Mission to Mars by Buzz Aldrin Page B
Authors: Buzz Aldrin
Tags: Science & Math, Technology, Astrophysics & Space Science, Aeronautics & Astronautics, mars, Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering, Astronomy & Space Science, Engineering & Transportation, Aerospace, Astronautics & Space Flight, Science & Mathematics
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to Earth. The airless moon receives more than 13,000 terawatts of solar power. Harnessing just one percent of that sunlight could satisfy Earth’s power needs.
Criswell has promoted a lunar solar power (LSP) system, large banks of solar cells on the moon that collect sunlight. The sunlight is then exported back to receivers on Earth via a microwave beam. That microwave energy is collected on Earth, converted to electricity, and fed into the local energy grid. The LSPcan be scaled up on the moon, he contends, to supply the 20 terawatts or more of electricity required by ten billion people.
“The critical frontier for humankind is economic development of the solar energy and material resources of the moon,” Criswell concludes.
As I stated earlier, the moon is a far different body today than when Neil and I boot-marked our way across its forbidding face. Scientifically, we know so much more about our celestial next-door neighbor caught in Earth’s gravity grip. While there are those who might question the very premise of our undertaking such a journey in the first place, its characteristics were born of the time. It was a Cold War, one-upmanship way to outdistance the former Soviet Union. The moon was the finish line. Apollo was a get-there-in-a-hurry, straightforward space race strategy, and don’t waste time developing reusability.
That chapter in the space exploration history books is closed. Today, I call for a unified international effort to explore and utilize the moon, a partnership that involves commercial enterprise and other nations building upon Apollo.
For the United States, other finish lines await.
Asteroids may be rich in resources but may also threaten Earth
.
( Illustration Credit 4.11 )
CHAPTER FIVE
VOYAGE TO ARMAGEDDON
There is an important question we all need to face in the immediate future—and that is sustainability. Earth’s population is now at over seven billion people. In terms of consumption, the resources obtainable on our globe to provide for that quickly growing number of humans are untenable. At the same time, while we do our utmost to sustain our global security, there are questions about the environmental distress humanity is placing on our planet’s ecosphere.
Do we compete for the diminishing resources remaining on Earth—an inward, closed system? Or, alternatively, do we work together in utilizing the limitless resources and opportunities available in outer space—an open and expansive system?
Well, to me, the best option is obvious.
There is history behind events that have menaced life on Earth. It is also inescapable that there are new threats we cannot predict. One clear step we can embark on is to enhance the survivability of our species. We can explore and settle new worlds, establishing fresh footholds and new beginnings. This is made possible by evoking bit by bit movement, once again as exemplified by the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo progression of programs, letting us transit farther into space and accumulate the know-how to land humans on Mars.
Mapping the belt of asteroids or near-Earth objects (NEOs)
( Illustration Credit 5.1 )
That is precisely what is behind my Unified Space Vision, which preserves U.S. leadership in space exploration and human spaceflight. The USV brings in concert exploration, science, development, commerce, and security elements. That security component I view as one that signifies
both
U.S. defense and a cosmic counterpart: planetary defense of Earth from near-Earth objects, or NEOs.
Planetary defense of home planet Earth means getting to know the enemy—and I am not talking about down-to-earth squabbles between nations. I’m highlighting here a celestial fear factor stemming from asteroids and comets.
NEOs have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter Earth’s solar system neighborhood. We should learn more about these extraterrestrial wanderers in both scientific and
Criswell has promoted a lunar solar power (LSP) system, large banks of solar cells on the moon that collect sunlight. The sunlight is then exported back to receivers on Earth via a microwave beam. That microwave energy is collected on Earth, converted to electricity, and fed into the local energy grid. The LSPcan be scaled up on the moon, he contends, to supply the 20 terawatts or more of electricity required by ten billion people.
“The critical frontier for humankind is economic development of the solar energy and material resources of the moon,” Criswell concludes.
As I stated earlier, the moon is a far different body today than when Neil and I boot-marked our way across its forbidding face. Scientifically, we know so much more about our celestial next-door neighbor caught in Earth’s gravity grip. While there are those who might question the very premise of our undertaking such a journey in the first place, its characteristics were born of the time. It was a Cold War, one-upmanship way to outdistance the former Soviet Union. The moon was the finish line. Apollo was a get-there-in-a-hurry, straightforward space race strategy, and don’t waste time developing reusability.
That chapter in the space exploration history books is closed. Today, I call for a unified international effort to explore and utilize the moon, a partnership that involves commercial enterprise and other nations building upon Apollo.
For the United States, other finish lines await.
Asteroids may be rich in resources but may also threaten Earth
.
( Illustration Credit 4.11 )
CHAPTER FIVE
VOYAGE TO ARMAGEDDON
There is an important question we all need to face in the immediate future—and that is sustainability. Earth’s population is now at over seven billion people. In terms of consumption, the resources obtainable on our globe to provide for that quickly growing number of humans are untenable. At the same time, while we do our utmost to sustain our global security, there are questions about the environmental distress humanity is placing on our planet’s ecosphere.
Do we compete for the diminishing resources remaining on Earth—an inward, closed system? Or, alternatively, do we work together in utilizing the limitless resources and opportunities available in outer space—an open and expansive system?
Well, to me, the best option is obvious.
There is history behind events that have menaced life on Earth. It is also inescapable that there are new threats we cannot predict. One clear step we can embark on is to enhance the survivability of our species. We can explore and settle new worlds, establishing fresh footholds and new beginnings. This is made possible by evoking bit by bit movement, once again as exemplified by the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo progression of programs, letting us transit farther into space and accumulate the know-how to land humans on Mars.
Mapping the belt of asteroids or near-Earth objects (NEOs)
( Illustration Credit 5.1 )
That is precisely what is behind my Unified Space Vision, which preserves U.S. leadership in space exploration and human spaceflight. The USV brings in concert exploration, science, development, commerce, and security elements. That security component I view as one that signifies
both
U.S. defense and a cosmic counterpart: planetary defense of Earth from near-Earth objects, or NEOs.
Planetary defense of home planet Earth means getting to know the enemy—and I am not talking about down-to-earth squabbles between nations. I’m highlighting here a celestial fear factor stemming from asteroids and comets.
NEOs have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter Earth’s solar system neighborhood. We should learn more about these extraterrestrial wanderers in both scientific and
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