A Chat on NASA, NEOs, and the Cost of Coffee on the Moon

We wanted to share a few highlights from Lou Friedman's and Bill Nye's UStream chat on The New NASA Plan. The majority of the hour-long presentation was spent answering questions from participants.

When asked, "If NASA were to engage a program to save Earth from NEOs, since this is a global concern, could NASA use that as a way to collect funding from all Nations, since it's a global concern?" Bill answered, "Getting funding from other countries for NASA is probably not the right model. Instead people need to work together from around the world." Lou added, "We're active players in advancing the building of an international task force...I think it will bring in new resources."

"Will commercial industry strive for the Moon as well?" Lou replied, "I don't think it will happen SOON, but I do think it will happen."

As for the query, "Would it be easier to launch larger vehicles from the Moon (1/6th G)? If so, should we consider a rocket building assembly process on the Moon with Moonbase stations?" "Can you imagine the cost of setting up a rocket facility on the Moon where we don't have all the materials?" said Lou. To which Bill added,
quot;The coffee alone..."

You can hear the entire presentation on The New NASA Plan and read the chat log here.