Last Updated: Thursday, 14 February 2008, 00:06 GMT
Ministers consider UK astronauts
The government is to launch a formal review into whether British astronauts should take part in the international exploration of space.
The review has been prompted by growing fears that the UK might lose out in the next wave of space travel.
International space agencies have set out ambitious plans in a document called the Global Exploration Strategy.
Science Minister Ian Pearson said space was "increasingly important" and worth £7bn to the British economy.
Costs and benefits
The British National Space Centre (BNSC) said in the publication UK Civil Space Strategy: "In 1986 the UK chose not to participate in human space missions.
"The publication of the Global Exploration Strategy provides a suitable point to review this decision."
The BNSC will study the options, taking into account the scientific, technological and economic costs and benefits, and report to Innovation Secretary John Denham.
Mr Pearson said: "This strategy sets out measures to increase the UK's share of this growing international sector."
The review is expected to take between six and 12 months.
The UK has historically opted out of manned space exploration, and spent its limited space budget on detailed scientific missions involving robotic probes.
British mission
Meanwhile, in another development, Nasa is due to give its formal backing in a report to a British-led £100m mission to the Moon.
The US space agency has described the MoonLITE mission to send a small probe to the Moon in 2013 as "inspirational".
The unmanned project involves the craft firing four-metre long darts called penetrators onto the lunar terrain.
The devices would enable scientists to scratch beneath the surface of the Moon and assess geological activity.
Nasa and the British National Space Centre have produced a joint working group report which sets out plans for long-term lunar co-operation.
The document picks out the MoonLITE proposal as one of the first projects that could be carried out jointly between the UK and the US.
The report acknowledges that it would be a difficult to design and build a spacecraft ready to launch in just five years, but suggests that the challenge would get creative juices flowing and give young space scientists and engineers valuable experience.
Professor Alan Smith, of the Surrey-based Mullard Space Sciences Laboratory which is leading proposal, said he was "very excited" at the report's description of the project.
He said "It's a great outcome at this stage."
Question mark
The report recommends that a formal UK-US team is set up to oversee the details of the scheme.
The next stage starting early this year is to hammer out the practicalities of building the spacecraft.
There is a question mark over whether the UK could afford the mission.
Even though the estimated cost is cheap by space exploration standards, the current state of the Science and Technology Facilities Council's finances might make it difficult for the UK to fund its share of the mission.
I don't imagine we'll ever build our own spacecraft, but maybe British astronauts going up with NASA might finally be able to wear a union flag on their shoulder instead of having to become US citizens.
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Aye, it was our damn Beagle that failed miserebly after all. I think it could be a nice idea to have British Astronauts. We need a prestige project/black hole after all (Oh wait...we have the NHS!)
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The Beagle failed? Even though it discovered Starscream?
"I spit on metaphysics, sir."
"I pity the woman you marry." -Liberty
This is the guy they want to use to win over "young people?" Are they completely daft? I'd rather vote for a pile of shit than a Jesus freak social regressive.
Here's hoping that his political career goes down in flames and, hopefully, a hilarious gay sex scandal. -Tanasinn
You can't expect sodomy to ruin every conservative politician in this country. -Battlehymn Republic
Anguirus wrote:The Beagle failed? Even though it discovered Starscream?
It was a ploy to make him attack filthy colonials in the end. And it would've worked, had it not been for those meddling kids (and Autobots).
Astronauts? Why bother? We're not going anywhere any time soon and unmanned exploration is far more useful and cheaper, not to mention safer. Unless you really need to use humans in micro-gee environments, I fail to see the need. We have enough industry working within autonomous systems without going into human ones too needlessly.
Admiral Valdemar wrote:
Astronauts? Why bother? We're not going anywhere any time soon and unmanned exploration is far more useful and cheaper, not to mention safer. Unless you really need to use humans in micro-gee environments, I fail to see the need. We have enough industry working within autonomous systems without going into human ones too needlessly.
Because I want to see a manned lunar landing in my lifetime, dammit! I missed out on the last bunch, so the world owes me something
Depressingly Britain is the only country in the world to have developed a satellite launching capability only to abandon it. There wouldn't be any commercial potential according to the Heath government.
IIRC the first Brit into space, Helen Sharman, who went up with the Russians, wore a Union Flag on her shoulder. To be really pernickety one can't plant a 'Union Jack' on the Moon as its not a ship.
We are members of ESA, but I think we probably contribute just enough to stay in the organisation. There is a great deal of satellite expertise and construction know how in the UK (EADS-Astrium), though, we just don't do launch vehicles, or astronauts.
World War II has proven without a doubt that Britons with aircraft are awesome, the same should apply with spacecraft.
Never the less, England needs a proper name for this orginization. Which one sounds better, Ministry of Space or Royal Space Force?
Zor
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JN1 wrote:To be really pernickety one can't plant a 'Union Jack' on the Moon as its not a ship.
To be really, really pernickety: The British have the habit to declare objects to be ships if they think it's a good idea e.g. the Sloop "HMS Diamond Rock". The moon is just a rock that's a little bit larger, but I don't see a problem with a Union Jack there.
JN1 wrote:Depressingly Britain is the only country in the world to have developed a satellite launching capability only to abandon it. There wouldn't be any commercial potential according to the Heath government.
Details, please? I thought the British military operated spy satellites. If so, were they launched on French or American rockets?
Those gun nuts do not understand the meaning of "overkill," and will simply use weapon after weapon of mass destruction (WMD) until the monster is dead, or until they run out of weapons.
They have more WMD than there are monsters for us to fight. (More insanity here.)
CaptainChewbacca wrote:If they're british, wouldn't they be called 'Astronaughts'?
"Without stars" would probably be sending the wrong message.
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Actually, if the UK would fund Skylon, it would change the industry up-down. Of course, Skylon is only trying to combine and overcome both the Black Bird and Space Shuttle, but damn, it would still kick ass trough the roof (note that Skylon is/can be flown unmanned).
JN1 wrote:Depressingly Britain is the only country in the world to have developed a satellite launching capability only to abandon it. There wouldn't be any commercial potential according to the Heath government.
Details, please? I thought the British military operated spy satellites. If so, were they launched on French or American rockets?
We developed the Blue Streak IRBM into a satellite launch vehicle for ELDO; our bit always worked, though the French and German stages were not particularly reliable.
After that we developed the Black Arrow, which was used to launch a satellite called Prospero (before the project was cancelled it was to have been called Puck). It's still up there sending its signal back to Earth.
We don't operate recce satellites, but we do have military communications satellites (the Skynet series), which have been launched on American vehicles.
