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Not That it'll Make Any Real Difference
Fark linked up news of an interesting upcoming NASA mission to the moon:
In 2008 a powerful camera aboard a new spacecraft called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will photograph the moon's surface in fine detail - fine enough to pick out the Apollo 17 moon buggy abandoned 33 years ago, along with lunar landing platforms and other relics.
The real purpose of the mission is to provide hyper-detailed mapping data for future manned landings. While I fully expect to see and marvel at pictures of the long-abandoned Apollo sites, I don't expect it to change any minds about their legitimacy. If you're looney enough to think the Apollo program was a fake, you'll be plenty looney enough to think pictures taken as "proof" will be doctored.
Very interesting - but it seems to be coming at the expense of other programs. I was just reading that NASA may be cutting funding for things like Voyager, LANDSAT, and some other current programs so they can focus on manned missions.
Posted by: ronaprhys on July 18, 2005 10:25 AMAs I hate to see ANY funding cuts to NASA, I wonder if the new revival of manned lunar landing initiatives are in response to China’s declared space objectives? Maybe a different kind of Space Race…..
Posted by: Roth on July 18, 2005 09:20 PM