It's a good thing many of us interested in last month's annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in League City, sponsored by the NASA's Lunar and Planetary Institute, didn't wait for MSNBC to report in on the happenings there.
If, as most people are, we were depending on this news source instead of Pam Stryder or the Bad Astronomer, we might have concluded things were pretty grim in the Lunar Sciences. Do you find yourself wondering whether the News-Readers at this feeble "network" will report on JAXA's new laser altimeter map?
Feeling 'Fully Dissipated?'
Lunar science community needs rebuilding
Researchers say return to moon will require new cadre of specialists
GOLDEN - NASA's plan to return to the moon — first by robotic missions scheduled to start this year, followed by the replanting of human footprints there by 2020 — will require a new cadre of lunar research and exploration specialists.
That talent largely was dissipated after the Apollo lunar landing program ended in 1972. As a result, several steps need to be taken to recuperate both the scientific and technical expertise that will be needed to investigate and understand the moon.
And scientists are enthusiastic about the prospect. Many of those who attended the recent Lunar and Planetary Science Conference March 10-14 in League City, Texas, said Earth's closest celestial neighbor is far from being a "been there, done that world" that offers no unknowns worth solving. And several sessions dedicated to lunar science clearly showed a rebound of interest in the moon.
If, as most people are, we were depending on this news source instead of Pam Stryder or the Bad Astronomer, we might have concluded things were pretty grim in the Lunar Sciences. Do you find yourself wondering whether the News-Readers at this feeble "network" will report on JAXA's new laser altimeter map?
Feeling 'Fully Dissipated?'
Lunar science community needs rebuilding
Researchers say return to moon will require new cadre of specialists
GOLDEN - NASA's plan to return to the moon — first by robotic missions scheduled to start this year, followed by the replanting of human footprints there by 2020 — will require a new cadre of lunar research and exploration specialists.
That talent largely was dissipated after the Apollo lunar landing program ended in 1972. As a result, several steps need to be taken to recuperate both the scientific and technical expertise that will be needed to investigate and understand the moon.
And scientists are enthusiastic about the prospect. Many of those who attended the recent Lunar and Planetary Science Conference March 10-14 in League City, Texas, said Earth's closest celestial neighbor is far from being a "been there, done that world" that offers no unknowns worth solving. And several sessions dedicated to lunar science clearly showed a rebound of interest in the moon.
