What does a newt and the moon have in common?

[Robert Bruce]

What do a newt and the moon have in common?

Up until yesterday there was nothing to link the two. One is a planetary body, the other is an aquatic amphibian that spends so much time in water which is affected by the moon's gravitational pull.

Luckily for us space geeks the amphibian is not the link. Instead, it is Newt Gingrich, the USA Republican party's candidate in the race to select their opponent to challenge President Obama in the upcoming presidential elections. What is so newsworthy about Newt and the moon today is that last night (27th January) he was the first candidate to announce and make it a part of his election mandate to have America return to the moon and create a manned moonbase by 2020. Only eight years away.

Wow!

Why did he say it? Well I suppose he is aware of Russia's intentions to be on the moon by 2020 too so he wants the USA to get back first re-plant their flag and start building that base. It'll be expensive. The project might need £100b to do it and while so many national debt issues prevail this might not be what the American electorate will accept. However there is a compelling commercial aspect which will save earth from further depletion of it natural resources.

See that picture below? That is a representation of the collision that probably happened to form the moon when another planetary body collided with Earth. Analysis of the moon rocks brought back by the Apollo missions established the rocks are made up from super-heated materials (immediate result of the collision) that gives credence to the 'collision' hypothesis. The moon is almost all made up of this type of rock which will be good to produce solar panel material to create the panels to beam back the sun's rays to Earth and stored as energy. As will the mining of helium 3 as an energy/fuel resource which can be shipped back to earth and used to power the spacecraft to Mars.

"...Helium-3 (He-3, sometimes called tralphium[1]) is a light, non-radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. It is rare on Earth, and is sought for use in nuclear fusion research. The abundance of helium-3 is thought to be greater on the Moon (embedded in the upper layer of regolith by the solar wind over billions of years..."                 courtesy Wikipedia

More importantly for Newt Gingrich and his internal and political ambitions is the ability to use the moonbase to get America to Mars first. They can assemble the Mars spacecraft in moon orbit or at a moonbase and use fuel created from the water resource that already is bountiful on the moon. Water is fuel - hydrogen and oxygen and it is available now at your nearest Northern moon crater. FREE! All you have to do is pay to get there.

"...electricity from solar panels to split water into oxygen and hydrogen – the constituents of rocket fuel – with a technology that scientists believe could solve many of the problems that have hampered the development of solar energy.

With the help of a simple and yet highly efficient "chemistry set" made out of commonly available materials, the scientists have found a way of storing solar energy as a chemical fuel that can be used to power pollution-free electricity generators known as hydrogen fuel cells"                       courtesy The Independent



In my opinion there is a there is a real need to go back to the moon – to support and relieve the Earth's increasing energy demands. Newt's announcement last night is absolutely nothing more than his extremely egotistical, testosterone fuelled, self-serving political ambition to get to that Oval office in the White House. And I can support this as a means to an end despite not caring about his agenda for the American people. If Earth and its peoples benefit as a result of his success to become President, then so be it.

I do not know about the Russian initiatives to save Earth. Or do they want to buy more football clubs before they begin the race to be the first to take men to Mars?