• World
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Central & South Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America & Caribbean
    • Middle East & North Africa
    • North America
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
    • US Election
    • US politics
    • Donald Trump
    • Brexit
    • European Union
    • India
    • Arab world
  • Economics
    • Finance
    • Eurozone
    • International Trade
  • Business
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Startups
    • Technology
  • Culture
    • Entertainment
    • Music
    • Film
    • Books
    • Travel
  • Environment
    • Climate change
    • Smart cities
    • Green Economy
  • Global Change
    • Education
    • Refugee Crisis
    • International Aid
    • Human Rights
  • International Security
    • ISIS
    • War on Terror
    • North Korea
    • Nuclear Weapons
  • Science
    • Health
  • 360 °
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice
  • About
  • FO Store
Sections
  • World
  • Coronavirus
  • US Election
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Sign Up
  • Login
  • Publish

Make Sense of the world

Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries

Close

Let’s Head to the Moon

By Ajay Kothari • Feb 16, 2017
NASA news, United States news, US news, USA news, American news, journey to Mars, space news, world news analysis, international news, today’s news headlines

© Milante

The moon is a safer bet, not Mars. Well, at least for now.

I still remember the night when my siblings, my father, some workers on the farm and I sat around a fire on a cold night in the middle of a jungle, and listened to a decrepit old radio. It was the late 1960s in western India and we were all very excited.

We were trying to listen, amid heavy static, to the live broadcast of a NASA capsule splash-landing in the ocean after a journey around the moon. We were amazed and awestruck that NASA and the United States could send a craft hundreds of thousands of miles into space and still have it come back to Earth and land in a predesignated, three-mile radius—and do that safely.

Our respect for what the US could do, which was already fairly high, increased immensely. NASA was amazing, and it symbolized the United States for many around the world. What a country, this America! What incredible people! It was hard to control the desire to come here, study aerospace, get a PhD, become a rocket scientist and work in this field.

The Soviet Union also did spaceflight, but would announce its ventures after the fact. Not the US, I thought: “This is where the next stage of evolution of human beings is occurring.” An intellectual evolution. It was very exciting. It was very satisfying. It was transparent. And it was not just NASA. America, at that time, was abuzz with many creative questions, and with people’s free right to pursue the sometimes unlikely answers.

What happened to that excitement and spark?

It is sad for a child from the East to see this in the West. Innovation, talent and intelligence—mated with hard work that used to be appreciated in the West—have been replaced by dislike for those values in favor of mediocrity. Yes, the dumbing down of our values has occurred and should not be tolerated. While all people, the weak and strong, should be welcomed and embraced, society has to find ways to value the exceptional innovators as well.

It is time to marry that spark with the latest innovation of a robust, reusable, rocket revolution—or the “4R Club” as I call it. It is time to go to the moon, build small habitats and even small villages that humanity lived in 10,000 years ago at its civilizational dawn, as in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China.

With the 4R Club, it can be done considerably more cheaply than otherwise done using expendable rockets. The relative cost to put one pound into orbit, which is now $7,000 to $9,000, can be reduced to about $500 for the fully reusable option. The same ratio of cost, about 12-15, would hold for sending payloads to the moon.

Setting up moon habitats, and perhaps small villages, would necessitate many launches, which can be done much more cheaply using the 4R Club. We can perhaps start with the so-called hybrid option, which normally means a reusable first stage and an expendable upper stage, which may be less cheap but would amount to smaller vehicles.

Embed from Getty Images

NOT MARS, THE MOON

SpaceX, Blue Origin and DARPA are already developing this technology for the first stage. To go to Mars, SpaceX wants to refuel the upper stage in orbit a few times before sending it off to Mars. A good idea and an innovative one, but we should do that for the moon instead. Why not then use the tanks of the expendable upper stage as habitats? It is the shape of things to come. DARPA’s plan of 10 flights in 10 days is certainly a step in that direction—in fact, a real giant leap for mankind.

Why the moon and not a jump to Mars? Because we need learn to live and work in an atmosphere with very little pressure, or none at all, for hours at a time and maybe even days. And because we need to learn to build structures in those environments first—to the tee. We need to become solid, unmitigated, confident experts in it before venturing out, which with Mars could be too far to send help if needed. We need to iron out all the kinks first, certainly the major ones.

We have the moon to experiment on and it is close enough. With the moon, it is considerably less risky than putting many persons’ lives at risk by going to Mars, and it is more rewarding and cheaper. Imagine how much easier and surer our venture to Mars would be after having such experience and expertise.

No, wishing to go to Mars is not wrong. We will someday but not just yet. It should not be the next step. Not without having spent years on the moon. Not without having learned how to survive without air. Not without learning how to walk and chew gum at the same time in much less gravity than Earth.

AND NOT AN ASTEROID EITHER

Looking for an asteroid to learn from or learn on? Why? We have this beautiful shiny object that the “force” has already brought very close to us and has been our constant companion for billions of years, with zero chance of orbital changes. Why look for an asteroid when the opportunity has been staring us in the face every night?

The Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) needs to be shelved. Why find and study an asteroid? Well, again, the same “force” sent one to Earth just a few years ago. Sure, there are differences as the skeptics would again say. But are they worth the heavy cost?

The moon village can be called “Manhattan,” representing the seat of United Nations. It would surely be another “Go West, Young Man” project. In this case “Go Up, Young Person.”

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit: Milante

Share Story
CategoriesBlog, North America, Science, US news, World News TagsAmerican news, international news, journey to Mars, NASA news, space news, Today’s news headlines, United States news, US news, USA news, world news analysis
Join our network of more than 2,000 contributors to publish your perspective, share your story and shape the global conversation. Become a Fair Observer and help us make sense of the world.

Fair Observer Recommends

Alex Acosta and the Guidelines of the Elite Alex Acosta and the Guidelines of the Elite
By Peter Isackson • Nov 19, 2020
American Reckoning: A New Kind of Nation American Reckoning: A New Kind of Nation
By Wade Roush • Nov 02, 2020
After the US Election, Will Civil War Become the Fashion? After the US Election, Will Civil War Become the Fashion?
By Peter Isackson • Oct 29, 2020

Post navigation

Previous PostPrevious Seven Pillars of the New Kuwait
Next PostNext Will Trump Complete the Pivot to Asia?
Subscribe
Register for $9.99 per month and become a member today.
Publish
Join our community of more than 2,500 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse.
Donate
We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your donation is tax-deductible.

Explore

  • About
  • Authors
  • FO Store
  • FAQs
  • Republish
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact

Regions

  • Africa
  • Asia Pacific
  • Central & South Asia
  • Europe
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Middle East & North Africa
  • North America

Topics

  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Environment
  • Global Change
  • International Security
  • Science

Sections

  • 360°
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice

Daily Dispatch


© Fair Observer All rights reserved
We Need Your Consent
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. Learn more about how we use cookies or edit your cookie preferences. Privacy Policy. My Options I Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Edit Cookie Preferences

The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.

As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media.

 
Necessary
Always Enabled

These cookies essential for the website to function.

Analytics

These cookies track our website’s performance and also help us to continuously improve the experience we provide to you.

Performance
Uncategorized

This cookie consists of the word “yes” to enable us to remember your acceptance of the site cookie notification, and prevents it from displaying to you in future.

Preferences
Save & Accept