back to the moon
After 34 years, the United States finally has plans to return to the moon. I was not alive the last time a man walked on the moon, but I certainly hope to be the next time. The Bush administration announced a real paradigm shift in our country's space exploration goals a few years back. Robotic exploration of the solar system was to be scaled back in favor of manned missions to the moon and eventually, Mars. My field of study in graduate school, magnetospheric physics, was directly affected by this decision. As I was finishing my studies, funding for certain programs in magnetospheric physics began to dry up in favor of moon and Mars initiatives. While I am bothered by this because it could damage important research efforts into how the universe works, I also believe it is imperative that we push our manned explorations of space beyond near-Earth activities.
Our return to the moon will leverage off the Apollo and space shuttle programs, drawing on some of the best design elements of those two systems. The Crew Exploration Vehicle, or CEV, looks a lot like the Apollo spacecraft that carried men to the moon over 30 years ago. The command module is cone shaped, the service module is cylindrical, the lunar module is spidery (see picture). It's not Star Trek, but the Apollo spacecraft design was forged under immense time and political pressures that resulted in an incredibly robust and reliable spacecraft. It just makes sense to build off that heritage, especially while some of the engineers who made it happen are still alive. One major difference between the Apollo spacecraft and the CEV is size. The Apollo spacecraft could support 3 men for about a week, with the lunar module supporting 2 men for the lunar landing (usually no more than 2 days). The CEV will be much larger, supporting a crew of 4 for upwards of 2 weeks with a lunar module capable of carrying the entire crew to the lunar surface and housing them for up to a week on the surface.
As for shuttle design elements, the CEV will be launched using solid rocket boosters much like those used to launch the space shuttle. In addition, the CEV will be launched in two stages. One launch will put the lunar module and a "departure" rocket stage into Earth orbit. The second launch will carry the astronauts in the command and service module. The astronauts would then dock with the lunar module and the departure rocket already in Earth orbit. The departure stage provides the propulsion that sends the spacecraft off to the moon. The two-phase launch eliminates the need for a single immense launch rocket like the Saturn V, the Apollo launch vehicle.
The space shuttle era is over. With the loss of two crews and two orbiters, the American public has lost confidence in shuttle safety. It's a shame, because despite being the most complex transportation system ever devised, the shuttles performed and still maintain a respectable safety record. They've simply been overextended. The shuttle program is currently slated for retirement in 2010, at which time CEV activities will ramp up for a lunar landing in 2018. For me, it can't come soon enough. While it won't be the first time we land on the moon, it will be the first time I get to watch it happen live, with all the uncertainty that entails. I also look forward to the first female steps on the moon.
It saddens me that in all likelihood only a few of the men who visited the moon between 1968 and 1972 will be alive when the next lunar landing occurs. They are all in their 70's these days, and in another 12 years we can expect to lose many of them. I think it's important that we strive to make that 2018 target in the hopes that a few of these men will be around to usher us into the next era of moon exploration. The continuity will soften the disappointing fact that we retreated from the moon in 1972 and almost forgot how to go back in the 30 years since. The moon is waiting, it's time to get to work.
