No Lunar Base in 2020? Say it ain't so!

New Scientist article by David Shiga that was posted on their website on April 29, 2009; suggest that NASA is backing off the idea of building a outpost on the moon.

According to acting NASA administrator Chris Scolese told congressional lawmakers on the 28th that the agency is "... open to putting more emphasis on human missions to destinations like Mars or near-Earth asteroid(s)."

While NASA is working towards the return to the moon by the year 2020, other space analysts and advocacy groups such as Planetary Society are urging NASA to cancel plans for a permanent moonbase.  They instead urge shorter moon missions, and focus on getting astronauts to Mars. 

Scolese's comments suggest that the White House might be undergoing a shift in space policy.  Chris Scolese was speaking to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies of the House Committee on Appropriations.

Reporters kept asking Scolese about the 2010 budget and how it would impact the agency as it moves forward to lunar flights by 2020.  But Mr. Scolese declined to give out a clear yes or no answer.  His answers instead gives the clue that NASA's plans are in flux.  

Check out this answer he give to reporters (reguarding the short trips to moon and the asteroids).  "Recall (that) the Vision (for Space Exploration) was not just to go to the moon as it was in Apollo, it was to utilise space to go on to Mars and to go to other places.  We've demonstrated over the last several years that with multiple flights we can build a very complex system reliably - the space station - involving multiple nations.  and we'll need something like that if we're going to go to Mars."

NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems, Doug Cooke; give out similar vague answers to the subcommittee's chair Congressman Alan Mollohan wondering if the space agency has been new directions.

More specifics are explected to come out in May when the Obama administration releases it's detailed 2010 budget proposal. 

Image is of the UFO tv series Lunar Lander landing at the SHADO moonbase.

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Ref. New Scientist.com article by David Shiga. April 29, 2009 ( http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17052-nasa-may-abandon-plans-for-moon-base.html)

Red Rover Going for Google Lunar X Prize

Carnegie Mellon/Raytheon team planning lunar robot rover mission to the Apollo 11 landing site while in pursuit of the $20 Million dollar Google Lunar X Prize contest. There are 16 other teams in the running for the Google Lunar X Prize. The winning team has to be able to launch a rocket and payload to the moon. Land there. Then have it move at least 1,640 feet (i.e. 500 meters) and then beam back to earth high definition views.

Articles from Space.com from last October(October 30, 2009) and today (April 29, 2009) about the "Red Rover" planned mission to the moon and in the process, it will photograph the Apollo 11 landing site with HD cameras.

"Red Rover" takes it's name from Mr. Red Whittaker who is a Carnegie Mellon University roboticist who led his team to victory in the DARPA 2007 Grand Challenge.  The main mission for Red Rover for scouting and prospecting, and mining.  All the sorts of things that are needed for human return to the moon.

From the latest Space.com article, reporter Jeremy Hsu states that Raytheon and other partner institutions have already poured over $3 million into the project.  

Image is from the lunar rover webpage. 

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Ref. Red Rover ( http://www.lunarrover.org/).

Space.com from October 30, 2008 & April 29, 2009. (http://www.space.com/news/081030-astrobotic-lunar-exploration.html) & (http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/090428-tw-glxp-astrobotic.html).

Train vs UFO on January 14, 2002

Train - UFO collision report.  This was a most unusual report I decided to post ths link to it for others to read it as well.

Article posted on Phantoms & Monsters blog, Saturday, April 25, 2009. There was a report of a UFO / Train Collision in Paintsville, KY.  The original incident took place in January of 2002 (specifically. 2:47am on 01/14/2002). There are photographs showing damage to a diesel locomotive. Read that article there.

Check out this link on ( http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2009/04/ufo-train-collision-paintsville-ky.html)

China's new aircraft carrier-moved to new port

On both the Information Dissemination and the China Defense Blog, photographs were posted on each showing China's new aircraft carrier (former Russian carrier Varyag) being moved from one side of a harbor to the Dalian shipyard.

No doubt that it is time for that ship to undergo fitting out. 

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Ref (http://informationdissemination.blogspot.com/2009/04/if-chinese-aircraft-carrier-moves-2.html) and China Defense Blog ( Monday, April 27, 2009). 

USA, USSR vs the Flying Saucers

A little tidbit from the Christian Science Monitor posted on their website and a link to that page from the Coast to Coast Am webpage (April 24, 2009 original posting on CSM).

Mikhail Gorbachev was recently interviewed by Charlie Rose along with former Secretary of State George Shultz when the former leader of the USSR drop this little bit of news.  The interview was taking place on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

President Gorbachev was laughing when he said he wasn't all that impressed with President Ronald Reagan's challenge about tearing down the Berlin Wall.  But added that he did believe that Ronald Reagan "was a great president."

George Shultz began talking about the Lake Geneva summit and mentioned that the two world leaders ducked out of a meeting to take a walk to a nearby cabin.  

Gorbachev told Shultz and Rose that "From the fireside house, President Reagan suddenly said to me, 'What would you do if the United States were suddenly atacked by someone from outer space?  Would you help us?'"  Gorbachev replied to that question thusly, "No doubt about it."  Reagan responded , "We too."

"So that's interesting," President Gorbachev added to much laughter.

On the Christian Science Monitor webpage with this article is the video of that interview.  Check out the link below.  And who knows, maybe we already have a real life SHADO organization fully operational now...  Plus any excuse to show off Lt. Ellis in her purple wig glory!

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Ref. The Christian Science Monitor ( http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/04/24/reagan-and-gorbachev-agreed-to-fight-ufos/)

UFO tv series home page ( http://ufoseries.com/)

Steve Eves And His 1/10th scale Saturn V Moon Rocket

Found this on the National Space Society blog page.  See link below. At 1/10th scale, the Saturn V is 36 feet tall.  He is hoping to get into the record books as flying the largest model rocket in history.  He is hoping to reach 3 to 4,000 feet in altitude with this monster.

I'm rooting for his success.

UPDATE:  April 30, 2009.  It's Flown!  Check out the New Scientist.com website for the YouTube video. 

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Ref. blog.nss.org  (http://blog.nss.org/?p=786)

New Scientist.com ( http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17053-video-shows-launch-of-worlds-largest-amateur-rocket.html)

Unidentified Submerged Object (USO) Video

Check this short video out.  Its of a supposed Unidentified Submerged Object (USO) that was posted on ufoblogger.blogspot.com.  Check out the link below.

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Ref ( http://ufoblogger.blogspot.com/2009/04/unidentified-submerge-object-or-uso.html)