Just saw president Bush on TV remarking that he would like to go back to the moon with the hopes of establishing a human presence for further exploration! Man that's been one of my dreams since I was 8 years old. I hope they do it before my time on earth runs out.

Here's the link to CNN.com (http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/01/09/bush.space/)

And lets also hope it's not just a ploy to get your vote since we're all so excited about the current Mars mission and elections are but months away.

I'm such a cynic.

I'm all for sending Bush to the moon... hehehe

It's an intitiative that's long overdue--stalled in the past by unprincipled budgeting and lack of international cooperation.

Yeah long overdue, but there's a tad more important things to spend the money on me thinks. Too bad they don't spend it on them..

Aaron

Boys... please remember, no political discussions are allowed at DV Info. Please relate this back to video or media of some kind, or it'll have to go.

:-(

(stern, frowny emoticon thingy)

Think the XL2 will be out by 2020 so they can use it on Mars?

Hmm, that brings up the question of what special, if any sorts of things need to be done to a camera that is going to the moon? I guess they just build a good housing rather than a camera that can handle the extreme environment.

Aaron

On the McNeil Lehrer news hour, they mentioned that one of the projects that is already in the works is a Hubble type telescope to be placed on the far side of the moon.

An announcement like that is just what NASA needs to inspire people again.

Hard to imagine it, but those born after the moon landing tend to be a bit blasé about space...having grown up with a "been there done that" attitude. The shuttle program hasn't done much in the way of inspiration...in fact, the shuttle accidents have probably diminished interest further.

Announcing something on a grander, more mythical scale is smart planning on NASA's part. That'll bring in needed funds...and elevate space exploration to renewed lofty heights.

Kind of surprising, though, that 2018 is the target date. We went from "That's impossible" to landing someone on the moon in less than a decade. Now...with all the technology available...it's going to take THAT long?!

Will my camera's optical image stabilization work in zero or low gravity? I'm hoping to volunteer for the first living being sent to Mars mission (the one where they send the monkey, not the real astronaut - and I would go in place of the monkey).

Robert,

The XL2 will probably end up on Mars...if, the Democrats don't screw everything up! ;)

(Sorry Chris, couldn't help myself!)

I can't even begin to imagine the quality of images from the Red Planet that may be received 20 years from now. Something to look forward to.

RB

Since I work at NASA, I can state authoritatively that by the time humans land on Mars, we will all be using Super-HD microcorders...except for those of us who have assumed room temperature by then! ;-)

Seriously, even though the Presidential directive doesn't have the pizzazz of the great Kennedy challenge, it will spur technology in all kinds of ways just as did the race to the moon. The Space Station program has to replace the camcorders on the ISS every so often because the harsh environment of space causes the pixels in the CCDs to die much faster than on earth. I'll bet that for long duration missions, there will be R&D that will result in better cameras for all of us. Among many other things.

Think the XL2 will be out by 2020 so they can use it on Mars?No. They'll be using the Panasonic PAL MX500 - tomorrow's technology today. :-))

those born after the moon landing tend to be a bit blasé about space...having grown up with a "been there done that" attitude I'm not blasé, if anything I feel a little resentful towards the earlier 60's generation for making these grand promises and (from my viewpoint) conveniently abandoning them on the way because they were "too hard" or "had other important things to do". I remember being 8 years old (1978) and being completely certain I would be visiting a space station by the year 2000, and I remember thinking that it was very important that it happened. I even worked for NASA Ames Research Center in Menlo Park, during the last 2 summers of high school!

As sappy as it sounds, I'm glad they made this announcement, it makes me very hopeful again for the things I think are really important for the future.

I guess I could call myself part of the younger generation, and I'm idealistic about the future of the American space program and devoted to the importance of space research, in no small part thanks to the air of excitement and interest in the shuttle program when I was growing up in the 1980s. My dad lead a chapter of Young Astronauts (http://www.youngastronauts.org), and I was fortunate enough to attend Space Camp.

I agree with Michael--things haven't happened fast enough.

Sorry, Michael... no disrespect intended. It's just hard to express how spellbound the whole world was duing that time.

Although there is excitement still (from some), it's more based in reality, focusing on the adventure or technical achievement aspects...as opposed to seeing a fairy tale come true right before your eyes. Remember, jet air travel was still in its infancy...and there we were on the moon.

Going to Mars would conjure that magic again. So will time travel someday (when the loop quantum gravity theory becomes reality).

If they invent time travel I'm grabbing a bunch of DV tapes, one of these new dv cams, and some sort of neverending battery pack (if we can time travel we sure can make an everlasting battery), and heading back to make documentaries about historical events as they happen.

Specifically I'd like to find out who shot JFK, where in the desert of nevada they shot the footage 'from the moon' in 1969 ;) and what folks like Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed actually said and get them all on record. I'm guessing as there was no copyright legislation at the time that I won't even have to get anyone to sign releases.

Imran,

That's the clencher about the loop quantum gravity theory...you'd never be able to go back beyond the time that the "device" was first started.

I read that one thing that they've considered is that, if making such a time travel device is someday possible, that it's likely that when they turn it on for the first time, there will be an avalanche of people from the future arriving to witness the historic event. How cool is that?

no disrespect intended. It's just hard to express how spellbound the whole world was duing that time. None taken! But yeah I wish we could have that sense of exploration back again. I was only able to experience the very tail end of it.

Im thinking that if we hook up the BIG canon lens (seen on the XL1s page) with all the extenders then we can video the guys bouncing around up there.

That wold be fun.

We might even be able to find the man on the moon too.