,

GovLaunch: NASA Sends Unmanned Spacecraft to the Moon

Although man-spaced flight has been put on hold, NASA still has a lot of really cool missions and projects they are working on. One of my hopes is that we get back to the moon and make it a base for manned deep space travel. I came across an article on NextGov which reports that NASA has sent a spacecraft back to the moon.It’s a pretty exciting mission at NASA, NextGov reports:

NASA launched a mission to the moon on Saturday, sending the twin lunar Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft on a 250,000-mile, three-and-a-half month voyage.

The uncrewed, solar-powered spacecraft is moseying to the moon, taking a low-energy trajectory. It will spend 82 days mapping the moon’s surface and its gravity in the most detail yet.

In a preview of things to come, the rockets were developed from a public-private partnership. Administration officials are hoping that the technology will spur futher innovation in the space flight industry, helping to develop the needed jobs and technology to make deep space manned flight a reality. Who knows, maybe someday one of you will be buckling up for a trip into space. The mission also serves as a much needed morale boast for NASA employees, as many felt demoralized after the final manned space flight in July.

What do you think of the mission for NASA? Are you excited we are heading back to the moon?

Leave a Comment

3 Comments

Leave a Reply

Judson Vaughn

I am a fan of space travel and, unlike many, am willing to have it funded with my tax dollars. With today’s robotics, an unmanned mission to the moon could yield new data at a bargain price.

Erica Schachtell

Luna is more important to us than we realize. While i’m on the topic, why don’t we have a base there yet? After employees, workers, and tourists, it will be the elderly (reveling in decreased gravity).

Pat Fiorenza

@Judson – I am there with you…so many benefits to funding the space program.

@Erica – hope in my lifetime we get a base on the moon, that would be pretty cool to see.

Thanks for your comments!