Well, it seems as though we don't have enough silly bullshit to spend our money on, so we're going to start bombing the moon.

On NBC Nightly News, they reported the cost for this to be $79 million.

I'm sorry, I just fail to see the benefit here...

__________________



For those who have fought to defend it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know...



If it wasn't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all...

i heard the moon has been harboring terrorists believed to be linked to al qaeda

__________________
"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine

actually, after reading the article, it could lead to a major scientific discovery that would be worth far more than the cost of the mission.

__________________
"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine

The point is to blast a bunch of subsurface material up into the air to figure out what its made of. Specifically, they are looking for water, so we have something to drink when we get there.

And if you think thats expensive, consider the cost of sending a crew up there to dig a hole.

__________________
January 21, 2013: The End of an ERROR.

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."
"When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
"The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."
---Benjamin Franklin

How is the discovery of water on the moon worth far more than $79 million?

__________________



For those who have fought to defend it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know...



If it wasn't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all...

well that isn't the only objective of the mission, but that would definitely be important because it could possibly lead to a way of harvesting water for a colony which would probably be a lot cheaper than shipping it there.

i'm sure you can use your imagination a little to figure out why having a colony has huge potential for profit.

__________________
"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine

On the moon?

Nope, don't see it...

__________________



For those who have fought to defend it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know...



If it wasn't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all...

Not only can water on the moon be used to drink, it can be used to produce hydrogen for fuel, for longer range missions. If the hydrogen can be produced there, where the gravity is less, it can be loaded onto a larger ship and launched using much less fuel than launching the same size ship from Earth. The hydrogen can also be used to generate power for bases on the Moon.

__________________


"You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity."

I think the most we're likely to find is ice crystals. It's not like we're going to find some undiscovered Hudson River on the moon. I don't think we're going to find amounts that would compel us to proclaim that we can now start putting up drinking fountains on the moon. I just don't think it's going to be there, and it's going to take $79 million to realize that.

I just see this as a stunning waste of money...

__________________



For those who have fought to defend it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know...



If it wasn't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all...

Looks like they found a constructive use for those bombs they like to build so many of.

__________________
"Jesus said: I have cast fire upon the world, and behold I guard it until it is ablaze."
Gospel of Thomas

I know $79 million seems like allot of money in light of all of money the past and current administration have spent and given all of America’s challenges, problems, etc., but if we stop exploring, America and the rest of the world will wither and die.

Hundreds of years ago the English had a whole host of problems and challenges but they did not let that stop them from reaching North America. I’m sure it cost them lots of money to send ships here and setup colonies but had they not have done that the United States of American, as we know it, may not be here today.

Exploration and a permanent base on the moon will have immense benefits to both America and the world. NASA’s ultimate goal is to go to Mars but right now it is too expenses and there are too many science and engineering challenges to master. So, NASA’s plan, assuming the BO administration does not kill it, is to establish a permanent base on the moon which it is hoped to turn into a permanent colony. In order to have a permanent human presence on the moon, we need to know if there is water (because it will be too expenses to constantly ship it up from earth). That’s what Friday’s moon bomb impact is about in a nutshell. Other attempts to determine the presence of water from lunar orbit have more or less proved to be inconclusive.


Learning to live and work on the moon will

1) provide the science and engineering knowhow for going to Mars

2) provide an abundant supply of helium 3 (rare on earth), which scientist believe can be used to power fusion reactors here on earth (and quite possibly solve our energy problems in this country and elsewhere)

3) spinoff technology from living and working on the moon will provide America with the technological edge over other countries and help our economy to grow like Apollo research has.

4) China is actively working towards going to the moon and possibly establishing a permanent human presence there. Much like the days of old when the sea faring nations more or less dominated the world, in the 21st century and beyond the space faring nations will dominate the world. Unless America no longer wants to remain the dominate superpower, we can’t let China take control of what is essentially the new world of the 21st century – like North America was for the Europeans hundreds of years ago.

no you're definitely right. the world sure didn't profit at all from the first time we went there. why would we try a second time?

__________________
"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine

I'm confused.

You keep talking about the benefits to not only America, but to the rest of the world. You then seem to take great umbrage at the thought of China doing it.

Of it's a good idea, isn't it a good idea regardless of who does it?

China going to the moon would likely follow a similar path as our own. We went to the moon 40 years ago. While there have certainly be some tehnological benefits realized from that program, we're not even close to being able to submit any change of address cards.

That may be one of their goals, but it's hardly their ultimate goal.

Okay, let's assume that the missle launch goes off without a hitch. What if they don't find water? What then? Spend another $79 mil to bomb another area of the moon?

__________________



For those who have fought to defend it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know...



If it wasn't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all...

they don't have to find water in order to potentially profit from this. it's not the only purpose of the mission.

come on steve, you know there's potential for beneficial and profitable scientific breakthroughs from this and now you're reaching and changing your argument. first it was "what use is it if we find water molecules on the moon?" and now it's "what if we don't find water on the moon?"

__________________
"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine

When America went to the moon in the 60's we shared its discoveries with the rest of the world. Some in our government believe that if China gets to the moon ahead of us and the rest of the world, they may not. I don't have anything to back that statement up, but I do recall reading it somewhere.


Ultimate could be a strong word here, but after the Apollo program ended, NASA started to make plans for a mission to Mars until a new administration cut funding, internal politics, and the realization that it would cost a fortune especially with the technology we had available in the 60s and 70s.

George Bush senior tasked NASA with getting to the red planet but again, it boiled down to the money and realization that the science and engineering was still not there to make it possible. Since then NASA still has had a gleen in its eye for getting there and continued research and development to some degree. George W. Bush, during his term, tasked NASA with getting to the moon probably because he realized America needed it's space priorities refocused in light of China and India's ambitions and because it is more attainable than Mars for the current moment.

Allot of what NASA had done since the Apollo was done with an eye towards getting to Mars. For example it's work on the NERVA program (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) was to produce a rocket capable of getting astronauts to Mars faster than a chemical rocket. Another example, the International Space Station was built, among other reasons, to provide a zero g testing location for space craft systems for long-duration missions such as to the moon and Mars.

In regards to no water being found by the probe this week; well, if they don't find water, that would be a setback for NASA and it will have to scale back it's plans for permanent colonization. Colonization will likely still be possible though because it turns out that there is water locked in the lunar soil and NASA has recently developed the technology to unlock it using heat and some sort of chemistry of which I not too familiar.