This was an action-packed episode of the Weekly Space Hangout. Lots of stories, very little time.
- Super Comet or Super Dud?
- Crescent Moon in the Martian Sky
- Supersonic Skydive
- Hubble eXtreme Deep Field
- SpaceX Grasshopper
- Base Beyond the Moon
- Titan Paddleboat Mission
- Mars Sample Return Mission
- Milky Way’s Hot Halo
Participants: Mike Wall, Alan Boyle, Ian O’Neill, Nancy Atkinson, Jason Major
Host: Fraser Cain
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The proposed mission to place a space station at L2 seems misguided. It is not hard to see why you would want a return sample from Mars, but it is harder to see why we want to place a space station out at L2.
LC
Dr. Dan Lester cited a number of advantages to L2 in an article titled “Picking Sides in cislunar space” in the “Space Review” last year:
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1808/1
The link to the 2010 Lockheed Martin Corporation’s “Early Human L2 – Farside Missions” referred to in paragraph ten of Dr. Lester’s article does not appear to open but can be found by clicking on “L2 – Farside Mission” on the LM website here:
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/orion/hsf.html
Of course Lockheed-Martin is maybe looking at some prospect for a big contract. I suppose additional lunar exploration is understandable. The only thing I worry about is whether this will put budget crimp on bigger science programs. In part this is my bias due to interests in the “big picture,” or the universe at large.
LC