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	<title>Comments on: A Small Step</title>
	<atom:link href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/</link>
	<description>I am an astronomer, writer, and skeptic. I likes reality the way it is, and I aims to keep it that way. My real name is Phil Plait, and I run the Bad Astronomy blog.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:42:46 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>By: Atomic Glee &#187; Blog Archive &#187; That&#8217;s one small step&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5554</link>
		<dc:creator>Atomic Glee &#187; Blog Archive &#187; That&#8217;s one small step&#8230;</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Aug 2005 18:08:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5554</guid>
		<description>[...] Phil over at Bad Astronomy Blog writes When I look at the Moon, I donâ€™t want to think â€œAh, what could have beenâ€? anymore. I want to think â€œLetâ€™s take that next small step.â€? [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] Phil over at Bad Astronomy Blog writes When I look at the Moon, I donâ€™t want to think â€œAh, what could have beenâ€? anymore. I want to think â€œLetâ€™s take that next small step.â€? [...]</p>
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		<title>By: MaDeR</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5526</link>
		<dc:creator>MaDeR</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jul 2005 09:32:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5526</guid>
		<description>HB simply will state that these photos was faked, too. Maybe by painting lunar rovers and landers on real photo of real terrain from real spacecraft. Paranoia always has answer.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>HB simply will state that these photos was faked, too. Maybe by painting lunar rovers and landers on real photo of real terrain from real spacecraft. Paranoia always has answer.</p>
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		<title>By: CR</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5525</link>
		<dc:creator>CR</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jul 2005 04:05:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5525</guid>
		<description>That&#039;s cool, Nigel!
I&#039;ve also been reading clavius.org (as well as the forum at ApolloHoax.net), but for me as well, it all started here at BA.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>That&#8217;s cool, Nigel!<br />
I&#8217;ve also been reading clavius.org (as well as the forum at ApolloHoax.net), but for me as well, it all started here at BA.</p>
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		<title>By: Nigel Depledge</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5524</link>
		<dc:creator>Nigel Depledge</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jul 2005 20:37:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5524</guid>
		<description>In a vaguely related kind of way, I have to thank the BA for me having a letter published in New Scientist.  Because of the BA&#039;s moon-hoax-debunking page, my interest in Apollo and lunar exploration was rekindled.  I went and read (following a link from Bad Astronomy) clavius.org&#039;s debunking of the moon hoax.  Consequently, when a letter appeared in New Scientist querying the absence of dust on the footpads of the LEM in the context of dust obscuring the surface during landing and the photographed footprints in the lunar surface, I was able to write in straight away and answer all the points, including references to relevant web pages.

So, thanks very much for that, Phil!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In a vaguely related kind of way, I have to thank the BA for me having a letter published in New Scientist.  Because of the BA&#8217;s moon-hoax-debunking page, my interest in Apollo and lunar exploration was rekindled.  I went and read (following a link from Bad Astronomy) clavius.org&#8217;s debunking of the moon hoax.  Consequently, when a letter appeared in New Scientist querying the absence of dust on the footpads of the LEM in the context of dust obscuring the surface during landing and the photographed footprints in the lunar surface, I was able to write in straight away and answer all the points, including references to relevant web pages.</p>
<p>So, thanks very much for that, Phil!</p>
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		<title>By: Another Phobos</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5553</link>
		<dc:creator>Another Phobos</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:30:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5553</guid>
		<description>&quot;We came in peace for all mankind. &quot;

Ah, the irony.  Mind you, I applaud the Apollo achievements, but it was a political/military-born program conducted at the same time there were ongoing military conflicts back on Earth.  But I suppose &quot;we&quot; can apply to the astronauts themselves.  :)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;We came in peace for all mankind. &#8221;</p>
<p>Ah, the irony.  Mind you, I applaud the Apollo achievements, but it was a political/military-born program conducted at the same time there were ongoing military conflicts back on Earth.  But I suppose &#8220;we&#8221; can apply to the astronauts themselves.  <img src='http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>By: Irishman</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5552</link>
		<dc:creator>Irishman</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jul 2005 18:34:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5552</guid>
		<description>Beaming energy from the moon faces some serious impracticalities.  The transmitted energy, even via laser, would not stay neatly columnated for easy collection on Earth by receivers.  Lasers spread out to something like a half kilometer in area.  So you are pointing high energy, say microwaves, directly at Earth, and hoping to get enough energy density out of them on the receiving end to make collecting them worthwhile - you should begin to be worried about microwaves cooking us poor humans caught innocently in the crosshairs. Plus the distance involved means energy dissipation, so a great deal of energy is wasted between collection point on the Moon and receipt upon Earth.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Beaming energy from the moon faces some serious impracticalities.  The transmitted energy, even via laser, would not stay neatly columnated for easy collection on Earth by receivers.  Lasers spread out to something like a half kilometer in area.  So you are pointing high energy, say microwaves, directly at Earth, and hoping to get enough energy density out of them on the receiving end to make collecting them worthwhile &#8211; you should begin to be worried about microwaves cooking us poor humans caught innocently in the crosshairs. Plus the distance involved means energy dissipation, so a great deal of energy is wasted between collection point on the Moon and receipt upon Earth.</p>
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		<title>By: Ian B</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5551</link>
		<dc:creator>Ian B</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jul 2005 04:17:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5551</guid>
		<description>&lt;!-- spamk    : Comment text: &#039;Tom - of course the original landing sites will become tourist attractions...

&quot;Lander Returned to this Site by the Historical Sticklers Society&quot;

Futurama fans already know that. :-)

http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/Capsules/1ACV02/

Cheers
Ian&#039; matched HTTP: --&gt;



Tom - of course the original landing sites will become tourist attractions...

&quot;Lander Returned to this Site by the Historical Sticklers Society&quot;

Futurama fans already know that. :-)

http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/Capsules/1ACV02/

Cheers
Ian</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><!-- spamk    : Comment text: 'Tom - of course the original landing sites will become tourist attractions...</p>
<p>"Lander Returned to this Site by the Historical Sticklers Society"</p>
<p>Futurama fans already know that. :-)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/Capsules/1ACV02/" rel="nofollow">http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/Capsules/1ACV02/</p>
<p>Cheers<br />
Ian&#8217; matched HTTP: &#8211;></p>
<p>Tom &#8211; of course the original landing sites will become tourist attractions&#8230;</p>
<p>&#8220;Lander Returned to this Site by the Historical Sticklers Society&#8221;</p>
<p>Futurama fans already know that. <img src='http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/Capsules/1ACV02/" rel="nofollow">http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/Capsules/1ACV02/</a></p>
<p>Cheers<br />
Ian</p>
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		<title>By: jay denari</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5547</link>
		<dc:creator>jay denari</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2005 22:30:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5547</guid>
		<description>&lt;i&gt;Is there any scientific reason to send humans back to the moon that canâ€™t be done remotely?

At this time I can only see 2 possible reasons for a manned base on the moon: Mining or Tourism.&lt;/i&gt;

I&#039;d add &lt;i&gt;survival.&lt;/i&gt; Not only can the moon provide sorely needed minerals and energy which probably could be beamed down to earth (the same way solar satellites can, once the technology&#039;s perfected), I think we should PLAN on having some people live there permanently. Also elsewhere, when possible. Having space colonies is one way to protect the species against low-probability but ultra-high-risk events like a KT asteroid, global plague, or nuclear war.

I&#039;d definitely go there to visit, but I&#039;d have to decide whether to stay once I got there. I love the trees, water, skies, deserts, life, etc, of Earth, but also the prospect of doing something radically new &amp; creating a new society on Luna. I&#039;d love to be able to point to Earth and tell my kids &quot;We came from that beautiful place...&quot;</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><i>Is there any scientific reason to send humans back to the moon that canâ€™t be done remotely?</p>
<p>At this time I can only see 2 possible reasons for a manned base on the moon: Mining or Tourism.</i></p>
<p>I&#8217;d add <i>survival.</i> Not only can the moon provide sorely needed minerals and energy which probably could be beamed down to earth (the same way solar satellites can, once the technology&#8217;s perfected), I think we should PLAN on having some people live there permanently. Also elsewhere, when possible. Having space colonies is one way to protect the species against low-probability but ultra-high-risk events like a KT asteroid, global plague, or nuclear war.</p>
<p>I&#8217;d definitely go there to visit, but I&#8217;d have to decide whether to stay once I got there. I love the trees, water, skies, deserts, life, etc, of Earth, but also the prospect of doing something radically new &amp; creating a new society on Luna. I&#8217;d love to be able to point to Earth and tell my kids &#8220;We came from that beautiful place&#8230;&#8221;</p>
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		<title>By: Nigel Depledge</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5550</link>
		<dc:creator>Nigel Depledge</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2005 21:11:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5550</guid>
		<description>Rodolfo - the hoax believers will say that the probe never left low Earth orbit, and is taking photographs through a mask to make it look like it is in lunar orbit.  Haven&#039;t you heard about the intense radiation in the Van Allen Belts???  How could sensitive electronics survive that????

Or maybe, just maybe, they&#039;ll have to accept the evidence for what it actually is.

On third thought, that&#039;s probably wishful thinking.  I always tend to hope that people aren&#039;t really that stupid, but get disappointed from time to time.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Rodolfo &#8211; the hoax believers will say that the probe never left low Earth orbit, and is taking photographs through a mask to make it look like it is in lunar orbit.  Haven&#8217;t you heard about the intense radiation in the Van Allen Belts???  How could sensitive electronics survive that????</p>
<p>Or maybe, just maybe, they&#8217;ll have to accept the evidence for what it actually is.</p>
<p>On third thought, that&#8217;s probably wishful thinking.  I always tend to hope that people aren&#8217;t really that stupid, but get disappointed from time to time.</p>
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		<title>By: The Bad Astronomer</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5549</link>
		<dc:creator>The Bad Astronomer</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2005 20:22:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5549</guid>
		<description>Because it&#039;s a typo, duh. :-) I just fixed it; thanks.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Because it&#8217;s a typo, duh. <img src='http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':-)' class='wp-smiley' />  I just fixed it; thanks.</p>
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		<title>By: Rodolfo Granados</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5548</link>
		<dc:creator>Rodolfo Granados</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2005 20:19:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5548</guid>
		<description>I would like to hear what the Moon Hoax advocates have to say when they see the pictures of the Apollo landers taken by the LRO. Will they admit they were wrong?

By the way BA, why is it that when I pass my pointer over the picture above, the title reads &quot;Shadow of the Eagle lander on the Moon, July 20, 1964&quot;?  1964?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I would like to hear what the Moon Hoax advocates have to say when they see the pictures of the Apollo landers taken by the LRO. Will they admit they were wrong?</p>
<p>By the way BA, why is it that when I pass my pointer over the picture above, the title reads &#8220;Shadow of the Eagle lander on the Moon, July 20, 1964&#8243;?  1964?</p>
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		<title>By: Blake Stacey</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5546</link>
		<dc:creator>Blake Stacey</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2005 14:57:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5546</guid>
		<description>I would readily live on the moon.  No regrets.  I would prefer Mars, though, for a couple reasons:

* easier to get water, organic material, etc. from the surroundings

* half-hour lightspeed delay keeps me from wasting time on the Web

If I weren&#039;t afraid of contaminating the local ecosystem, I could easily go for a condo on Europa. ;)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I would readily live on the moon.  No regrets.  I would prefer Mars, though, for a couple reasons:</p>
<p>* easier to get water, organic material, etc. from the surroundings</p>
<p>* half-hour lightspeed delay keeps me from wasting time on the Web</p>
<p>If I weren&#8217;t afraid of contaminating the local ecosystem, I could easily go for a condo on Europa. <img src='http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>By: Jon Niehof</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5545</link>
		<dc:creator>Jon Niehof</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2005 14:36:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5545</guid>
		<description>Doug Kenline, there&#039;s only so much resolution. The last zoom level but one is probably the highest res available (I haven&#039;t studied the Clementine maps closely enough to be able to recognize if it&#039;s that scale), thus &quot;...as much data as NASA was able to give us.&quot;

I don&#039;t think it&#039;s a total joke. It&#039;s lunar data presented in Google maps format; very cool.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Doug Kenline, there&#8217;s only so much resolution. The last zoom level but one is probably the highest res available (I haven&#8217;t studied the Clementine maps closely enough to be able to recognize if it&#8217;s that scale), thus &#8220;&#8230;as much data as NASA was able to give us.&#8221;</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s a total joke. It&#8217;s lunar data presented in Google maps format; very cool.</p>
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		<title>By: Doug Kenline</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5537</link>
		<dc:creator>Doug Kenline</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2005 08:29:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5537</guid>
		<description>The Google moon site seems a little odd to me.  What&#039;s up with the cheese?  Why can&#039;t we zoom in and see more details?  The Google moon site seems very odd indeed.  I think there can be no doubt it is just a total joke but why?  And why no serious Google moon site.  Why the &quot;limited details provided by NASA&quot;?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Google moon site seems a little odd to me.  What&#8217;s up with the cheese?  Why can&#8217;t we zoom in and see more details?  The Google moon site seems very odd indeed.  I think there can be no doubt it is just a total joke but why?  And why no serious Google moon site.  Why the &#8220;limited details provided by NASA&#8221;?</p>
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		<title>By: CR</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5534</link>
		<dc:creator>CR</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2005 04:30:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5534</guid>
		<description>I&#039;ve often looked up at the moon and reflected upon the fact that humans were there once. I look forward to the day when I can look up at the moon and know that humans are there again, possibly looking back at Earth at the same time.
Wouldn&#039;t this be cool? Point out the moon to some children and tell them &quot;Right now, there are people living and working up there, and maybe looking back at us. Some are sleeping, some are eating, some are exploring, maybe some are bored because it&#039;s their turn to wash the dishes. But they&#039;re there. Maybe someday you&#039;ll be there, too.&quot;
Of course, the reply may very well be &quot;I don&#039;t want to go if I have to wash dishes up there, too!&quot; :-)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve often looked up at the moon and reflected upon the fact that humans were there once. I look forward to the day when I can look up at the moon and know that humans are there again, possibly looking back at Earth at the same time.<br />
Wouldn&#8217;t this be cool? Point out the moon to some children and tell them &#8220;Right now, there are people living and working up there, and maybe looking back at us. Some are sleeping, some are eating, some are exploring, maybe some are bored because it&#8217;s their turn to wash the dishes. But they&#8217;re there. Maybe someday you&#8217;ll be there, too.&#8221;<br />
Of course, the reply may very well be &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to go if I have to wash dishes up there, too!&#8221; <img src='http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>By: aiabx</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5544</link>
		<dc:creator>aiabx</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2005 03:58:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5544</guid>
		<description>I&#039;d live on the moon for the clear dark skies, and never regret it.
      -Andy B</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;d live on the moon for the clear dark skies, and never regret it.<br />
      -Andy B</p>
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		<title>By: mark bee</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5543</link>
		<dc:creator>mark bee</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2005 23:12:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5543</guid>
		<description>The primary reason to set up on the moon?  Almost limitless energy.  Even crappy solar cells - eventually robotically deployed - can produce a large part of the energy we need, and of course the ideal situation is to then produce robotic solar stations for catapult to geosync earth orbit.  These were envisioned as an intermediate payoff scenario in Gerard O&#039;Neill&#039;s plans for orbital colonization. and were originally to be put up by space shuttle.  This proved economically problematic.  But with a large catapult and a minimally manned robotic production facility, these things can be spun out by the hundreds.  With Enron logos on them, of course.  =)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The primary reason to set up on the moon?  Almost limitless energy.  Even crappy solar cells &#8211; eventually robotically deployed &#8211; can produce a large part of the energy we need, and of course the ideal situation is to then produce robotic solar stations for catapult to geosync earth orbit.  These were envisioned as an intermediate payoff scenario in Gerard O&#8217;Neill&#8217;s plans for orbital colonization. and were originally to be put up by space shuttle.  This proved economically problematic.  But with a large catapult and a minimally manned robotic production facility, these things can be spun out by the hundreds.  With Enron logos on them, of course.  =)</p>
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		<title>By: Tim G</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5542</link>
		<dc:creator>Tim G</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2005 22:41:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5542</guid>
		<description>What are the practical reasons for a moon base?

I read about an idea for a 10km optical array on the moon.  That could theoretically give 10 mico-arcsecond resolution at 500 nm.  I don&#039;t know if that could be achieved with the  thermal and vibrational challenges.

  The far side would be virtually free of earth radio noise, so you could put some radio arrays there also.  You may also take advantage of the lack of atmosphere and look at UV, infrared and submillimeter.

There are some regions on the moon believed to have (relatively) high concentrations of He3.  You could mine the stuff, but you&#039;d have to be able to use it.

I wonder how the body will atrophy on the moon.  Better play some moonball.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What are the practical reasons for a moon base?</p>
<p>I read about an idea for a 10km optical array on the moon.  That could theoretically give 10 mico-arcsecond resolution at 500 nm.  I don&#8217;t know if that could be achieved with the  thermal and vibrational challenges.</p>
<p>  The far side would be virtually free of earth radio noise, so you could put some radio arrays there also.  You may also take advantage of the lack of atmosphere and look at UV, infrared and submillimeter.</p>
<p>There are some regions on the moon believed to have (relatively) high concentrations of He3.  You could mine the stuff, but you&#8217;d have to be able to use it.</p>
<p>I wonder how the body will atrophy on the moon.  Better play some moonball.</p>
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		<title>By: Michelle Rochon</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5541</link>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Rochon</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2005 22:11:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5541</guid>
		<description>I remember where I was back then! I was still splitted in my parents&#039; genes. :P

I don&#039;t think I would like living on the Moon myself... Other than this being most likely REALLY cool, I much prefer the Earth. We humans will still be timed on a 24 hours schedule, imagine the weirdness of seeing the sun rise only each month... Plus we lose all the nature around us. No walk in the forest with the dog on the Moon.

But there&#039;s hope for golf fields up there!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I remember where I was back then! I was still splitted in my parents&#8217; genes. <img src='http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif' alt=':P' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>I don&#8217;t think I would like living on the Moon myself&#8230; Other than this being most likely REALLY cool, I much prefer the Earth. We humans will still be timed on a 24 hours schedule, imagine the weirdness of seeing the sun rise only each month&#8230; Plus we lose all the nature around us. No walk in the forest with the dog on the Moon.</p>
<p>But there&#8217;s hope for golf fields up there!</p>
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		<title>By: Tony</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5535</link>
		<dc:creator>Tony</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:45:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5535</guid>
		<description>Firstly I have an active interest in space exploration and would like to see a return to maned missions to the moon and beyond.

Unfortunately, from the remote position I have (being an Australian and we have no space program), it seems to me there needs to be 2 things to make a manned return to the moon possible.

1. There needs to be a more economical method to get to earth orbit
and
2. There needs to be a reason to go

As I said I&#039;m an aussie so I can look at this from an outside view and it seems to me that NASA&#039;s budget, particularily for manned exploration, has been decreasing for years (although I could be wrong,  and possibly am).
While I have a lot of respect for the shuttle program and its participants at all levels it is a very old program and from an economic point of view it never met its objectives (or so I understand)
It was supposed to make it several levels of magnitude cheaper to launch payloads into orbit, but from what I have read it may have missed the mark there.

There needs to be some serious look at alternative methods to launch to earth orbit (lightcraft for example) so that the cost can be seriously reduced, and there needs to be much more international co-operation.

While the co-operation to build ISS was a good start I would like to see more countries coming together to work on the next generation of launch vehicles.

As for point 2, a reason to go back to the moon...

Is there any scientific reason to send humans back to the moon that can&#039;t be done remotely?

At this time I can only see 2 possible reasons for a manned base on the moon: Mining or Tourism.

I know that alot of new technology resulted from the apollo missions that had direct uses in every day life, but in this age I think people are more comforted by something a little more tangible.

If it was found that there were minerals/ores on the moon that are rare enough on earth that it made it economical to mine the moon for them then I think a base on the moon might be possible (although I would see it as a few human overseeing a group of robotic miners).

The other way I see a manned base on the moon is through space tourism.
For this however I see things a little bit differently.
With the success of the recent space tourists to ISS, and the X-Prize launching commercial space launches I can see that there may be some large corporations that are eyeing space as their next market.

It seems that corporations today may be much more able to devote finances to kick starting manned space exploration than govenrments (which is why I talked about international co-operation earlier).

Already we have Virgin Galactic that is proposing to go forth where the X-Prize left off.
How long will it be before there is a corporate ISS?
And a manned tourist base on the moon would be next?

-----

Ok so these are just me thoughts and ramblings
Please do not take these as an attack on NASA, the US Space program in general, or anything else.
As I said at the start I am very much for space exploration.
Just want to see what peoples thoughts are.
And BA feel free to delete this post if you think it is going to result in a flame war, even if that is not my intention</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Firstly I have an active interest in space exploration and would like to see a return to maned missions to the moon and beyond.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, from the remote position I have (being an Australian and we have no space program), it seems to me there needs to be 2 things to make a manned return to the moon possible.</p>
<p>1. There needs to be a more economical method to get to earth orbit<br />
and<br />
2. There needs to be a reason to go</p>
<p>As I said I&#8217;m an aussie so I can look at this from an outside view and it seems to me that NASA&#8217;s budget, particularily for manned exploration, has been decreasing for years (although I could be wrong,  and possibly am).<br />
While I have a lot of respect for the shuttle program and its participants at all levels it is a very old program and from an economic point of view it never met its objectives (or so I understand)<br />
It was supposed to make it several levels of magnitude cheaper to launch payloads into orbit, but from what I have read it may have missed the mark there.</p>
<p>There needs to be some serious look at alternative methods to launch to earth orbit (lightcraft for example) so that the cost can be seriously reduced, and there needs to be much more international co-operation.</p>
<p>While the co-operation to build ISS was a good start I would like to see more countries coming together to work on the next generation of launch vehicles.</p>
<p>As for point 2, a reason to go back to the moon&#8230;</p>
<p>Is there any scientific reason to send humans back to the moon that can&#8217;t be done remotely?</p>
<p>At this time I can only see 2 possible reasons for a manned base on the moon: Mining or Tourism.</p>
<p>I know that alot of new technology resulted from the apollo missions that had direct uses in every day life, but in this age I think people are more comforted by something a little more tangible.</p>
<p>If it was found that there were minerals/ores on the moon that are rare enough on earth that it made it economical to mine the moon for them then I think a base on the moon might be possible (although I would see it as a few human overseeing a group of robotic miners).</p>
<p>The other way I see a manned base on the moon is through space tourism.<br />
For this however I see things a little bit differently.<br />
With the success of the recent space tourists to ISS, and the X-Prize launching commercial space launches I can see that there may be some large corporations that are eyeing space as their next market.</p>
<p>It seems that corporations today may be much more able to devote finances to kick starting manned space exploration than govenrments (which is why I talked about international co-operation earlier).</p>
<p>Already we have Virgin Galactic that is proposing to go forth where the X-Prize left off.<br />
How long will it be before there is a corporate ISS?<br />
And a manned tourist base on the moon would be next?</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p>Ok so these are just me thoughts and ramblings<br />
Please do not take these as an attack on NASA, the US Space program in general, or anything else.<br />
As I said at the start I am very much for space exploration.<br />
Just want to see what peoples thoughts are.<br />
And BA feel free to delete this post if you think it is going to result in a flame war, even if that is not my intention</p>
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		<title>By: Atomic Glee</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5538</link>
		<dc:creator>Atomic Glee</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2005 20:34:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5538</guid>
		<description>&lt;strong&gt;That&#039;s one small step...&lt;/strong&gt;

Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon.
July 1969 AD
We came in peace for all mankind.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>That&#8217;s one small step&#8230;</strong></p>
<p>Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon.<br />
July 1969 AD<br />
We came in peace for all mankind.</p>
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		<title>By: Tom</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5540</link>
		<dc:creator>Tom</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2005 19:27:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5540</guid>
		<description>I wonder if in the future, when people do live on the moon, if the original moon landing sites will become tourist attractions, where people go and marvel at the ancient technology there. Maybe they&#039;ll wonder how we ever managed to achieve something like that with our level of development and tools, much like we do today with the pyramids and other ancient artifacts. Just a thought :)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I wonder if in the future, when people do live on the moon, if the original moon landing sites will become tourist attractions, where people go and marvel at the ancient technology there. Maybe they&#8217;ll wonder how we ever managed to achieve something like that with our level of development and tools, much like we do today with the pyramids and other ancient artifacts. Just a thought <img src='http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>By: JusANuttaBackYahdah</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5539</link>
		<dc:creator>JusANuttaBackYahdah</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2005 18:48:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5539</guid>
		<description>I was a young pup for Neil&#039;s &quot;small step&quot; but remember it vividly.  I watched one of the lunar strolls at my Granmother&#039;s house who lived next door and alas, was getting old.  She couldn&#039;t understand why they kept going back to the &quot;terrible&quot; pictures instead of the nice clear ones which were, in reality, the &quot;cheezy&quot; real-time re-enactment be performed by the networks.  Talk about you conspiracy theories.
Anyway, it is great that we&#039;re getting ready to get back out there in person, fuel sensors notwithstanding.  Very gratifying to see the amount of media time being devoted to the shuttle&#039;s return and can only hope there is a regeneration of media interest in the accomplishments of NASA, JPL, X-Prize/Spaceship One, etc.  It&#039;s really the quickest way back to the Moon and on to Mars if the General Public&#039;s interest is sparked.  Memories are just not enough.
Clear skies and keep looking up.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I was a young pup for Neil&#8217;s &#8220;small step&#8221; but remember it vividly.  I watched one of the lunar strolls at my Granmother&#8217;s house who lived next door and alas, was getting old.  She couldn&#8217;t understand why they kept going back to the &#8220;terrible&#8221; pictures instead of the nice clear ones which were, in reality, the &#8220;cheezy&#8221; real-time re-enactment be performed by the networks.  Talk about you conspiracy theories.<br />
Anyway, it is great that we&#8217;re getting ready to get back out there in person, fuel sensors notwithstanding.  Very gratifying to see the amount of media time being devoted to the shuttle&#8217;s return and can only hope there is a regeneration of media interest in the accomplishments of NASA, JPL, X-Prize/Spaceship One, etc.  It&#8217;s really the quickest way back to the Moon and on to Mars if the General Public&#8217;s interest is sparked.  Memories are just not enough.<br />
Clear skies and keep looking up.</p>
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		<title>By: Eric I.</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5536</link>
		<dc:creator>Eric I.</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2005 18:36:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5536</guid>
		<description>&lt;!-- spamk    : Comment text: &#039;Google has celebrated in their own way, check it out: http://moon.google.com/

Be sure to zoom in all the way. :)&#039; matched HTTP: --&gt;




Google has celebrated in their own way, check it out: http://moon.google.com/

Be sure to zoom in all the way. :)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><!-- spamk    : Comment text: 'Google has celebrated in their own way, check it out: <a href="http://moon.google.com/" rel="nofollow">http://moon.google.com/</p>
<p>Be sure to zoom in all the way. <img src='http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> &#8217; matched HTTP: &#8211;></p>
<p>Google has celebrated in their own way, check it out: <a href="http://moon.google.com/" rel="nofollow">http://moon.google.com/</a></p>
<p>Be sure to zoom in all the way. <img src='http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>By: VisionEngineer</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/comment-page-1/#comment-5533</link>
		<dc:creator>VisionEngineer</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2005 18:25:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/07/20/a-small-step/#comment-5533</guid>
		<description>Berkeley:  I would definitely live on the moon, but maybe only for a year or two.  I&#039;m too fond of water, sand, and palm trees to stay much longer!

Nigel:  An interesting thing about Apollo 12 and the surveyor spacecraft is that the astronauts took parts off of Surveyor and brought them back to Earth.  When they inspected a piece of insulation from the television camera they discovered that a microbe had survived on the moon for almost three years.  They fed it a nutrient broth and it started to multiply!

A sad note:  I just found out that Scottie (James Doohan) from Star Trek died. :-(</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Berkeley:  I would definitely live on the moon, but maybe only for a year or two.  I&#8217;m too fond of water, sand, and palm trees to stay much longer!</p>
<p>Nigel:  An interesting thing about Apollo 12 and the surveyor spacecraft is that the astronauts took parts off of Surveyor and brought them back to Earth.  When they inspected a piece of insulation from the television camera they discovered that a microbe had survived on the moon for almost three years.  They fed it a nutrient broth and it started to multiply!</p>
<p>A sad note:  I just found out that Scottie (James Doohan) from Star Trek died. <img src='http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif' alt=':-(' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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