Preparations for Space W6

To explore space, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has to think about what will help them progress to where they want to be. The first thing they want to try is to crash an unmanned spacecraft on to the surface of the moon. In NASA Attacks the Moon, it was said that NASA wants to know if the impacts will reveal any ice or water under the moon's surface. The estimated cost of the LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and its Sensing Satellite) is around $79 million and that is just to make something that will be destroyed. Along with trying to discover if the Moon has traces of ice or water, there is also finding a way to launch people into space. In Blasted into space from a giant air giant air gun, Jules Verne wrote about a giant gun that could launch people into space and people didn't expect it to be a reality. The estimated cost to build the gun is around $500 million. With all missions comes the approval needed from the higher authority. The approval is needed for more money to send more stuff into outer space. In 'Deep space' mission is frontrunner in NASA review, a proposal to send astronauts to visit asteroids and and orbit Mars scored highly in ratings in the White House. "Since 2005, NASA has been working towards returning astronauts to the moon by 2020. But in May, the Obama administration ordered a review of the agency's human space flight plan, leaving a question mark over the lunar return.The review panel, headed by former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine, released a summary report in September that presented five main options, including continuing with the current moon plan.One of the other options, called the 'deep space' or flexible path, would send astronauts to visit an asteroid and eventually to orbit Mars.The panel is expected to submit a final report later in October, which will score the various options on a set of 12 criteria, such as cost, safety, benefits to science, and fostering international cooperation." with this in mind, if the certain critia are met, then NASA will have the funds to accomplish what they wanted to by sending peopel to Mars.

Discoveries Being Made In Space and Tests Done W5

With our goal to discover mush about space, we need new discoveries. The first discovery made was an additional ring to Saturn, largest found up to date in the galaxy. In the article Largest ring in solar system found around Saturn, it was stated that this ring expands from 3 to 20 times the radius of Saturn. It was found that space weather has been relatively calm in the past three years. In the article Phantom storms: How our weather leaks into space, "And Murtagh should know - his job is to forecast space weather, which comprises any disturbance in near-Earth space, including the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere where satellites roam. Many of the serious events involve disturbances in the charged portion of the atmosphere, known as the ionosphere, which stretches from 80 to 1000 kilometers above sea level. The finger of blame has always been pointed at the sun, which bombards the Earth with a stream of charged particles in the form of the solar wind. During the last three years, though, the sun's cycle of activity has hit a trough, and as Murtagh observes, space weather is temporarily calm." If space weather is to stay calm, then we can send out space crafts to discover new findings. After that, the worlds most powerful ion engine was made. In Rocket company tests world's most powerful ion engine, "Rockets that would use charged particles to propel super-fast missions to Mars are one step closer, now that a small-scale prototype has been demonstrated at full power. The ion engine may be used to maintain the orbit of the International Space Station within the next five years, and could lay the groundwork for rockets that could one day travel to Mars in about a month." Once this is done, discovering new things in space will be easier on the humans.