[ExI] NASA: go Go GO back to the moon

[Adrian Tymes]

Eh...Trump administration aside, putting a live crew on the maiden
voyage of any new rocket seems kind of "flags and footprint"ish.

That said, this is assuming they do manage to actually launch SLS next
year.  If not, it doesn't matter what was supposed to go on it.

On Fri, Feb 24, 2017 at 10:35 PM, Giulio Prisco <giulio at gmail.com> wrote:
> Reuters: "The Trump administration has directed NASA to study whether
> it is feasible to fly astronauts on the debut flight of the agency’s
> heavy-lift rocket, a mission currently planned to be unmanned and
> targeted to launch in late 2018."
>
> "Engineers are assessing hardware changes, schedule delays, additional
> costs and increased risks of flying a two-member crew on the first
> flight of the Space Launch System rocket, which is about four times
> bigger and more powerful than any current U.S. booster."
>
> http://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-nasa-idUSKBN1632B2
>
> NASA: "NASA is assessing the feasibility of adding a crew to the first
> integrated flight of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and
> Orion spacecraft, Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). NASA is building new
> deep space capabilities to take humans farther into the solar system
> than we have ever traveled, and ultimately to Mars."
>
> "During the first mission of SLS and Orion, NASA plans to send the
> spacecraft into a distant lunar retrograde orbit, which will require
> additional propulsion moves, a flyby of the moon and return trajectory
> burns. The mission is planned as a challenging trajectory to test
> maneuvers and the environment of space expected on future missions to
> deep space. If the agency decides to put crew on the first flight, the
> mission profile for Exploration Mission-2 would likely replace it,
> which is an approximately eight-day mission with a multi-translunar
> injection with a free return trajectory."
>
> https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-kicks-off-study-to-add-crew-to-first-flight-of-orion-sls-as-progress-continues-to-send
>
> Of course the plan will be criticized and demonized because it comes
> from the Trump administration. But I think this mission could revive
> our enthusiasm for manned space exploration and prepare the way for a
> magic decade, the "roaring twenties" inspired by the magic sixties.
> There are of course safety concerns, but if I were a candidate
> astronaut I would sign up without thinking twice.
>
> In 1968 the Apollo 8 Christmas mission around the Moon was the best
> Christmas gift to our generation. Please NASA, give us and the next
> generations an awesome Christmas gift next year.
>
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