High hopes for (unmanned) Euro Moon mission | BBC

[Ediacara]

High hopes for Euro Moon mission

The Smart 1 craft employs solar power technology
A revolutionary new type of solar powered engine will be at the centre of Europe's first ever mission to the Moon, project leaders have announced.

They said the ion engines turn "science fiction into science fact" and will transform space travel by propelling craft at higher speeds over greater distances.

Once in orbit around the Earth's nearest neighbour the unmanned probe, called Smart 1 explorer, will use British technology to map the entire surface of the Moon for the first time.

It is hoped the mission will help form a better understanding of how the Moon was born and provide more information about its make-up.

More at the BBC

[phgnome]

1. Good for the EU

I'm glad to see that they're devoting some efforts to spurring the space race.

[samsingh]

2. the EU needs to get to the moon

to get in the Super nation club.

[phgnome]

3. Even so

That's still good -- they were talking about the solar powered ionized engine as a means of going further distances.

In any case, it's another penny in the bucket for building more efficient engines and it's a step closer for people to go to space.

It'll help to get us out of this global economic lethargy.

[Kolesar]

4. Did you know the Soviets brought samples back from the Moon

They sent a robot up there and managed to bring samples back. I think they hoped that if Apollo failed, they could claim to be the first to sample another world. As it happened, Apollo beat them to the prize. It was still impressive.

[reprobate]

5. That's wonderful news. An ion engine. Good for the EU.

Of course, the United States of America can no longer even reach low earth orbit with a manned craft.


I don't know about anyone else here, but one question keeps coming to my mind: What the hell happened to this country of ours?

The new head of NASA is a bush appointee. Bush appointees don't listen to subordinates. That's what happened to the shuttle, but how did we get to this point in the first place?

We have no business trying to fly the shuttle. It's a thirty year old design. The airframes are stressed to almost the point of uselessness. And we have no replacement ready because we haven't spent anything on research for a replacement. Billions in tax cuts for republicans, but not a penny wasted on space research (aside from military applications).

I fear that the label "superpower" will not fit for very much longer.

It's too bad that stupidity isn't painfull.