Reaching the next generation

“The idea of the next generation and beyond being able to choose between a life here on Earth or a life of exploration and research in space is a truly exciting one. But does the next generation know it? Probably not.

…more has to be done to reach folks at a younger age, and really convince them that what they are seeing is not only possible but accessible to them in the future.”

More about terraforming

Here’s a recent webinar on terraforming Mars from the NASA MAVEN Mission to Mars youtube channel. The TL;DR is that it will be monumentally difficult, but sooner or later we are likely to try it. In the meantime, we shouldn’t get hung up on the feasibility of the endeavour as we make plans for exploring and colonizing Mars.

Along the way is a great deal of information on the history of Mars, including the questionable relevancy of its lack of magnetic field, and details on what it would take to terraform a planet.

Defining a new generation

Yeah! That’s what I keep saying! Well, any boots, really, as long as humans are in them.
 
“Let me be clear. Mars is today the focal point of our national space program. And if American boots are to be the first to set foot on its surface it will define a new generation. Generation Mars.”
 
https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/senators-insist-mars-not-the-moon-is-the-goal-of-u-s-human-exploration

One small step

The Eagle landed 49 years ago today, and two humans walked on a celestial body for the first time.

I have a fleeting, four-year-old’s memory of my dad waking me up (I must have been napping, as we were in CDT) to watch the moon landing. I don’t remember anything about the landing itself, just my dad waking me to see it. But that’s special enough, I think.

Here’s a nifty 360 of the interior of the Command Module that carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the moon that day.

Today in 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to set foot on the Moon.Smithsonian 3D…

Posted by Smithsonian on Friday, July 20, 2018