Countdown to the Moon

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.

Chris heard we are going back to the moon. He is excited about it. He is interested in the technical aspects of designing spacecraft and science.

In 2024 NASA will land people on the moon. We will begin our push to expand out into the solar system in a real way, learning to use the water ice, seeing what we can mind, and starting to really “live off the land”.

This is exciting news. I talked to Aubrey about it. She had not heard about it. The administration needs to make an announcement and a bigger deal out of it. Aubrey thinks it is exciting. Regarding the first woman on the moon “it’s about time”