One False Step (16 page)

 The Manned Venus Flyby. Had I been NASA Administrator in 1967, I would have rejected it instantly as well. It was another great step, but a little too far perhaps with the time required, and would have seen the lunar landings gutted. The flight
had
to launch by 1975, or face increased levels of solar radiation that would have made the flight untenable, and by the time solar radiation calmed down again, the window of opportunity would have been lost. On the intellectual level, I agree with the decision to dismiss this option, but on an emotional level...it would have been a real spectacular, and a magnificent way to end Project Apollo.

 We are told today that returning to the Moon will take ten years at least; no matter that NASA managed it in eight in the 1960s. The Moon is further away from us now than it was then, so we are told. Too difficult, too expensive. The reality is that one day, probably fairly soon, men will once again walk on the Moon. Once commercial access to space opens up, as it undoubtedly will during the course of the 2010s, it will become possible to other organisations than governments to reach for the Moon.

 At some point within the next twenty years, there will be a new generation of Moonwalkers; it seems unlikely at this point that they will work for NASA, and despite the scaremongering, it is also unlikely that they will be Chinese. It is far more likely that they will have the logo of a private company sown on their spacesuits.

 Tis ever thus; governments, traditionally, have always sponsored the first wave of exploration, the expensive first steps into a new frontier. Once they paved the road, and as the costs fell, private interests took the next steps. What is needed now is a 'British East India Company' of space, and there
are signs that such organisations are forming. There has been a fifty-year interregnum – but with any luck, it is about to end.

 One question remains – why go to the moon? What is there? I quote Heinlein, “We'll find out when we get there – we'll tell you when we get back!” The Apollo missions taught us a vast amount about Earth, never mind the moon. By studying the moon we can find out a tremendous amount about the birth of the Solar System, and therefore our own planet. We have barely scratched the surface of the moon, know only a tiny fraction of what is to be learned about it – and about ourselves. It still has many secrets to be found, secrets that could be of incalculable value to mankind. Further; the moon is a vital training ground for future flights beyond cislunar space, to Mars, the Asteroids, and beyond. Much of the infrastructure set up to fly to the moon could equally be used for flights to Mars, to Ceres, or on to Saturn.

 For centuries, the moon has called to the imagination of mankind, drawing dreams and hopes towards it. For one brief decade, we yielded to those temptations and reached further than we ever dreamed possible.

 It is time to yield again.

Acknowledgements

First of all I'd like to thank my parents, without whom none of this would have been possible. Second, the many people who suffered through earlier versions of this book, and who have had to endure me talking about this subject for far too long! Their suggestions, advice and comments proved invaluable.

To NASA, Redstone Arsenal's Historical Office, and the United States Air Force, for providing easy access to documents, monographs and publications aplenty; they proved nothing short of a tremendous book for this researcher!

To Kings College London, with particular reference to Professor Andrew Lambert; there the road that would eventually lead to this book began...

And to my readers...who by getting to this point have either sat through the book or decided to cheat by skipping to the end. (The butler did it, folks!)
If you enjoyed this book, please review it!

The writer's blog is available at
http://tinyurl.com/pjl96dj

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Heirs of the Columbiad

Chapter 2: Two Men to the Moon

Chapter 3: The Moon is Red!

Chapter 4: The Men Who Didn't Walk on the Moon

Chapter 5: Reaching for Aphrodite

Conclusion

Acknowledgements