With the recent furore over LCROSS, the current STFC funding debacle and much recent discussion of manned spaceflight, I was reminded of this wonderful image showing the meaning of a billion dollars. It is relevant to astronomy because it puts into perspective where space exploration and research sit amongst several other massive enterprises.
On Friday, NASA’s LCROSS Moon mission ended with the probe taking a nose dive onto the Lunar surface. This was all planned and was a great way to see what lay underneath the surface at the Moon’s intriguing South Pole. LCROSS was impacting inside a crater that is perpetually in shadow. Such conditions could allow [...]
Copyright © 2010 Robert J. Simpson. Twitter @orbitingfrog
