Petition to NASA - Moon Rover Needed

With all the recent missions from NASA, India, Japan and China to just take more pictures from space... plus the flop of the LaCross mission to "Bomb the Moon" with an impactor to toss debris into space to seek water...

Would it not make more sense to just pool all those millions spent on those missions and send one or two Mars type Rovers?

Look at the success rate of those Mars Rovers which were originally designed and expected to last a few months. Look at all the photos, micro samples and mineral data they returned.

Seems to me that would give us a lot more useful data..

So how about we start a petition to get a Rover up there? Heck we could even have it pass by one of the Apollo sites...

How about it Jim Oberg? You in? I hear tell you have some pull over at NASA

reply to post by zorgon


Here's one for you zorgon.

China launches Moon mission

A Chinese rocket carrying a probe destined for the Moon has blasted into space.
A Long March 3C rocket with the Chang'e-2 probe took off from Xichang launch centre at about 1100 GMT.
The rocket will shoot the craft into the trans-lunar orbit, after which the satellite is expected to reach the Moon in about five days.
Chang'e-2 will be used to test key technologies and collect data for future landings.

This bit here.

China says it will send a rover on its next mission, and it also has ambitions to put humans on the surface of the lunar body at some future date.

LINK www.bbc.co.uk...
Its not exactly what you want but better than nothing no date for there moon rover but they plan to do it.

Thankyou

reply to post by zorgon


Zorgon, I think that sending rovers to the moon would be fabulous. As you pointed out, so much could be learned from such a project, especially if there would be more than one.

Would it violate our puppet dictator's ban on going back to the moon, though, or is that just applicable to astronauts?

I just don't think they'll do it, though. Faith in NASA is waning here at HQ. As mars1 noted there will be at least one up there in an undetermined while. It just won't be ours. Hoping we get to see it's results, though. Like you I'm still waiting for real images from India, China and Japan... I guess they were told not to tell us much... sigh.

Oh, as for "targets," I'd love it if it could swing by the big boulder with that green thingy growing on it! That thing is just too cool.