Apollo Astronauts Call For A Lift-Off To Mars

By Courtney Ann Jackson - Talk Radio News Service

A group of Apollo mission astronauts said that America should work towards landing on Mars at a news conference Monday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing.

“The door opened when we touched down on the moon because that is what enabled humans to put many many more footprints on the surface of the moon. Landing on another object is what will enable us to put many other things, determine many other things with humans being there-inspiring many other people,” said Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11. “America to Mars is what ought to be, not America back to the moon.”

Seven astronauts from the Apollo program participated in the news conference: Walter Cunningham of Apollo 7, James Lovell of Apollo 8 and 13, Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11, David Scott of Apollo 15, Charles Duke of Apollo 16, Thomas Stafford of Apollo 10, and Eugene Cernan of Apollo 10 and 17.

Neil Armstrong of Apollo 11 was not present at the news conference, but those present mentioned Armstrong and his notoriety as the "first man on the moon."

Lovell said that June 20 is a national celebration, not only because of the Apollo 11 moon landing, but also because of the advances in the space program that made those steps possible.

“We just happen to be the luckiest group of people in the entire history of the modern world to have done something, to live our dreams, to go somewhere where no man has ever gone before and the responsibility is to give that back in some way or another or provide...the opportunities for those that follow in our footsteps to once again see what has never been seen before,” said Cernan.

Cernan added that less than one penny out of every tax dollar goes to support space exploration. “You decide if that’s worth it,” he asked rhetorically.

The astronauts said that people were excited about space exploration during the “space race” age, and that the U.S. needs to find ways to inspire its youth to get excited about it once again.

Solar Sailing to Mercury

NASA released information about ‘solar sailing’ as a new technology in their advancement of broad planetary exploration. NASA plans to send the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft on its second mission October 6th to orbit the planet closest to the sun, Mercury. During the encounter, the probe will swing just 125 miles (200 kilometers) above the cratered surface of Mercury, snapping 1,278 pictures and collecting a variety of other data from the planet as it gains a critical gravity assist that keeps the probe on track to become the first spacecraft ever to orbit the innermost planet beginning in March 2011.

Daniel J. O’Shaughnessy, Lead for MESSENGER’s Guidance and Control subsystem, explained the technology behind solar sailing. O’Shaughnessy said, “sunlight exerts a small but perceptible force on MESSENGER at all times. Rather than let the MESSENGER trajectory be pushed around by the force due to sunlight, operators planned an intricate sequence of solar, ray, and body attitude changes, helping to deflect the light in a way that allows the push from the sun to drive the MESSENGER closer to the flyby target.”

The only previous probe to visit Mercury was the Mariner 10, which completed its mission in March 1975. The Mariner 10 mapped only about 45% of the planet’s surface from 1974 to 1975. The MESSENGER mapped approximately 30% of the planet on its first mission. As Marilyn Lindstrom from NASA’s Washington headquarters said, “it’s not very easy getting into Mercury’s orbit. We need to have six planetary flybys to provide gravity assist to slow us down and ease us into orbit in 2011.” NASA proposes ‘solar sailing’ as a differentiator between this upcoming mission and past missions, which will bring great advancements in broad planetary exploration.

US' biggest weakness may lie in outer space

"We have to be incredibly lucky to avoid a major race in space in the years to come", stated Ashley Tellis, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Tellis spoke at a discussion hosted by The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on whether we can keep space from becoming the next 'shooting gallery'.

Tellis also stated that powerful nations, most notably China, view the US dependence on space for intelligence and data as a key vulnerability. As a result, China's national military strategy calls for the interdiction of US space capabilities as a way of equalizing the advantages the US enjoys on the conventional battlefield. He concludes by stating that, in his opinion, the US's best solution to the problem is to utilize a plan of deterrence coupled with sufficient capability for retaliation that would absorb the initial attack, and make the aggressor believe that an attack is not worth initiating.

President of the Henry Stimson Center Michael Krepon takes a much different approach. He pointed to the classic Cold War rivalry between the US and Soviet Union. Despite their competition, both nations felt compelled to sign the Outer Space Treaty, which formed the basis for international space law. Because both nations used space for intelligence gathering, both felt compelled to agree to limitations and practices that protected their own interests. With this in mind, Krepon endorsed a plan involving a code of conduct for outer space interaction for all, which he feels would prevent aggression between states. Krepon also stated that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has endorsed such a code.

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) Chairs Senate Subcommittee Hearing on Strategic Forces About Military Space Programs

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) chaired a Senate Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces hearing on military space programs in review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2009 and the Future Years Defense Program this afternoon.

Topics discussed at the hearing ranged from delays in the release of expensive U.S. defense technology in both space and at sea as well as Chinese and Russian space plans and their possible threats to the United States. The group panel members interrogated was diverse; they included leaders in the U.S. Air Force Space Command Program, Navy and even the Government Accountability Office.

Each panel member questioned offered a different perspective on the direction of U.S. defense policy. General C. Robert Kehler, Commander of the Air Force Space Command, talked about the “decisive advantage” that space power gives the United States and how it has shaped the “American way of warfare.”