The 8008 was: Blinky lights WAS: The SR71 Blackbird was designedENTIRELYwith slide rules

On Sat, 18 Jun 05 11:29:15 GMT

True - but the first detection of radar bounced off the moon was more than twenty years earlier in 1946. In 1954 a modulated voice signal was bounced off the moon and received - for more details see:

Apart from a useful space program ? I've always thought the moon program should have gone more like this (starting with the Saturn V era):

Apollo 8, 9 and 10 - launch 3 skylab style units and join them into a decent sized space station manned and equipped to support in orbit buttembly.

Apollo 11 - launch a skylab sized transfer vehicle and a some fuel.

Apollo 12 - launch a decent moon lander, crew and a pooload of fuel.

Visit moon, possibly leave start of permanent facility - return transfer vehicle and lander to space station for reuse.

transfer of people and supplies to and from station.

Later Saturn V launches send more transfer vehicles, fuel, Nerva units, station modules and so forth. Shuttling back and forth to the moon becomes an easy routine jaunt, visiting Mars, asteroids and outer system becomes easily feasible.

By 2005 - space station is small city, moon is suburb, solar power satellites have taken over most power generation and ...

Ah poo - it didn't happen but AFAICT that's how easy it should have been, had there been a will to do better than scoring expensive political points.

Excuse me while I go cry about it again.

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