Decade in Review: The '00s in Moon Colonization December 31, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : American History, Base Race, Frontiers , trackbackWith a blue moon marking the end of the ’00s and the beginning of the lunar-revolutionary ’10s, it’s time to take a quick look at some of the major events this past decade that took space in new directions, and how moon colonization went from still being a science fiction dream to being as real as the railroad revolution:
- April 28, 2001: Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist.
- August 15th, 2003: India announces its first lunar mission, the unmanned Chandrayaan-1, which arrives for its mission in 2008.
- October 15th, 2003: China sends its first taikonaut,Yang Liwei, into space, becoming only the third nation to independently launch a man into space. China has noted plans for an eventual moon base.
- Jan 14th, 2004: President Bush announces the new Vision for Space Exploration, initiating NASA’s Constellation program with an eye on a moon base before 2025.
- Oct. 4th, 2004: The Ansari X PRIZE is won by Scaled Composites‘s SpaceShipOne, helping to open the door for Google Lunar X PRIZE and for private space efforts in general.
- 2007: Japan’s Kaguya lunar orbiter is announced; it arrives for its mission in 2008.
- September 13th, 2007: The $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE is announced.
- September 28th, 2008: SpaceX‘s Falcon 1 rocket is the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to orbit Earth, proving the capability and opening door to important later contracts.
- December 23rd, 2008: SpaceX and Orbital Sciences are awarded contracts to resupply the International Space Station, a duty previously performed by the Space Shuttle.
- October 23rd, 2009: The Augustine Commission delivers its final report on NASA and potential new directions for the American space program.
While this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as the details, these are the lynchpin events that have propelled the nature of the base race and ‘NewSpace’ movements. With the Google Lunar X PRIZE set to be won by 2012, and numerous companies and international efforts on the cusp of truly integrating the Moon into our daily socio-economic sphere here on Earth, the 00′s will be remembered as the decade that ramped up to what will be one of the most historic decades in mankind’s history: the 2010s.
Check back in a few days, as I look forward to the dramatic changes to space that could be happening in the next 10 years :)
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