Jim Bell, a professor of astronomy at Cornell University and newly named president of the nonprofit Planetary Society, predicts NASA will return to the lunar surface before other comers get there. "It would be great to see other nations do this, but I think that for the most part the other countries are pretty far behind in terms of technical capabilities," he says. "We have the infrastructure and, frankly, more experience to tap into." But Bell also hopes that cooperation will be on the agenda and stresses that the U.S., having already planted its flag on the moon, should not rush to get back at the expense of other priorities. "I don't think it's productive to try to re-create a conflict or a space race that is really the product of a bygone era," he says. "If we can find a way to do it together, it will cost each of us less and we will gain more."
Bell finds the 2020 deadline for reaching the moon, established as part of President Bush's 2004 Vision for Space Exploration, troublesome. "It was a best guess—it was set out as a goal, initially," he says. "And it seems to be still being treated as a mandate." Vick also bristles at that timeline, fearing that a hastily assembled deep-space transport system would be irredeemably dangerous. "It's time to step back and slow down and do this job right," he says. "It needs to be re-thought out."
Many believe that by the time humans return to the moon, private agencies be part of the cooperative effort. "I think that commercial enterprises...are extremely well-positioned to be not a competitor to government missions but sort of an add-on," says William Pomerantz, senior director of space projects for the X PRIZE Foundation. The foundation offers monetary prizes to privately funded teams that can reach certain targets—including a $20-million purse for the first robot that lands on the moon, traverses 500 meters (1,640 feet) on the surface and sends data back to Earth.
Pomerantz envisions a future in which governments stretch their budgets by contracting out certain preparatory or support activities to more streamlined private operators. "If you think about a future wherein a commercial capacity to go to the moon for tens of millions of dollars rather than billions of dollars exists," he says, "I think that space agencies are going to find it in their best interest to engage those commercial companies." Private support, Pomerantz says, "will allow the government space agencies to do what they do a little bit better, a little bit faster and a little bit cheaper."
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5 Comments
Add CommentA cooperative, global effort, well-planned and well-financed would probably advance space exploration and exploitation significantly. But even that would probably be marred by jealousies and distrust. Forgive me, but my cynicism runs deep.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe best way to get cost-effective space exploration is to shift more of the U.S. effort to the entrepreneurial sector. NASA should be a market for exploration services, rather than the owner of the entire infrastructure.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs for the notion that a global government space agency is the right path -- well, how many people would rate the United Nations as a cost-effective operational organization? It's time to move away from the big government paradigm and embrace an *American* style space effort based in the private sector.
Exactly right. The desire for wealth has been the driving force throughout the history of human exploration. Somehow, today, that has become a dirty word, so all we're interested in is "international cooperation" and "searching for life," both topics so dry and boring that they only excite a university lecturer.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUntil we change our mindset from space exploration to space exploitation, and let the entrepreneurs loose, we'll never have anything but $400 million golf carts sent to Mars to dig at the dirt.
"A cooperative, global effort, well-planned and well-financed would probably advance space exploration and exploitation significantly. But even that would probably be marred by jealousies and distrust. Forgive me, but my cynicism runs deep."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think the various nations could cooperate well enough to get to the moon, then just have a giant fist fight once they are there.
I find this kind of handwaving about how great entrepreneurs are distasteful, and disrespectful toward the (mostly brilliant) government contractors and civil servants at NASA. Space is a vast resource sink. If we want (for example) space colonization, it's going to take the will and treasure of big powerful nation states to do it. I'd be thrilled to be proven wrong. Step up, private sector! Flex that entrepreneurial muscle! Please!
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