Originally Posted by m21sniper (Post 4788888)

There is no rocket with the required thrust to get to the moon today, that is not a paper design.

So again, based on my understanding, nope, we could not do it again today. 10 years from today perhaps.

Originally Posted by jyl (Post 4788969)

Of course we couldn't get back to the moon overnight. But if we placed the same priority on getting to the moon today, as we did in the 1960s, we could get there in a few years. For example, it would't take a decade to simply re-create Saturn V.

Originally Posted by Z-man (Post 4788958)

Taking that concept a step further - the moon could be used as a staging area for missions to Mars. It costs nothing to keep things like jet fuel cool there. (Maybe too cool?). Delevop a station there - and at 1/6tht the gravity, it would require less energy to get a spaceship off the surface and heading towards Mars.

So essentially, the moon would house the 'outer' space station. Astronauts would take a Space Shuttle to our space stations that are in lower orbit - then take another smaller vehicle to the moon, where their Mars explorer/space vehicle would launch them to Mars and beyond.

Yes, as a kid, I was mezmerized by the space program - I had a National Geographic poster of all the astronauts and their missions hanging in my room for years and years... Neil Armstrong was my hero!

-Z-man.

Originally Posted by 74-911 (Post 4788980)

IIRC when Bush proposed going to Mars and talk of the Saturn V came up, NASA discovered that most of the blueprints for the Saturn V had been destroyed.

Originally Posted by 74-911 (Post 4788980)

IIRC when Bush proposed going to Mars and talk of the Saturn V came up, NASA discovered that most of the blueprints for the Saturn V had been destroyed.

Originally Posted by jyl (Post 4788969)

Of course we couldn't get back to the moon overnight. But if we placed the same priority on getting to the moon today, as we did in the 1960s, we could get there in a few years. For example, it would't take a decade to simply re-create Saturn V.

Originally Posted by m21sniper (Post 4789092)

I bet it would take us at least as long to get there if we got GO word today as it did back then, and most likely, appreciably longer.

Originally Posted by m21sniper (Post 4789111)

Well the modern Saturn, the Aries won't be ready until 2020, for one, and they've already been working on it for some years.

On top of it, look how long it takes to get military programs from drawing board to deployment. Oft cases, it takes 20 years or more (some over 30)- and these are high priority systems that are far, far less expensive and complex.

Finally, it's government....

I have no doubt whatsoever that it would take at least as long as Apollo took. At least.

Originally Posted by cairns (Post 4788950)

"NPR had an article about how really rather useless NASA is. That most of Apollo and other spacecraft as well as the space station, were comprised of independent efforts brought together by NASA."

That has to be the CRAPPIEST POST OF THE MONTH.

It's one of the most absurd statements I've ever read on here. What do you think an executive agency is supposed to do? NASA brought together diverse people and companies (like Werner Von Braun, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin) and, more than executed, they made incredibly significant accomplishments that have yet to be matched by any other nation.

They restored our national pride when the Russkies were kicking our butts. Then there were the little things like Hubble, an international space station, a space shuttle, MARS rovers, deep space vehicles and putting a few guys on the moon. I was in Huntsville watching the launch on TV last week- going from zero to 17,000 mph in less than ten minutes is pretty impressive in my book. Those folks at NASA actually do rocket science- and do it very well.

Did you have any idea that Endeavour (STS 127) is up there now? Much less what they're doing? That they're working on a Japanese experimental module- the largest ever attached to the Space Station? Did you know the current mission will set a record for the most humans in space at the same time in the same vehicle, the first time thirteen people will have been at the station at the same time and will also tie the record of thirteen people in space at any one time? Probably not- as I guess NPR forgot to mention that sh**t.

But to the original post- sadly I don't think it could be done today- we lack the national will to even rebuild ground zero. We can't even build a nuclear power plant or repair the interstates that Eisenhower built.

Instead we squander our money and will building immense self perpetuating bureacracies and bailing out failed institutions like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and GM while catering to special interests like the ethanol, mortgage, safety and union lobbies. And of course fund utterly useless kaka like NPR.

Maybe you could tell us what NPR has ever done except suck tax $ for mouthing uninformed, biased opinions that masquerade as reporting?