No more trips to the moon

So that’s it for another decade then. In case you haven’t heard, the hot topic in astronomy right now is that NASA won’t be sending another man to the moon. Or woman, for that matter (I’ve never understood why so many astronauts are male!).

After months of speculation, Barack Obama finally came out and set a budget for NASA. What it means is that the world’s biggest space agency will hand over some space launches to commercial companies, spend more on space technology and – yes – cancel plans to revisit the moon.

Now it may not surprise you to learn that I wasn’t exactly high on NASA’s shortlist for landing on the moon. I’m a woman, for starters! But I must say that I’ve always loved staring at our nearest neighbour. There’s something magical about the moon, with its enormous craters and endless valleys. My favourite time of the month is during a full moon when you can see Earth’s only satellite in all its glory.

I’ve got a few friends in Manchester who enjoy a spot of stargazing too. It just so happens that we were talking about this very subject the other day in the Trafford Centre (only once the important business of shopping was over, mind!). They all felt much the same, that it’s been way too long since the last moon landing. Can you believe it’s nearly four decades since we last set foot on another world?

To be honest, our little stargazing gang doesn’t get to meet up as often as I’d like anymore. Everyone seems to be settling down, getting married and having kids, which sadly doesn’t leave much time for all-day shopping splurges!

Nowadays, the best we can usually manage is a natter every now and then in our local bingo club or while playing online bingo. It’s great to catch up with old friends on the chat forums, and we all still live in hope that one of us will win the jackpot sooner or later.

Who knows, maybe next time you hear from me, I’ll be rolling in money! Although what’s probably more likely is that I’ll still be rolling along as normal, gawping at the full moon with my good old Skymax Synscan 127.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 5:27 pm and is filed under Astronomy, Bingo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.