DIXIE High School ROTC March 16, 2010 WATER ON THE MOON AT NASA Andy Christensen
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DIXIE High School ROTC March 16, 2010 WATER ON THE MOON AT NASA Andy Christensen 1
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DIXIE High School ROTC March 16, 2010 WATER ON THE MOON AT NASA Andy Christensen. What is NASA?. An agency of the US government Annual Budget ~ $18 B Name: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA STRATEGIC GOALS 2006. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of DIXIE High School ROTC March 16, 2010 WATER ON THE MOON AT NASA Andy Christensen
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DIXIE High SchoolROTC
March 16, 2010WATER ON THE MOON
AT NASA
Andy Christensen
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What is NASA?
• An agency of the US government
• Annual Budget ~ $18 B
• Name: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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NASA STRATEGIC GOALS2006
To pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research.
SCIENCE GOALS• Understand the formation and evolution of the universe,
the solar system and Earth.
• Probe the origin and evolution of life on Earth and …elsewhere
• Chart our destiny in the solar system:
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Vision For Exploration2004
• “to advance U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests through a robust space exploration program.”
• Journey of exploring the solar system and beyond: returning to the Moon in the next decade, then venturing further into the solar system, ultimately sending humans to Mars and beyond.
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My Colleagues
Luke Solitt Howard Eller
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THE LCROSS MISSION - Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite
LCROSS was launched June 18, 2009 as a companion mission to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After separating from LRO, the LCROSS spacecraft held onto the spent Centaur upper stage rocket of the launch vehicle, executed a lunar swingby and entered into a series of long looping orbits around the Earth. Mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2010 impact in the Cabeus crater at the lunar south pole.
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The LCROSS Crater: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Image
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Shepherding Space Craft Infrared Spectrum
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Evidence for Water:Spectral Signature
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Augustine Committee Report2009
Conclusions1. The Vision For Exploration program as
currently funded at NASA is not executable.
2. An exploration program could be done withan additional $3B to the NASA budget
3. Without additional funding, an explorationprogram cannot be done. The recommendationis to continue ISS to 2020 and foster commercialdevelopment of transportation systems
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THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND• “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence
than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert .. this or that.. “
Charles Darwin• “We live on an island surrounded by a sea of
ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.”
John Wheeler
