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Australia Will Join U.S. for 2024 Moon Mission, Mars Exploration
- augustl 7y agoI find it interesting that I know everything about the SpaceX plans for Mars (supplies mission in 2024, people in 2026), but I had no idea NASA has a mission to the moon in 2024.
- phkahler 7y agoThey keep being forced to prop up Boeing by funding the SLS.
- omnibrain 7y agoIt was announced a few months ago and NASA recently added Details: https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars/ https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars/ But with everything else going on with it did not really make the news cycle.
- joemaller1 7y agoPolitics.
- friendlybus 7y agoNASA isn't allowed to advertise in the same way spacex can.
- chrisco255 7y agoNASA has social media accounts on Instagram, Twitter, etc. Not sure what they're missing other than Elon Musk's promoting skills.
- robbiep 7y agoThere’s no point even commenting on the sycophantic nature of our (Australia’s) political leadership at the moment, so I’ll just leave it half un-commented - But maybe this means I can be an astronaut?!
- EdwardDiego 7y agoCome to New Zealand, we'll chuck you on a Rocket Labs ride mate :D
- robbiep 7y agoHow good that kiwis have a private rocket company and Australia doesn’t. Frankly, having done a reasonable amount of business over the ditch the last couple years, the kiwis are just so much more practical and ‘get it done’ than we are. Less risk aversion, not looking to other places for guidance. Whereas Australia seems to be continually looking elsewhere for guidance on what to do next (and not just politically).
- bamboozled 7y agoAgreed, who would believe a single thing they come out with?
- pnako 7y agoWell, for once we're not following them to the middle east, so that's a plus. I'm not entirely sure what the point of sending humans to the moon is, though. It was cool to do it once, but now we can probably do something more useful and productive with robots.
- jon-wood 7y agoFrom what I’ve seen they’ve got two aims. The first seems mostly to be dry running a Mars base, but without the added challenge of multi month transit times. The second is to put a space station in lunar orbit to use as a jumping off point for longer range missions.
- pnako 7y agoSure, but that does not really address the point. Couldn't we do all that with robots? There is no match for our brains; but robots bodies can sustain acceleration, temperature variations, lack of atmosphere, etc. much better than us. They work faster, longer, better, etc. And thanks to telecommunications we can pilot them while staying in the comfort of our planet.
- ggm 7y agoThe net effect will be to stifle Australian space innovation which competes with NASA goals. It may be net beneficial to space science here but it won't risk any competitive tension so little or no development outside of the current NASA roadmap. The radio telescopes will be safe, the DSN needs them. The hypersonic shockwave work would be fine. Digital comms work would be fine. Microsats would be fine. Launches from OZ will be a big no. It might buy half a seat in a future capsule once bigger fish have been pacified. Best if the Australian astronauts are already training in the US and ideally have dual nationality.
- TMWNN 7y ago>It might buy half a seat in a future capsule once bigger fish have been pacified. Best if the Australian astronauts are already training in the US and ideally have dual nationality. Ah yes, since Australians without US nationality have been flying into space this whole time right? All three Australian-born people who've flown became US citizens first. Meanwhile, Belgium, Italy, Mexico, and Israel have flown people on US spacecraft. >The net effect will be to stifle Australian space innovation which competes with NASA goals. What "Australian space innovation"? >Launches from OZ will be a big no. Ah yes, the Woomera field that has been used for manned launches for the past 40 years, right? No? As misotaur said, Australia has nothing, absolutely nothing, to lose by allying with NASA. It's possible, for example, that SpaceX could get approval for using Woomera for launches, something ITAR currently prohibits.
- peterkelly 7y agoNon-paywalled version: http://archive.is/frI3q http://archive.is/frI3q
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- sbhn 7y agoAustralia?, why?, America planning to build off planetary prisons now?
- known 7y ago95 percent of the world's oceans and 99 percent of the ocean floor are unexplored
- throwaway122kk 7y agoWhataboutism much? Why does everything nowadays have to be zero sum
- alfiedotwtf 7y agoGiven the disgust the Liberals have for science and technology that isn't coal, I see them taking the journey by boat.
- misotaur 7y agoAustralia space agency`s budget is 10 million dollars,NASA has about 19 BILLION.I would also want this collaboration.
- patagurbon 7y ago10 million?! That’s pitiful even compared to Australia’s GDP peers. Why so little?
- amaterasu 7y agoBecause Australian politicians are loath to invest in anything, after spending ~20 years convincing the public that government spending is bad.
- iciac 7y agoCurrently, the focus of the organisation has been on developing Governance, MOU's etc. $10M is basically seed to establish administration.
- austhrow743 7y agoIt's brand new
- mangairams 7y agoTest
- simonblack 7y agoIt took ten years to build up the 'Moon Shot' industry in the sixties. It would take at least that long this time to rebuild all of those factories and retrain the thousands of personnel to that level of expertise. I am willing to state categorically that there will be no Moon Shot in 2024.