Lockheed Martin wins contract to build Mars lander

So Slashdot had a post..........and I started to think.

"Lockheed Martin has won a contract to build the Orion crew exploration vehicle that will eventually take humans to the moon and then on to Mars. This vehicle will hopefully also replace the aging space shuttle fleet. According to NASA the vehicle will have manned missions by 2014 and moon missions by no later by 2020."

I think this is great, but I think it sucks too. When i grew up (Born 1980) I went to space camp twice, met an astronaut and stayed aware of many happenings in the space industry. I never really took into account while learning all these things and the time line they happened in. There was so much learning that took place. Then everything slowed! Apollo was ANNOUNCED May 25, 1961 and it went to the moon on July 20, 1969. 8 Years, Which is Impressive. Dec 07-19, 1972 was the last Apollo mission. In 11 years we went to the moon learned a lot and then went to the next vehicle. We got the space shuttle fleet! Columbia was the first Space Shuttle to fly into Earth orbit in 1981. Which was 9 years after the last Apollo flight....Lame. Today the Space Shuttle is still the latest and greatest 25 years after its first flight.......VERY Lame.

WTF!!

Growing up I saw NASA announcements of new vehicles..........they've never used one though.....again Lame. Here is another announcement of one that will happen in 2014. That'll make me 33 and I finally get to see a different kind of vehicle launched with slight increases in ability to heavy lift and manned crew capability. I watched the ISS get partially built and quickly slip behind schedule because of a crash and other issues.

Then there has been a glimmer of hope with the private sector. In the last couple years the private industry has created hope for the common man. I might get to go into space. There has been SpaceShip One which is awesome! Unfortunately this isn't an orbital vehicle. There is a chance that the next vehicle will be orbital and a partnership with Bigelow Aerospace building expandable space habitats will allow people to vacation in space.

So I ponder these developments and I ask for the ability to influence the proper people. I see the government and the private sector as having certain responsibilities.

The Government needs to dump money into pushing the limits.

The Private Sector needs to make it a business for normal consumers.

I want NASA, the ESA, and the Russian Federal Space Agency to push it and give technology to the private sector in a opensource manner. I think that the space community needs to develop a list of goals and step there way to Mars. Mars really isn't that great though who wants to live there and who wants to travel 4 years

First we need to finish the International Space Station. Not only do we need to finish this we need to put it into full gear. We need to see if we can improve it and make more space for equipment and people. We need to use it as a launching point for further travel. It needs to be considered the space hub of those agencies that have built it. Its something that can constantly be added to for increased capabilities.

Second we need to learn more by landing on the moon. Plus its an accomplishment that will possibly drive some more money towards the space industry. They talk about a base on the moon. But I still think that it would be heavily reliant on the Earth. This will hopefully help with our knowledge of creating an outpost that is self sustainable for long periods of time in harsh environments. There is a place on the moon that is in sunlight 100% of the time, which is ideally suited for a power station. This is another place for us to innovate and learn.

Third we need to make the jump to Mars. We need to use information gained from the moon habitat to build the Mars habitat. Which I would assume would be the moon base on steroids due to the length of stays and distance from earth. This would be so expensive though I really gotta wonder, why do it? Is there some other goal that we should be working to achieve? I really like the idea but I wonder what lies in the future. More specifically in the near future and what will I see in my lifetime.