India is going to make July 20 a national holiday. That's right kids. The Apollo program is that important to them. They all worked on aerospace & only came here to work on cat mortgaging software because of the free houses.

US won't make the moon landing a holiday obviously, but it may make October 4, 2018 a national holiday. That's when universal healthcare gets bailed out.

Now a repeat of our Apollo videos 4 those of U who didn't get the memo.

neil armstrong reborn (2 min 57 sec)

NASA said these were restored segments from the 1969 broadcast, but we can't see any difference compared to the other Goo Tube uploads.

1:10 Scale Saturn V with stabilization (1 min 36 sec)

U know what. 7 years after the latest in the rounds of moon program visions & you're still bickering over what vehicle to start developing. Direct 1.0, direct 2.0, direct 3.0, side mount, EELV, diagonal mount, upside down mount, extend shuttle forever, air launch, make Europeans design the rockets so US can focus on twinkie mortgages.

Problems with Ares 1 & V get 1 small web page & get linked millions of times until they're catastrophes. Well, ever since Obooba said NASA should scrap Ares 1 & focus on Ares V, it's only been Ares 1 problems which have gotten the millions of links, haven't they. Good slaves.

Unless U try using an SUV for launches, there's a point in minimizing a system where U can't minimize the problems any more. You're at that point with any of the systems. In fact, you're better off with a system that you protest & link the problems on millions of times than a system U blindly worship & ignore the problems on.

Now U had a fearless leader say a sentence about skipping the moon program & focusing on Mars & U linked it millions of times until U fell over in disbelief there ever was a moon program. Look, U slaves, there's no way the technology for a Mars mission will exist until long after Obooba gives the speech about self induced starvation & U all starve yourselves to death.

Current manned systems aren't nearly reliable enough to do a 6 month journey, land, loiter for 2 years, take off, & do another 6 month return. The space station can't even go a month without constant infusions of spare toilets. U going to launch thousands of toilets to keep it going for 3 years?

No, U need to colonize the moon mainly because lunar material can be used as propellant. Even if it's just throwing moon rocks out a window, U need some kind of mass to develop a delta V for the Mars mission & it's much easier to get it on the moon than launch it from Earth. Maybe U could refine lunar materials to make structural members, inflatable pressure vessels, tethers.

If U ever funded the Ares system, now Ares 1 specifically, to completion, they would be known as Mike Griffin's babies. U'd have someone notorious for opposing the space station now deified. That's a bigger reason than any other to start over on something else.

I do not agree with a moon base as a launch pad for a mars voyage. I think the cost of a moon base capable of the task would be far more than the extra delta V needed for launch from earth. Why do you think a moon launch would be more efficient?

Hurricane Larry

Theoretically no moon base would be required. Just land a Mars booster on the moon with some kind of inflatable tanks & have it collect lunar material for propellant. Humans would have to travel to lunar orbit & dock with the Mars booster. The only feasible way to use lunar material for propellant is a mass driver. Microchip sized mass drivers can be built to accelerate powder to very high velocities using electricity. There is some gravity assist in launching from the moon & flying behind the Earth.