Starship Asterisk*

[quote=De58te post_id=322240 time=1650548639 user_id=141631]
[quote=NCTom post_id=322239 time=1650545146]
I have often wondered why we have put so much emphasis upon a manned trip to Mars with little said about a more developed lunar station. Is there a reason I have missed?
[/quote]

Well that would depend on who "we" are. I naturally assumed based on the subject of today's APOD that "we" is American. That is not necessarily so. "We" could be if you are Chinese. China has already announced that they will land a crewed spaceship on the Moon, and now they have announced that they plan to land a crewed ship on Mars by 2033. The reason being the old space race. The USA is first in history of landing on the Moon. China plans to be first on landing an astronaut on Mars.
[/quote]

Well China can wish in one hand…

The colors are so vivid and the picture is so well composed that at first I thought it was a painting by Robert McCall.

And the Moon is welcome to Earth Day, I say. Hey, it used to be part of the Earth. And if we all keep trying, we can make the Earth look like the Moon.

[quote=heehaw post_id=322236 time=1650533615]
Today's ESPOD is loony, but cute!
[/quote]

ESPOD? The only thing I can think of is Earth Science Picture Of the Day, but that hardly makes sense given this APOD is about the Moon.

I have often wondered why we have put so much emphasis upon a manned trip to Mars with little said about a more developed lunar station. Is there a reason I have missed?

Manned trips to ANYWHERE are difficult to impossible. Unless we take nuclear to the Moon (unlikely) the base must be at a pole, where solar power is available 24/7. I think the whole thing is not worth doing at all.

We hope the Russians land on Venus.

[quote=NCTom post_id=322239 time=1650545146]
I have often wondered why we have put so much emphasis upon a manned trip to Mars with little said about a more developed lunar station. Is there a reason I have missed?
[/quote]

Well that would depend on who "we" are. I naturally assumed based on the subject of today's APOD that "we" is American. That is not necessarily so. "We" could be if you are Chinese. China has already announced that they will land a crewed spaceship on the Moon, and now they have announced that they plan to land a crewed ship on Mars by 2033. The reason being the old space race. The USA is first in history of landing on the Moon. China plans to be first on landing an astronaut on Mars.

I have often wondered why we have put so much emphasis upon a manned trip to Mars with little said about a more developed lunar station. Is there a reason I have missed?

[attachment=1]Apollo-16-station-10crop1110.jpg[/attachment]
Those were the days! 8-)
[attachment=0]AS17-152-23420_Ord1024c.jpg[/attachment]
Beautiful Earth!😍 🥰

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzHEyUkyt9Y[/youtube]


Those fenders!
Does anybody remember watching the fender repair using duct tape carried out on the Apollo 17 mission?

Today's ESPOD is loony, but cute!

They said the utter lack of haze and the barren landscape made distances very hard to judge. This razor sharp photo illustrates that quite well.

Eric

[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220421.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_220421.jpg[/img] [size=150]Apollo 16 Moon Panorama[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] [url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-apollo-16-launches-to-the-moon]Fifty years ago[/url], April 20, 1972, [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_16]Apollo 16's[/url] lunar module Orion touched down on the Moon's near side in the south-central Descartes Highlands. While astronaut [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_16#/media/File:Apollo_16_crew.jpg]Ken Mattingly[/url] orbited overhead in Casper the friendly command and service module the Orion brought [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_16#/media/File:Apollo_16_crew.jpg]John Young and Charles Duke[/url] to the lunar surface. The pair would spend nearly [url=https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/a16.html]three days on the Moon[/url]. Constructed from images [url=https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/images16.html#M117](AS16-117-18814 to AS16-117-18820)[/url] taken near the end of their third and final surface excursion this panoramic view puts the lunar module in the distance toward the left. Their [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130129.html]electric lunar roving[/url] vehicle in the foreground, Duke is operating the camera while Young aims the high gain communications antenna skyward, [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210429.html]toward planet Earth[/url].


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