstellationsThousands of satellites in the night sky are not only ruining the beauty of the stars, but are seriously hampering astronomers and pose a very serious space debris threat.
Leer más »
SpaceX capsule heads to space station ferrying NASA crew and RussianA SpaceX rocket soared into orbit from Florida on Wednesday carrying the next long-term International Space Station crew, with a Russian cosmonaut, two Americans and a Japanese astronaut flying together in a demonstration of U.S.-Russian teamwork in space despite Ukraine war tensions.
Leer más »