HumansInSpace_Art

The artwork gets encoded into a radio signal that gets transmitted from the Dwingeloo (yes, that's its real name) radio telescope in the Netherlands. The same antenna receives the signal as it returns from the Moon. It takes radio waves about 2.5 seconds to travel to the Moon and back.

If the Moon were made of barbecue spareribs, it would not be very appetizing, I'm afraid. After 2 weeks in a hot oven followed by 2 weeks in the freezer, alternating for 4.5 billion years in a vacuum, they'd be kind of dried out.

Yes, NASA now has plans to put people (not just men) on Mars. Unfortunately we can only afford to take small steps in the foreseeable future. We're building a new crew capsule that can handle Earth re-entry speeds coming back from Mars. We're building a new heavy-lift rocket that can be used to assemble a Mars ship, which will weigh a hundred tons or more, in space. We're planning human missions to lunar orbit and possibly to a captured asteroid in the next ten years or so. But an Apollo-like campaign to Mars won't happen without Apollo-like budgets! During the Apollo program, NASA's budget had ten times the buying power it does today.

There are also some private organizations (such as SpaceX and Mars One) that are looking at putting people on Mars. --Stan

For human exploration of the Moon, the United States feels as though it's already accomplished its main goal. But every other spacefaring nation is interested in sending people when possible. By then, the US may have changed its policy.

Humans could do a lot of interesting science on the surface of the Moon, which is essentially a small planet. There's plenty of geology to do there, and also prospecting for resources like water, iron, and titanium.--Stan

I would hope it would! I live in both worlds, working as both a planetary scientist and as a space artist. I'd like to see this project maybe get more artists to think about space as a venue for new types of artwork. What could you do with a 3D printer in zero-g? What kind of fairy castle sculptures might be constructed there that couldn't possibly be made here on Earth? Here on Earth we use landscape format for many scenic illustrations - we live glued to the surface of the planet and deal with scenes that have an up and a down. Will someone who grows up in zero-g use a circular frame for their artwork? Space can let our imaginations soar! --Dan

The Moon is the only logical place to prepare for human exploration of Mars, the solar system, and beyond. In addition, the Moon has minable resources that are useful for us on Earth and to facilitate solar system exploration.--Georgiana