Space Station around the Moon ?

[Trekmaster555]

Can't they build a space station around the moon ? with all the money spent on shooting the aging space shuttle up and to have it fly around the Earth. Couldn't they have been sending up sections of a small space station maybe half the size of the International space station which i don't think we hear much about anymore.
It would make sense to have 2 stations up there. One around the Earth and one around th Moon which is the only other fairly reachable Heavnely body up there.
I was super pro space shuttle in the 1980s, but now I see it as an aging cost cow that eats up budgets up money to simply fly around and around the same planet and just do more of the same thing .
smaller rockets carrying people and supplies can now be sent up to dock with ISS for research to be done.
Will a newer and smaller version of the space shuttle be developed ?
Who thinks the shuttle now is old news ?

 

[Lindley]

It would certainly provide practice in getting supplies from one station to another without a gravity well in the way.

 

[Meredith]

It would certainly provide practice in getting supplies from one station to another without a gravity well in the way.

What we really need is a Nuclear/ION propulsion powered supply tug to go from LEO to Lunar-Oribit and back again using very little feul, it may take weeks more using ION but if you had 2 or 3 you could keep a really nice "cargo conveyor" system between the earth and moon.

 

[Johnny Rico]

Can't they build a space station around the moon ? with all the money spent on shooting the aging space shuttle up and to have it fly around the Earth. Couldn't they have been sending up sections of a small space station maybe half the size of the International space station which i don't think we hear much about anymore.
It would make sense to have 2 stations up there. One around the Earth and one around th Moon which is the only other fairly reachable Heavnely body up there.
I was super pro space shuttle in the 1980s, but now I see it as an aging cost cow that eats up budgets up money to simply fly around and around the same planet and just do more of the same thing .
smaller rockets carrying people and supplies can now be sent up to dock with ISS for research to be done.
Will a newer and smaller version of the space shuttle be developed ?
Who thinks the shuttle now is old news ?

Well, OK...but a few questions first.

1) What would be the point?

The idea of a space station is to have a zero-G scientific research facility. Doesn't matter what celestial body it orbits. LEO is currently the best choice, because it can do the internal experiements, external exposed experiment, and it can aide in the study of the planet that we currently live on.

A station orbiting the moon isn't going to accomplish much. I mean...you see one liveless hunk of space rock from orbit, you've seen'em all. The real science of the moon is and will be accomplished *on* the moon. Which is why NASA plans on building a moon base before the venture to Mars.

2) Not really a question, but while the shuttle is aging quickly, it's done a hellava job for what it was designed for...a space truck. At least as far as we know now. Maybe once the Ares V launch system proves itself, we'll have a different look on the shuttle.

 

[Mark de Vries]

A station orbiting the moon isn't going to accomplish much. I mean...you see one liveless hunk of space rock from orbit, you've seen'em all. The real science of the moon is and will be accomplished *on* the moon. Which is why NASA plans on building a moon base before the venture to Mars.

That's not entirely fair, of course. If it were true that there would be no merit in lunar orbit observations, there would be no point in sending probes there. I agree that a space station in lunar orbit would serve a very limited purpose without surface exploration. Maybe there can be a station infrastructure in the future: the ISS in low Earth Orbit, a station in lunar orbit, and one in between for refuelling and resupply purposes.

As for the space shuttle: in the past years it is finally getting to do the work it's been designed to do: building and maintaining an orbital space station. And since that is still ongoing, I'd say the shuttle serves a purpose. In fact, although age is certainly a factor that should be considered, I think it's sad that they stop flying in 2010. There is work for them, and there will be in the future.

 

[stormleader]

Can't they build a space station around the moon ? with all the money spent on shooting the aging space shuttle up and to have it fly around the Earth. Couldn't they have been sending up sections of a small space station maybe half the size of the International space station which i don't think we hear much about anymore.
It would make sense to have 2 stations up there. One around the Earth and one around th Moon which is the only other fairly reachable Heavnely body up there.
I was super pro space shuttle in the 1980s, but now I see it as an aging cost cow that eats up budgets up money to simply fly around and around the same planet and just do more of the same thing .
smaller rockets carrying people and supplies can now be sent up to dock with ISS for research to be done.
Will a newer and smaller version of the space shuttle be developed ?
Who thinks the shuttle now is old news ?

Well, OK...but a few questions first.

1) What would be the point?

The idea of a space station is to have a zero-G scientific research facility. Doesn't matter what celestial body it orbits. LEO is currently the best choice, because it can do the internal experiements, external exposed experiment, and it can aide in the study of the planet that we currently live on.

A station orbiting the moon isn't going to accomplish much. I mean...you see one liveless hunk of space rock from orbit, you've seen'em all. The real science of the moon is and will be accomplished *on* the moon. Which is why NASA plans on building a moon base before the venture to Mars.

2) Not really a question, but while the shuttle is aging quickly, it's done a hellava job for what it was designed for...a space truck. At least as far as we know now. Maybe once the Ares V launch system proves itself, we'll have a different look on the shuttle.

Exactly. The great thing about the Space Shuttle is that even with cut corners and reduced funding, it's still done a great job and has benefited mankind. I just hope that's not forgotten when we reach bigger and better things.