One Step Closer to Moon Landing Coins

Saw this on another forum and thought I would share.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016...bill-to-mint-coins-for-moon-landing-50th.html

To long didn't read version:
The house passed a bill for coins to commemorate the moon landing getting us one step closer. The proposal has the coins being convex in silver, gold, and clad.

 

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I really hope they do a set for the 50th anniversary...but I would prefer them not be convex.

 

I think the reverse of the Eisenhower dollar and Susan B. Anthony did the job pretty well but im certainly not against another coin to collect. It better not be a cheesy design pattern though.

 

Sounds like the idea of being convex is a play on their visors they wore. I hope they do a set as well and will be cautiously optimistic about the convex thing as the baseball coins turned out better than I expected.

 

That,s really cool, but it would be nice if by now we were a little further long in are space exploration i was 5 years old when we landed on the moon, iam now 52 and we have gone no further out in to space in that time frame except for un manned
Probes and Mars isnt even in the conversation.

 

Not to hijack the thread...but I'm not in total agreement with this. I am somewhat of a space history junkie (and am applying to be an astronaut...along 18K+ others). On the surface it appears that he haven't gone "any farther out" and that is true in our manned operations...but, what we have done in low earth orbit is in many ways much more amazing. It's not as "grand" or as "sexy" as going to the moon...but our experiences in science and engineering over the last few decades are nothing short of amazing. It just doesn't make as good as news.

I'm 31 and would give almost anything to fly in space...and I truly believe a man will not set foot on Mars in my lifetime.

 

By all means go on I don't have a problem with the discussion.

 

I doubt it will happen in the next generations either. It's a one way trip right now and appears it will be for quite sometime

 

You mean fill it with so much junk that, unless things change now or very soon, there won't be any more exploration of even any reason/way for future generations to leave this planet?

That said, I do understand what you're getting at and in many ways agree, but there's something very magical about living beings on other celestial bodies, and I believe this is what the other gentleman was trying to convey.

 

What did i start here...LOL, advances may have been made that is true however to be fair we have not had a president that has had a bit of interest in manned space flight after all it takes millions of dollars in NASA,S budget just to get the ball rolling in that direction and so far that hasent happened

I would have thought by now we would be atleast thinking/planning a mission to Mars oh how exciting that would be

 

That's a modern coin I will be most interested in, having been a childhood space junkie.

I specifically remember reading a National Geographic article (around 1969) talking about NASA's plan to land men on Mars by 2010.

Obviously, a few things changed between then and now.

 

I agree with you guys. I really do. I would love to see us further explore the moon and go to Mars...heck I'd be first in line to go. But, a lot of people like to downplay all the significant contributions and amazing discoveries made since Apollo ended. Nobody cares that the Skylab program alone (3 manned missions) brought home more scientific data than all of the Apollo program. You are right...it's not as magical and it doesn't capture the imaginations of most (I guess I'm just a little easier to impress).

I think the big reason it hasn't happened is there is no motivation. There is noting pressing to be gained. During the days of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo....we were "fighting" communism and this was one of the fronts. Had it not been for that push...we probably never would have gone. We don't have that today.

 

Yes the space race, who can forget that, however it,s time to move forward and that means future manned space flight sooner rather then later if you start planning now
maybe in 7-10 years we could actually make it a reality but there isnt even a discussion going on now

I think we have overcome the challenges to get there now we just have to do it !

 

I have a feeling that the new Head Cheese's plans include revived space flight. (just a prediction, no politics please)

 

Actually there is. We are in the process of testing two new types of spacecraft which are designed to ferry US astronauts to the ISS and back and are designed (much like Apollo) to be multi-purpose vehicles that could be used for other types of missions...including returning to the moon. Both are commercially design spacecraft which will be operated by NASA rather than NASA controlling everything from the start. One is the SpaceX Dragon Spx currently scheduled for it's first manned flight in November of 2017. The other is the Boeing CST expected to launch it's first manned flight in August of 2018. Of course, manned spaceflights tend to get delayed...so who knows when they will actually fly.

 

Yeah, a bit difficult to address my feelings on this without stepping in politics.

When I was in elementary school, our (somewhat dated) in-class reading assignments included a story about "life in the year 2000". Video calls (took a bit longer, but they're basically here now), color facsimile transmission (remember faxes?) -- and jet packs, and orbital vacations.

Funny how information technology so vastly outstripped all our dreams, and space travel basically went nowhere. The more sober prognosticators expected that we'd have men (but certainly not ladies) on Mars by 1980 or so. Sigh.

 

I already have a Moon commemorative.

 

Going to the Moon in 1969 was a HUGE technological leap in an 8 year span. Just to put things in perspective, the ESCAPE rockets on the command module of the Saturn V (e.g. the pointy tip of the Saturn V whose sole job was to pull the small manned portion of the spacecraft off the top of the Saturn V in an emergency) were MORE powerful than the entire Redstone rocket that launched the first American into space in 1961, Alan Shepard aboard Freedom 7.







With regards to Mars, we are thinking and planning about going to Mars. It IS another HUGE technological challenge. Assuming the money is there (and the human race hasn't destroyed itself along the way), it will be successfully accomplished at SOME point.

Remember, at the end of the day it is Congress that is detailing what NASA can research and build. The PLANNED NASA spaceship and rocket, Orion and the SLS, will almost certainly NOT make the mission to Mars. They are basically giant public works projects, and the cost structure of them are prohibitive. However, private enterprises such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, are building SUBSTANTIALLY less expensive rockets that I strongly suspect the US Government will eventually purchase for Mars exploration. Even given the rockets, there are MANY other major hurdles to deal with along the way, such as long term exposure to radiation, preserving lightweight food for a minimum of three years, landing on Mars etc. etc.

Even counting out going to Mars, which I do not for a minute do, I strongly suspect we will see China on the Moon within 15 years, and both Russia and the European Space Agency (ESA) have talked about going there too. Much as I would prefer the US to lead in that regard, space is difficult enough and important enough that I am glad of ANY country that keeps pushing forward the envelope.

While I'm waiting for all this to occur, I can still enjoy my own little piece of Mars, a 37 gram Martian meteorite that you can see next to an 1892 Barber quarter on my desktop. Note the fused crust caused by the heat of traveling through the Earth's atmosphere at transonic speeds.

 

Remember folks, only the House has passed this bill. The Senate has to pass it as well, and then get the President to sign it, or it has to start all over again.

 

Sadly very true it isn't a done deal yet, that said it's hard to imagine why someone would oppose this bill