Countdown to the Moon

Kennedy had heard about us returning to the moon in 2024. He is not sure what we hope to discover and what will be new. He thinks there might be other things that would be better to spend our limited space resources on like going to Mars. He thinks the Hubble telescope was a good investment. He would celebrate if we do go to the moon. We also discussed the 2023 http://DearMoon.earth project that SpaceX is doing to take a Japanese billionaire and a group of artists around the moon. He thinks that is good.

After I stopped recording we talked more about Elon Musk. “Elon is god’s gift to the United States.” He knew about the Falcon9’s first stage ability to land and be reused. Kennedy has been aware of Musk since he started PayPal and thinks highly of him.

Marie has not heard about NASA’s plans to land on the moon in 2024, but she thinks it is possible. “What do you think about the first woman landing in the moon?” “I think it is good. Girl power!” She would note the headline but probably would not attend a celebration.

In 1825 days people will once again be on the moon. In 5 short years, NASA will have the first woman and the next man walking on the moon as part of the Artemis program.

Today I had a wide ranging discussion with my mom. We talked about the first moon landing in 1969 that was motivated by the geopolitics of the time. The Russians were beating us in space. Children at the time played Sputnik tossing a ball over the house, a miniature version of the Sputnik satellite orbiting the earth.

We also talked about the places on the earth that are undeveloped. And the return that people might get from investing in space. We should not do things for money sake. We should do things that are worth doing.

We even talked about the Tower of Babel and pondered what god’s view might be on space exploration.

In the next 1826 days people will once again walk on the moon. They will see the earth much like we do the moon. The earth will be a globe hanging in the sky, precious, fragile, and undivided.

Sue had not heard about NASA’s Artemis program which will land the first woman and the next man on the moon. But she is excited about it and thinks it is worth celebrating. We also talked about China’s space ambitions, successes and plans. And about private companies like Intuitive Machines that will be providing a Lunar delivery service that NASA is one of many customers.

Komal had not heard about the mission to the moon in 2024. But she is excited that we are learning more about the moon and the planets. And she thinks it will be good progress to have the first woman walk on the moon. She would not like to go to the moon herself, but she would definitely like to visit with the people that went to the moon (perhaps at a NSS North Houston Space Society meeting (http://NorthHoustonSpace.org)).
We talked a little about the http://DearMoon.Earth project which will be sending a group of artists around the moon on a SpaceX Starship in 2023. These people will be able to communicate their experiences to the rest of us.

We also talked about the three attempts to land on the moon in 2019. India successfully put an orbiter around the moon but the lander crashed. Israel tried earlier in the year and also crashed. But in January 2019 China landed a rover on the far side of the moon which has been operating all year long. It has survived the lunar night (~-200C) and lunar day (~200C).

China is planning on a Lunar sample return mission in 2020. The US companies Astrobotics ( https://www.astrobotic.com/ ) and Intuitive Machines ( https://www.intuitivemachines.com/ ) will be landing in 2021. Astrobotics has a deal with DHL to land small payloads for private citizens on the moon called DHL Moonbox. ( https://www.astrobotic.com/moon-box )

Within the next 1828 days we will have people on the moon. NASA’s Artemis program will put the first woman and the next man on the moon in 2024. This will be a multi-pronged effort that will include international partners and private enterprise. It will focus on sustainability and reusability using reusable rockets from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and potentially other providers to put the Lunar Gateway in place, stage the lunar lander (which will be reusable) and to send probes across the moon.

Today I talked to my sister Maggie about this. She was not aware of NASA’s plans, but she supports them. She is a librarian at an elementary school, and she says her students are excited about space. Books about Buzz Aldrin and Scott Kelly are popular. She thinks that NASA sending people to the schools to talk about it at big gatherings (such as open houses and days when there are assemblies) would be a good way to inform the people.

If the landing happens on a school day, she thinks they will stream it live at the school.

She was surprised to learn that it has been so long since we have been to the moon.

Samid had not heard about NASA putting people on the moon, but he did hear about Elon Musk’s plans to put people in Mars.

Samid is interested in the environmental impact perspective: studying global climate change and using space resources to augment what we have on earth.

Going to the moon sounds amazing. He likes the idea of being able to say that he went to the moon. And it will be amazing to see where we can go after the moon.

If we have the technology and resources to develop space then we should.

Mrs. Saroj wants to go to space and feel weightlessness. She saw the first moon landing. And she is surprised we stopped. And she is excited to see us return.