| …President George W. Bush seemed to echo Ehricke’s words of 20 years before. In his “Vision for Space Exploration” (there’s that word again), Mr. Bush proposed an “extended human presence on the moon (to) vastly reduce the costs of further space exploration.” This would include “harvesting and processing lunar soil into rocket fuel or breathable air.” (Sidebar: In a 1984 paper, Ehricke envisioned an automated lunar oxygen extraction plant converting lunar dust, sand and hydrogen into gaseous oxygen, water and propulsion fuel, cf. Selenopolis.) Bush said the experience gained “could help develop and test new approaches and technologies and systems” to begin a “sustainable course of long-term exploration.” NASA’s Constellation program followed. |