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发帖数: 21731 | 1 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-05-24-Ob
Armstrong clarified this point with an example: "For Mission Control on
Earth to play an important and timely role in flight operations," with Moon
travelers "communication delays with Earth are less than two seconds." By
contrast, "Mission Control cannot provide a Mars crew their normal helpful
advice if ... the time delay of radar, communications and telemetry back to
Earth is 19 minutes.... Flight experience at lunar distance can provide
valuable insights into practical solutions for handling such challenges."
Armstrong stated that he finds the arguments of opponents to Constellation's
return to the Moon "mystifying." "After all, they say, we have already been
there." But, he continued, "there is much to be learned on Luna – learning
to survive in the lunar environment, investigating many science
opportunities, determining the practicality of extracting Helium 3 from the
lunar regolith, prospecting for Palladium group metals, meeting challenges
not yet identified." To date the Moon "leaves more than 14 million square
miles yet to be explored" (or about 36 million square kilometres).
Armstrong cited Constellation as among those federal programs that "motivate
the citizenry ... inspiring them."
Armstrong also mentioned skepticism over plans to rely on private
spaceflight companies for access to space.[44] “I am very concerned that
the new plan, as I understand it, will prohibit us from having human access
to low Earth orbit on our own rockets and spacecraft until the private
aerospace industry is able to qualify their hardware under development as
rated for human occupancy. I support the encouragement of the newcomers
toward their goal of lower-cost access to space. But having cut my teeth in
rockets more than 50 years ago, I am not confident. The most experienced
rocket engineers with whom I have spoken believe that it will require many
years and substantial investment to reach the necessary level of safety and
reliability.”
There has since been a successful, although unmanned, cargo mission by the
private firm SpaceX.[45]
More recently, Buzz Aldrin has expressed strong support for the Obama
administration's new plan.[46] |
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