Re: Shepherds of the Sheep of sci.astro

Jim wrote:
> Sorry to confuse you with facts, but NASA has no plans for a
> manned mission to Mars. In fact there is doubt that a probe
> will land on Mars in 2003, it will likely just be an orbiter.
> There is not even a proposal for a manned mission at this time.

Their actions belie that. They’re not truthful, as they don’t want your
scrutiny.  This is because you’re NOT INVITED.  Just pay your tax
dollars and be dumb and happy while they make their arrangements.

Landmark Experiment Produces Oxygen for Human Use from Martian Atmosphere
News Services, University of Arizona, February 18, 1999

    Professor K.R. Sridhar and his 20-member team at The
    University of Arizona Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
    (AME) Department are building an Oxygen Generating
    Subsystem (OGS). In January 2002, it will suck in Martian
    atmospheric gases - predominately carbon dioxide - and
    process them to produce pure oxygen... "It is the first time
    in human history that we will produce a consumable of use to
    humans from extraterrestrial resources."

    The oxygen could be used as propellant in rocket motors or
    for life support for humans on Mars. Since this is a demonstration
    experiment, the oxygen will not be put to immediate use on
    the Mars Surveyor 2001 lander. But Sridhar hopes to have an
    experiment aboard the Mars Surveyor 2003 mission that will
    produce both fuel and oxygen from Martian resources. ... The
    OGS will fly to Mars aboard Mars Surveyor 2001, which is
    scheduled to land on the Red Planet on Jan. 22, 2002. ... But, he
    adds, perhaps the most significant aspect of in situ resource
    utilization is that it is the enabling technology that will make
    possible permanent settlements on other planets and their satellites.

Mars Surveyor Program 2003 Lander Mission - NASA
Commerce Business Daily Issue, June 4, 1999 PSA#2360
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's)
    Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS)
    Enterprise solicits proposals for investigations to be carried to
    the surface of Mars by the MSP 2003 Lander Mission. These
    investigations will require instrumentation to be developed
    and placed on a fixed lander platform in order to address
    scientific investigations of the radiation environment; soil, dust,
    and environmental nteractions; and fundamental biology.
    Instruments will also be solicited to demonstrate in-situ resource
    utilization technologies.

And recent relevant press updates around early 2003:

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,16414,00.html
    It's not the end of the world but the beginning of a new
    space exploration expedition. A proposed NASA mission, code
    named Deep Impact, aims to smash a 500 kilogram copper
    projectile into a speeding comet.  Deep Impact is one of five
    proposals under consideration by the space agency. The
    winner will be launched in 2003. The copper ball will be
    launched from a space craft and smashed into the P/Temple
    comet to see what the comet is made of.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/01x33/index2.html
    The X-33 program was restructured late last year in hopes
    of getting things back on track. But the program's future -
    including the first flight of X-33 in 2003 - hinged on NASA
    bringing the single-stage-to-orbit prototype into the Space
    Launch Initiative.

Times of India
    To address "this unprecedented cost growth," President
    George W. Bush is calling in his new budget plan for
    completing the US core of the station in 2003, three years
    earlier than planned. "


             2001/TECH/space/03/02/no.spaceodyssey.ap/
            +bush+nasa+2003&hl=3Den
    The president is urging NASA to complete its portion of
    the space station in 2003, three years early, and to drop
    some of the components planned. Space shuttles would
    fly six times a year, instead of seven or eight.