Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Return to the Moon? Bush really will do anything to get re-elected...

Dec 5, 2003 12:26PM PST

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re:Return to the Moon? Bush really will do anything to get re-elected...
Dec 5, 2003 12:44PM PST

I know not who the choreographer or script writers might
be in this reelection 'show', but so far they seem to be
adept at removing the opposition from the front pages and
TV screens any/every time the opposition gets a little too
noisy.

They do it without engaging the opposition in any fashion,
while bringing President Bush's approval ratings up
each time. Call it 'raining on their parade', or 'letting the air
out of their balloon', or what ever you might care.

If, so far, we have only seen previews of what this
election year might hold in store, it should be interesting.

- Collapse -
I don't care who, or how. The person who funds our moving beyond the fragile cradle of our birth is a hero in truth. Ian nt
Dec 5, 2003 1:02PM PST

.

- Collapse -
Re: I don't care who, or how. The person who funds our moving beyond the fragile cradle of our birth is a hero in truth. Ian nt
Dec 5, 2003 1:06PM PST

Hi, Ian.

Experts say it's 20 years off at least -- our manned space program is a disaster (literally), and there isn't a next generation launch vehicle even on the drawing boards.
-- Dave K.
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

- Collapse -
Re:Return to the Moon? Bush really will do anything to get re-elected...
Dec 5, 2003 1:06PM PST

How ridiculous, re-election? Why, J. Leno just said tonight in his monolog...it's to get everyone used to the environment...air unbreathable and no trees.

JR
PS...Leno also said that it has been reported that terrorist are using donkeys packed with explosives turning them loose....If they use donkeys for suicide missions you can pretty much kiss your *** goodbye.

- Collapse -
baboom!! :-) nt
Dec 5, 2003 3:25PM PST

.

- Collapse -
Falling off my chair. I just gotta listen to Leno more often. (NT)
Dec 5, 2003 3:56PM PST

.

- Collapse -
Say, Dave...
Dec 6, 2003 3:31AM PST

Say, Dave, did you gripe when JFK first proposed it, or when it was finally done in the LBJ years. Did you object when Clinton proposed $13.58 billion for NASA(lawmakers increased that to $13.65 billion.)?
Or is it just the fact that somebody says that Bush, specifically, may think about it.

- Collapse -
Re: Say, Dave...
Dec 6, 2003 12:41PM PST

Hi, J.

I support NASA. I think its current funding situation is a disgrace. But we don't have any realistic chance to return to the moon in the even intermediate future, which makes this nothing more than a publicity stunt. What we need right now is money for a next-generation launch vehicle to replace the shuttle, and return of the space station to a useful size and staff level.

BTW, you'll recall that Nixon was President when Armstrong and Aldrin became the first men on the moon.
-- Dave K.
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

- Collapse -
Been a while, Dave...
Dec 6, 2003 5:29PM PST

Quite so, Dave, it's been a while and I relied on a memory (incorrect) of who was President. Should have caught myself, though considering a funny story (off-air) that Armstrong once told about that phone call to the surface of the moon.

- Collapse -
Re:Moon -- Buzz Aldrin's take on the idea
Dec 7, 2003 6:35AM PST
- Collapse -
Comedian Robert Klein had a hilarious bit about Neil Armstrong....
Dec 8, 2003 11:17PM PST

...and why he (Klein) considered him such a great man.

(paraphrasing) Think about it, first man on the moon, what were his first words, it could have been the commercial gambit of the century! All Armstrong had to do was work out some backstage deal, step out of the LEM onto the lunar surface and shout, "COCA-COLA!!!" But he didn't and I'll forever respect him for that.

- Collapse -
Dave, what did you think...
Dec 7, 2003 6:52AM PST

when Clinton sent John Glenn back into space? Looked like a political payoff for supporting Clinton. What was it, impeachment? At any rate, what a boondoggle! There was absolutely nothing to be gained by sending Glenn back into space.

- Collapse -
Re: Glenn 'boodoggle' -- reasonable scientific experiment.
Dec 7, 2003 12:18PM PST

Hi, KP.

Sorry, but you're completely wrong about sending Glenn back. They had telemetry on him from 1961. By sending him up now, they were able to compare his responses 30-some years later, which helps to indicate how age interacts with the rigors of space flight. It's not the perfect experiment, because there may well have been other changes to his physiology over the intervening period, but it was a lot more informative than sending up some other 70 year-old on whom they didn't have the baseline data.
-- Dave K.
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

- Collapse -
You want to buy a bridge?
Dec 7, 2003 3:45PM PST

Right!

- Collapse -
Actually Dave has a valid point
Dec 10, 2003 6:39AM PST

and just as old data could be compared to new with Glenn so too could old data be compared to new with another visitation of the moon--The flag left there only had two sets of footprints around it (how many are there now?) and we may discover that "Kilroy was here".

Dave thinks that everything about the Americas would be known today had no one made any trips after Columbus too.

- Collapse -
Re:Actually Dave has a valid point
Dec 10, 2003 12:37PM PST

Hi, Ed.

The problem is that we don't have launch vehicles to reach the moon with any sort of payload. Just going really would be "old hat." The next step is a permanent moonbase, but we're not even close to being able to do that.
-- Dave K.
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

- Collapse -
Actually we do still have launch vehicles...
Dec 11, 2003 12:21AM PST

we just lack funds and committment.

Committing to a cheaper route that is successful tends to open doors that would otherwise remain closed.

Until a NEED exists there is no real utilitarianism in developing more efficient launch platforms, and right now there is no NEED.

- Collapse -
Anything????????????
Dec 6, 2003 12:32PM PST

Surely not, but if this works; great! Would Clinton, Gore, Dean, Kerry, etc. do any less? No? Give me a break! In a heartbeat.

- Collapse -
NT- Kennedy did it, why not Bush?
Dec 7, 2003 1:17PM PST

I hope they pick a more promising spot to set down this time. I would prefer they build a modular ship in space that could act more like a ferry between the earth and moon and be reusable. Lift heavier drilling equipment to space with fuel and take it to the Moon and see if any liquid water can be found below the surface. If so, time to colonize.

- Collapse -
Re:NT- Kennedy did it, why not Bush?
Dec 9, 2003 2:15AM PST

Hi James:

"NT" is used at the beginning of a subject title to indicate that there is no text in the post.

Lots of people were critical of the original quest to land a man on the moon as well, feeling there were better ways to spend that money. That aside, I think the big difference now is that we've been there and there is no good reason to go back at this time.

- Collapse -
NT- I had intended just the one line, but then thought to put more and forgot the NT
Dec 10, 2003 7:51AM PST

.