Man going back to the Moon?

[GrieferLord]

i have a feeling we will use the moon as a slingshot to go further out to other planets, and we can mine resources on the moon. still it will be quite dangerous.

[Kyng]

i have a feeling we will use the moon as a slingshot to go further out to other planets, and we can mine resources on the moon. still it will be quite dangerous.

Yeah, probably. If we ever do decide to build a rocket to go to Mars, it's much easier to launch it from the Moon than it is to launch it from Earth!

(I suppose it'd be even easier to get your rocket building if you assembled it in space... but, that sounds like it'd be horribly difficult )

[Kyng]

And now, NASA has unveiled the first prototype of the spacesuit for this mission. It's similar to the one used on the International Space Station, but with upgrades for comfort, fit and mobility:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50070615

The mission's still five years away, though - so, there's still time for this prototype to be upgraded further!

[Kyng]

And now, the astronauts who are due to travel to the Moon have been revealed. There are 18 of them in total (nine men and nine women), and they're a mix of new recruits and people with previous ISS experience:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55253932

Good luck to them in the following four years of training - and the missions themselves!

[Kyng]

NASA has released the first images of its fully-assembled Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will be used for these missions to the Moon. It's set to have its maiden (unmanned) flight in 2022 - with a manned flight hopefully following in 2023:

Good luck to them !

[SpookyZalost]

Finally, gods we haven't sent a man to the moon since the early 1970's

the reason we never went back to the moon was the false assumption that it held no value, that maintaining a permanent presence there wasn't worth our time.  It's literally Nixon's fault as he and the presidents after him focused more on conflicts here on earth than our efforts to move beyond this cradle of a world.

[Kyng]

Finally, gods we haven't sent a man to the moon since the early 1970's

the reason we never went back to the moon was the false assumption that it held no value, that maintaining a permanent presence there wasn't worth our time.  It's literally Nixon's fault as he and the presidents after him focused more on conflicts here on earth than our efforts to move beyond this cradle of a world.

Well, I guess it's not so much that it has 'no value': more that it's so prohibitively expensive that it's just not worth the cost of going back there, unless you have some kind of clear reason to send people there (as opposed to just sending a much cheaper unmanned mission ).

Of course, if we want to send people to Mars eventually, then sending people back to the Moon will be an important stepping stone to that, so we actually have a reason to do it now!

[Kyng]

As an update on this, a new prototype spacesuit has been revealed:


(Source: NASA / Axiom Space)

If you want to read more about it, you can do so here .

[Kyng]

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have announced the names of the crew for the mission. It'll be NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Hammock Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen:


(Source: NASA)

Best of luck to this intrepid quartet !

[Kyng]

Apparently, Prada will be helping to design the suits:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67022619

I don't know how stylish they'll be compared to Prada's usual fare, but their expertise with materials should help!