NASA Shares Plans For Moon Flights
Lunar Landing Could Come In 2018
POSTED: Friday, September 16, 2005
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NASA hopes to put astronauts back on the moon by 2018.That's in the space agency's plan that was presented this week to the White House and Congress. A public announcement is set for Monday.The lunar exploration plan calls for the use of space shuttle and Apollo rocket parts and technology, rather than fancy, futuristic designs.The director of George Washington University's space policy institute said that makes good sense.John Logsdon said the plan emphasizes achieving goals rather than elegance. He said it acknowledges that the people in the Apollo program were pretty smart, and that dependence on advanced, unproven technology would slow everything down and raise the costs.The new crew exploration vehicle's first manned trip, an orbit of Earth, will probably take place no earlier than 2012.That is two years after President George W. Bush has called for the shuttle program to end.The Associated Press reported that the plan involves launching the new crew exploration vehicle -- with people inside -- atop the booster rocket/external tank rig now used by the space shuttle. A separate launch on a Saturn V rocket would take the lunar vehicle and other cargo to orbit.Once there, the CEV and lunar system would link up for the trip to the moon. From there, the crew would descend in a lander while the unmanned CEV orbited, awaiting the crew on its return flight.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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