NASA invites you to travel to the Moon NASA is inviting citizens of Earth to add their name to an electronic roll-call destined to travel to the Moon aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) later this year. All you have to do is enter your details here, and they'll be put into a database for later storage on a chip aboard the LRO. Cathy Peddie, deputy …
..and successfully return, then how come - dispite massive advances in computer tech, at least some advancement in space shuttle tech and nearly forty extra years worth of studing the moon - it is still gonna take another 12 years to plan the next trip?????
And surely the previous landing was safe? ;-)
If we enter our names on the list, how will we ever know if they actually get sent to the moon? It is not as if they are in any way visible, and even if we see footage of a microchip being inserted in the lander module, we have no way of knowing what's on it.
And even if our great grand children in 100 years go to the moon and find the lander module, the information is probably unreadable by then.
So I will continue working on the rocket that will spray-paint my name on the moon in 100 mile-high letters. :-)
It isn't asking for anyones email address. In fact I could get more information about you by copying your automobile license plate information, or following you around for 2 hours.
This is a nice PR campaign for NASA, along with something kids (especially those interested in science) to get involved with. Stop taking things so literally; and get rid of your narcissistic personality disorder. It isn't about YOU.
Dear frend
My name is Manin Themoon and I am writing to you by the Power of the Universal POWER Lord See Leet Bang, to ask for your Assistance in a Matter that you will treat with the upmost secresy. IN my roll as LUNar Overlord I was entrusted With the care of 900 billion tons of LUNar green cheese but now due to the Erthmans invasion led by the Evil Waaall Ace and Gror Meet, I must URGENTLY get my Worlds Treasures to safety. I was given YOUR name as a sentient and compassionate being Who will be Able to quikly assist mee to Protect my Worlds Heritage. By the grace of THE ALL Powerful HAR PEEK and your promt Acton we can see This blessd mission to completion and we Will bothe benefit from the Bountiful Harvester. Please send me your banking account Details and copies of your identifications so that I may Deposit the funds to Arrange the tranzportation. Thank You my friend and Bless you and by the Will and Graces we will see the GLORIUS day when my cheese is Safe from the Erth invaders and their ally Meester SPune.
You’re frend in Waiting
Manin Themoon
Really. I mean, totally brilliant. Hauling stuff to the moon costs x per pound, right?
And you can pack an awful lot of names into an itty bitty rom chip thats probably already part of some other kit going there anyway.
Which, as previously pointed out, may or may not even be as real an event as your payment for same. I'd prefer someone carve the names on a moon rock or something, thereby creating a bit of home-like graffiti at least.
Upwards and onwards, brave pioneers of the unknown! Dont forget your towels...
This is such a small thing in a huge wave of stimuli and media reaching kids that most of them will get bored before they've even filled out the web form.
Once the moon had been reached and walked on (Apollo 11), interest in NASA dropped off remarkably. Apollo 13 only became newsworthy when things got dramatic.
1) What scam? You enter a name, you get a printable certificate, er, that's it. (Possibly said name even goes to the moon as described - does it matter? Who's going to check and how?).
2) M$ don't do freebies, only loss-leaders.
Feel free to diss M$. Just try to make the effort to find a valid reason first, it's not like there aren't a few out there fer chrissake!
(Jobs with horns to even the balance and 'cos he's equally as irrelevant in context.)
>"..and successfully return, then how come - dispite massive advances in computer tech, at least some advancement in space shuttle tech and nearly forty extra years worth of studing the moon - it is still gonna take another 12 years to plan the next trip?????"
Um, because that's how long it takes. All the Saturn Vs are used, scrapped, or retired, we don't have any serviceable Apollo modules left, so what do you want? A whole lot of stuff has to be built from scratch, that means meetings, reports, committees, designing, planning, building prototypes, testing, debugging, building more prototypes, testing, debugging them, building the actual kit, testing it, assembling it, giving it a final once over and only then finally launching it.
Come on then, you're clearly claiming that it's some kind of conspiracy, so you ought to know: how long /should/ it take? And why? Let's see *your* detailed project plan. Because if you can't show that it can be done much faster, bang goes even your slightest hint of circumstantial evidence for the suggestion that you were too cowardly to come right out with (because even you know it's stupid and you don't want to look stupid): you're saying the original moon landings must have been a hoax or we would be able to do it quicker than twelve years. That might seem obvious to you, but the rest of us would like to know how you think you can say that - why not thirteen years, or eleven years?
Oh, and what you mentioned about the shuttle? That's irrelevant rubbish. The shuttle's a low-earth orbiter, it's got bugger-all use in a moon-flight capacity, so why even bring it up except to distract from the emptiness of your argument? Nothing we've learned from building shuttles would get us to the moon any faster.
Oh, and what you mentioned about forty years more studying the moon? That's irrelevant rubbish too. How the hell can you claim that looking at it through telescopes should teach us how to build rockets and organise large-scale human manpower projects any better? That's ridiculous!
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
