Well we are preparing to go back to the moon. With a new president entering office we have yet to see what type of priority he will give the space program, but even if it continues at the rate it is going, it could be streamlined by doing away with the shuttle fleet and the International Space Station. That would save us billions of dollars that could be used to get back to the moon. NASA is purposing a new type of rover, one that is pressurized and will hold a crew of 2. Its range is said to be about 625 miles and it can go for about 2 weeks. The good part about this is that the crew doesn't need to wear space suits inside. The bad part is that you could go crazy in something this small if you are in it for an extended period of time. There should also be some sort of backup vehicle that is a lot speedier, in case something goes wrong with this rover and the astronauts need to get back to the ship. NASA has stated that the new rover is a lot safer than anything previously taken to the moon.

When you think about it, it seems amazing that we just stopped going to the moon. Some claim that we were warned off by some alien society, others state that we just lost interest and still others say that we really didn't stop going there, but that a secret US Air Force program has allowed travel to the moon and maybe even to Mars. With all these different theories it is hard to single out one as being completely correct, but if we look at them, most of us will give more credence to some theories than others, it is only human nature. In 2004 President Bush announced that we were going back to the moon and then on to Mars. NASA stated that they felt that they could achieve these goals by 2018 and 2030 respectively. Whether they can or not will depend on several factors:
1. Will the new president push for this to happen?
2. Will we invite other nations to assist us and go to these places with us?
3. Will we be able to get out of our financial crisis?
4. Will we have the money for this program after the social programs are enacted that have been promised?

If indeed there is some stealth Air Force program that has been shuttling people to and from the moon already, we certainly won't need this new program. The question is, would the new president make that program known, or would he even know about it himself? From my study of recent US history, it seems that presidents are not told about everything and this could be one of those secret things. For now let's assume that there is no other moon program and that we are really thinking about getting back to old Luna. Some designing of vehicles and equipment has already taken place. Aerodynamic testing has taken place on scale models at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. It is beginning to look like President Bush was serious about going back to the moon as some funding has already been given to NASA for this project.

A new module to hold the crew has been designed, it is called the Crew Exploration Vehicle or CEV. Some have criticized it as looking too much like the old Apollo crew capsule. The truth is that while it resembles the design from the outside, it is much larger and completely modern inside. It will be able to hold up to 6 astronauts for short trips and 4 for longer trips. The CEV will have solar panels to supply electric power that will be in addition to fuel cells and batteries. Remember how the Apollo capsules could only land on water? This one can land on either water or land and will also use a parachute to descend. The reason for the parachute is that NASA wants to keep things as simple as possible, this way there is less to go wrong. Computer advancement and the advancement in composite materials will make this capsule a completely different kind of animal The advancement in technology over the Apollo missions doesn't end with the CEV. A new lunar lander is being developed that will put the old one to shame. It will be much larger and capable of carrying 4 astronauts to the surface of the moon. Unlike Apollo astronauts, these astronauts will be sent into space in a shuttle like vehicle and then board their vehicle for the moon or Mars in space, it will already be waiting for them.

Officials at NASA have stated that the CEV that goes to the moon will be the same vehicle that will go to Mars. There will probably have to be some changes made to it because the demands of flying to Mars are different than those for going to the moon. One of the things that NASA needs to work on is radiation shielding for the CEV, especially when it travels to Mars. No one wants to see astronauts losing years off of their lives because of radiation out in space. The problem is that since a new NASA administrator came in last year, he has cut much of the research at NASA. When he came into office, there were 118 projects going on and he cut them back to 38. the problem with radiation shielding is that right now, we use lead and that is very heavy, so scientists are looking for other ways to protect astronauts, such as some type of electronic shielding. If they can perfect this, they can also use it to go around space suits when astronauts leave their ship. It would be quite a leap forward. They feel that the key to this concept is a powerful power supply.

So what about all the other nations that are gearing up to do the same thing? Maybe it is time to put humankind ahead of nationalism. Wouldn't it be great if 6 astronauts were on board and each was from a different country and all the 6 countries had contributed to the project of sending people to the moon. What have we got to lose? Long ago we agreed that the moon would be treated similar to the poles on earth and that no one country could claim the moon as its own. Keeping this agreement in mind, it seems that we should share the cost of these huge interplanetary projects with nations that are willing to help pay for them. I know that this thought must send shivers down the spines of the military, but these are new times. We don't want to give rocket technology to radical nations, but most of the technology that would be used to go to the moon or even Mars, won't do much good for nations like North Korea, who by the way probably wouldn't be one of the nations that we would take to the moon anyway.

My thoughts about partners in this venture are, us, the European Space Agency, Russia, India, Japan and China. This project would do wonders for relations among nations. We have worked with some of these nations before. The Russians have been partners with us in many space projects as have the European Space Agency and Japan. We are embarking on a new leaf in the administration of this country, maybe it is time to turn a new leaf with our relations with countries, which have truly been strained.