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ORIGINAL: Timon

 

 

Next month is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. That's right! 40 years since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first stepped on the moon and propelled us into the space age... which I'll be honest, still has yet to get going. It's been 40 years and while with have the I.S.S, no one has been back to the moon for 39 years...

 

As for Mars, it's forever a NASA mission priority that has yet to get any acceleration. Of course, in a worldwide recession and global climate crisis, you could argue we have bigger things to worry about.

 

But still, Space. For ever a mystery and a wonderment and a constant source of discussion. God bless the Hubble Telescope I say!

 

 

 

For those, not already buzzing about the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, can I suggest you go straight to Amazon and pick up the glorious HBO miniseries From The Earth To The Moon (from the makers of Band of Brothers). It's astounding and is a perfect introduction to the Apollo missions. Try bookending it with The Right Stuff and In The Shadow of the Moon.

 

 

 

Oh and for all those that don't think we landed on the moon, you're just wrong and I'm not going to waste any more of my time with you crazy people. Back to Swindon with you!

 

 

 

 

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ORIGINAL: Rgirvan44

One of the big problems as I understand it, is solar radiation. Any ship heading to Mars would need some pretty impressive shielding from the suns effects.

Any mission to Mars should involve the setting up of a colony base.

We have the moon nearby, no reason that can't be used as a testing ground. Its going to need a massive commitment of resources and attention from not just the American goverment, but other nations. Sadly I think NASA is more concerned about the next generation of shuttle and not about creating ships built for long term space exploration.

Still I cross my fingers that it will happen one day.

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This animation shows the 2299 high-quality (multiple transits), non-circumbinary transiting planet candidates found by NASA's Kepler mission so far. These candidates were detected around 1770 unique stars, but are animated in orbit around a single star.