Countdown to the Moon

Roy had not heard of NASA’s plans to go to the moon. But he remembers the last time. He thinks the exploration and the continuous invention is good. But at 81 he does not want to go into space. Save it for younger people.

NASA needs to talk more about the research they are doing and plan on doing in everyday language and everyday channels of communication (social media, radio, in the schools) in order to get the word out about going to the moon in 2024.

Adrien thinks it is good that we are exploring and he would like to go into space. In 500 years we should have people living on Mars and would like to see us taking better care of the earth. SpaceX’s activities are known about the reusable 1st stage. But the information about Starship is not making it into mainstream. This is probably because the futuristic predictions of the past and the fact they have not come into reality has caused much of it to fade into the background noise of our lives.

Takisha thinks that going back to the moon would be pretty cool. She can’t believe it has been so long since we last went. She had not heard about it and NASA needs to find a way to reach more people with the news. She would not be interested in traveling to space.

Jerilyn is excited to see us return back to the moon. She thinks the exploration is worth it! We can live on other planets someday. She would go if she could. She wants to be able to experience space.

Billy has not heard about NASA’s it pans to return to the moon in 2024. But he thinks it is important to explore. I asked him about using that money to solve problems here on earth. He thinks we have enough to do both. He wants to see that it is safe to go in space before he considers a trip.

Stevenson has not heard of NASA’s plans to return to the moon, but he is glad to see that we are going back. “It is about time.” I asked him what NASA needs to do differently to get the word out. He says he heard everything was shutdown. (I think he is referring to the shuttle program which last launched in 2011.). He had heard about many NASA plans in the past that didn’t happen. And he expected us to be much further along.

This goes to what Jim Bridenstine says about Lucy and the football. Most people will not continue to go after a football that keeps being taken away. Making the 2024 moon landing date will invigorate interest in space much more than some distant Mars plan. The irony is that if we can focus on getting to the moon in a sustainable way, we will be able to get to the Mars quicker.

Laura has heard talk of going to Mars (maybe in the next 100 years) but she had not heard about NASA’s moon plans. But she thinks it is a good thing. I asked her about having problems here on earth. Laura pointed out that we have more than enough people to take care of the problems on earth and explore the universe.

She would go to space if she could for a vacation or a short visit. But would have to think some more before emigrating to Mars.

In 2024 astronauts will once again step on the surface of the moon and begin truly exploring the moon. We will learn how to survive and thrive in deep space. Learn about the ancient history of earth’s past through the preserves meteors on the surface of the moon. We will learn to use the water ice, dry ice, and ammonia ice on the poles of the moon. We will learn how to protect ourselves from radiation. How to grow food, how to mine, and how to manufacture on the moon. It will be remembered as the time that life really began branching out into space from earth.

I talked to Katelyn about this. She had not heard about the Artemis program, but she is excited about it. She would definitely go into space if she could.