The First Hundred Years of Humans in Space......

by Joseph F. Truncale

November 20, 2012 | 0 comments

I admire Astronaut Vance Brand and appreciate all he has done to advance US and International space travel. His Viewpoint, Don’t Give Up Human Space Exploration - AW&ST, Oct.8, 2012 laments the lack of US leadership in the evolution of human space presence and then presents a path forward that seems to depend on national will (i.e., government). It is true that little progress in manned spaceflight is being made by NASA, and this is painful for those of us who grew up with the can-do, rapid-fire pace of 1960's NASA. What Mr. Brand and, until recently, I have not ... more »

Out beyond the water's edge...

by Samer Hariri

November 19, 2012 | 0 comments

Missions to Mars, Titan, and various other planetary bodies in our solar system have and will continue to aid us in our understanding of how this system formed and how it might evolve in the future. However, if we want to draw a clearer picture of where we truly fit in our galaxy and in this universe, then we must not only venture beyond the edges we've already reached, but we must go there equipped with the proper tools.

I believe that nothing is more astounding than to venture into uncharted space and look back at our home. The Pioneers and ... more »

VENUS

by M. Trepkowski

November 19, 2012 | 0 comments

Perhaps an extensive exploration of the planet's subsurface to determine if there are any complex organic structures present.

My vision for continued space exploration

by Dennis Kissane

November 19, 2012 | 1 comments

I think the future of space exploration for the next 25 years should be to continue solar system exploration of planets, moons of planets, comets and asteroids, by unmanned probes, as well as to continue developing deep space investigating tools, such as the Webb Space telescope. Manned space travel is too expensive for the available funding now available, or likely to be available in the near future.

Let's just get out there

by Joseph G.Filosa

November 19, 2012 | 0 comments

I would like to see more planetary exploratory missions including a return to the moon with durable long lasting rovers and drill rigs, dedicated missions to Europa and Enceleadus, equipped with duralbe long lasting Rovers and Divers. Dedicated missions each to the Uranus and Neptune systems,and a return mission to Titan(can be combined with an Enceleadus mission) with durable long lasting Rovers, balloons and divers (for the lakes). All missions should combine and carry geological,biological,chemical and meteorological science instruments.if designed right, the missions to these worlds can be launched and executed within fairly reasonable budgets.

Abandon the Idea of Sending Living Bodies into Space

by Richard Yarnell

November 19, 2012 | 2 comments

I'd like to see us finally understand that we'll get a lot more science done if we abandon the idea of sending living bodies into space. While it is dangerous, it's very expensive. We should spend our time developing ever more capable robots. The argument that people don't pay attention to robots is belied by all of those we've sent to Mars. While an attractive target, the moon is just too dusty. We haven't built a machine that could be maintained long term in those conditions. Let's find out of we can't float a boat on either a water or ... more »

A MARS BASE & A MOON BASE

by Ruth Wise

November 19, 2012 | 0 comments

A MARS BASE & A MOON BASE!!! With regular shuttles to both. On Mars we could send robots up first to dig the tunnels where we would probably be living, & establish gardens.

Robots First

by Jack Harvey

November 19, 2012 | 0 comments

Humans currently have zero use anywhere but on the surface of the planet they are adapted to, Earth. We are far more expensive to support, and improve far more slowly than robots. We are just starting to understand how much robots and artificial intelligence can do, but their capability doubles every two years. Human ability has hardly changed for 200,000 years. Sending humans to Mars is silly. We can just barely survive for a day or two atop Mt. Everest and nobody wants to live there! But we badly need to learn what we can from other planets and robots ... more »

Moon base in the next 10 years

by Larry Roark

November 19, 2012 | 1 comments

I would like to see a Moon base in the next 10 years and a Mars base in the next 20 years. From both we could begin deep space exploration

Dig on Mars

by Ian Miller

November 19, 2012 | 0 comments

I would like to see deep digging at the very bottom of Hellas Planitia, or a ponding region of the Reull Vallis. I believe some slow fluid flow on Mars was due to ammonia dissolved in water, which flows at >194 degrees K. The ammonia would be removed to form ammines or urea-type derivatives, which would lie beneath the surface, and this also helps explain why Mars has so little nitrogen in the air. For those that say ammonia is unstable, at 3.2 BGy BP, the only sample of Earth's seawater remaining was consistent with ~ 10% of the nitrogen ... more »

Discovering the Moon

by John Lindquist

November 29, 2012 | 0 comments

I was just a widdle kid back in 1948. We had just moved from the confines of Milwaukee to a country home north of Hayward, Wisconsin. Clearest of skies, lots of woods, genuine forest animals to watch, etc. I clearly remember looking up in the sky at night and seeing this big round luminous object just above the trees that appeared to move with me as I walked. I was told it was the moon and it was far away. I called it the "oo" instead of saying the word correctly. I was so amazed that the oo was following ... more »

Desert nights

by Jodie Hettrick

December 10, 2012 | 0 comments

The combination of growing up in a small town feeling very confined by society and seeing the limitless possibilities of the universe in the desert sky sparked my passion for space. I left that small town and I have traveled around this rock but still often experience that same confinement. Every time I see the stars in the sky my heart still skips a beat. To me it is a feeling of seeing long lost friends. We belong out there! Exploring, searching, traveling to see what it out there!

Deeply Curious

by Alison Johnson

December 2, 2012 | 0 comments

I have always been a "Wonderer". My mother said as I grew older, I would stop wondering so much. But, I haven't. In fact my wondering has grown stronger. I just want to know the answers, and somehow, I think "Space" is a big part of it all. So, keep exploring! You scientists are adding answers every day, and these answers supply pieces to The Grand Puzzle. Forever Curious, Alison

Curiosity to know further...!

by Himanshi Singhal

December 2, 2012 | 0 comments

Long back during my childhood, when I was in grade 6, I used to stare at the sky and count the numbers of stars present in the sky and sometimes also the airplanes which flew overhead. Consequently, I always found myself occupied various questions in my mind such as "how do these airplanes fly and what's beyond the sky?"

Cosmos, and the First Glimpse of Saturn

by C. Shawn Smith

November 29, 2012 | 0 comments

Back in the 70s, my father was a huge fan of Cosmos, Carl Sagan's premiere revelation of the universe to the layman. I remember sitting on the couch with my father, watching the Spaceship of the Imagination -- a dandelion seed -- exploring both the Cosmos in all its glory. paragraph But I remember most him saying to me at one point: "Son, this is a great man." Growing up, I read everything I could about Carl Sagan, and read almost everything he wrote. And I came to know what my father did, that this was indeed a great man. ... more »

Cosmos!

by Sarah Mattson

December 10, 2012 | 0 comments

Carl Sagan's Cosmos series definitely formed my early and lasting love for space. Even though I was a little kid when it was first on TV, it made a deep and lasting impression on me. The strongest feeling I retain from Cosmos is that everyone can explore space, even if for some it is only in an imaginary dandelion puff spaceship. Carl Sagan also was a brilliant spokesperson for humanity, intertwining space exploration with human history and philosophy.

Cosmos still inspires

by Timothy Chamberlin

December 3, 2012 | 0 comments

There’s no doubt it was Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. Watching the PBS series and getting the first edition of the book for my 10th birthday solidified my passion for space exploration and space science. More than 30 years later I’m still collecting books on astronomy. A plaque on my small observatory in my backyard greets anyone who enters with these words from Sagan: “Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.”

COSMOS

by Ron DeNadai

December 2, 2012 | 0 comments

What got me started was the Carl Sagan, Cosmos TV series. I then bought all his books, then bought everyone else's boooks,then subscribed to weekly and monthly science magazines and journals,and now I'm a science junkie. I cannot learn enough. My highpoint was crashing a Carl Sagan reception following his presentation at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. I got to speak with him and get his autograph on my copy of Cosmos. That was over 20 years ago.

Colonel Bleep and Mr. Kessler

by Bobby Brooks

December 2, 2012 | 0 comments

I had an interest in space starting when I was about five or six. As a little kid there was a cartoon called Colonel Bleep. It just really lit that fire in me at an early age. Then, in eighth grade, my science teacher (Mr. Clarence Kessler) gave us an assignment. We were to determine the RA & Dec for a list of stars using a star chart. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to do Astronomy for a living, in some capacity or another.

Changing priorities but ever passionate

by Rick Kutcher

December 10, 2012 | 0 comments

I became interested in space travel at an early age. I was born in 1954 and by the time my family had a television and I was old enough to understand what I was watching, I began watching anything scifi. Cartoon shows, series, whatever had a scifi theme I loved it. Then President Kennedy announced his challenge to the country and our space program blasted off. I was glued to the tv through Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, our moon landings, Space Lab and Space Shuttle, Mir and ISS programs. Although scifi is still my passion as it offers a broad spectrum ... more »