China Still Aiming for a Manned Moon Mission

Here is a cool IO9 article concerning China's continuing plans and efforts to put a man on the Moon.

The Chinese report really hasn't said anything new.  Speculation has it that they are still looking at putting a man on the surface of the Moon by  2025.  Even talks this vague has some people speculating about the future of American space efforts.  I have to side with those concerns.  The USA has abdicated it's place as a manned power in space.  The corpse just doesn't know enough to lay down yet.  Harsh yes, but no less true.

Former NASA administrator Michael Griffin continues to be actively vocal about NASA's lack of foresight and enthusiasm for a manned presence.  Griffin  has gone on record saying that China's space efforts would "leave the United States in its wake;"

Griffin said  at NASA oversight committee meeting last September: (from the article)

• In my opinion, China understands what it takes to be a great power...They are a near-peer competitor of ours and I would worry very much about the future of this nation if we were not — and if we were not seen by all — to be a world leader.

read the IO9 article here

So.....Just What IS Up for the Future of Manned Spaceflight?

So as NASA stands with it's collective pants around would be ankles...what IS the consensus on manned spaceflight....at least as far as the WEST is concerned? Well lets take a look at the an article in TECH Republic for a couple of laughs huh?

The article points first to an AP feed that quotes Apollo 11 commander Neal Armstrong and the first US astronaut, Mercury's John Glenn who both are leading a group of critics who say that the U.S. space program is ignoring a long-held belief that there should be a backup plan. Indeed, the end of the Shuttle program leaves a manned flight vacuum.

Ouch! I think NASA just got spanked!

The WSJ isn't taking it much easier. They point out that the International Space Station now depends solely on Russia. If the U.S. or ESA wants a lift to the facility it is Russia and its venerable Soyuz. Russia now has "a monopoly on manned space flight." The director of the European Space Agency, is quoted as saying that the situation is “uncomfortable” and a “collective mistake.”

Smack Smack

Charles Bolden the current NASA Administrator, is quoted saying "I’m here to tell you that American leadership in space will continue for at least the next half-century because we have laid the foundation for success "

Foundation huh? That is the way he see it?!!! So what happened to the HOUSE JFK built? Yep, that's right, Bolden and his class of backwards thinking have torn it down to the foundation that's what. Bolden is proud of being part of the elite astronaut corp. and I am flabergasted that he is proud of the present state of things.

Bolden says NASA should get out of the low Earth orbit delivery system and leave that to the private sector. NASA needs to set its sights higher. OK granted NASA needs to look to future exploration but at the same time he is placing manned spaceflight in the hands of Space X Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

There is much more. Check out the Tech Republic article here

Does the US have what it takes to put a man on Mars?

Carl Sagan once said "All civilizations become either spacefaring or extinct." a truly pesimestic or hopeful opinion depending on your point of view. It only took eight years for JFK’s dream to land a man on the moon to be fulfilled, but plans to to land a man on is going to take just that little bit longer -24 years to be exact. Casey Kazan writing in The Daily Galaxy blog puts down this caustic but fair "glove" asking in a recent post does the Us have "the right stuff" to get a human footprint on the surface of Mars.

Kazan isn't putting any new information on the table and even less speculation. What he is doing is putting all the most important interest points together and the general opinions help by the general populace. All the major mission facets from returning to the moon to stepping off on Mars with comment on what equipment and other problems have to be overcome to get this mission "off the ground and flying" Nothing new, except maybe a clear set of eyes and for that reason, I would give the article a read to get a well rounded look at the problems facing NASA as it pushes for a Mars landing