It's interesting, Bob Zubrin of the Mars Society has been preaching that the moon is unnecessary, and that we should go straight to Mars. Personally, I've always wanted to go back to the Moon, but primarily because damnit, it's RIGHT THERE. We ought to back there for the hell of it, AND head to Mars too! Besides, it makes some sense, stop there first, move to Mars once you've got the big details down.

Point is though, I don't ever recall NASA directly responding to the Mars Direct plans that Zubrin and others have put together. Could this be it? I don't know if I buy the dust bit: they indict themselves by showing the moon would be worse. Read more below:

NASA Science News for March 18, 2005

Why colonize the Moon before going to Mars? NASA scientists give their reasons.

FULL STORY here at science.nasa.gov

I recently sent to the news reviewers here a story that I thought was worth sharing and I hope they take it. The impetus to Slashdot this story was the fact that according to Google link feature, only two other websites were linking to the Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center Route Planners and locator maps. Hopefully by the time you are reading this, there will be many more than just two listed

Many people, like myself, are interested in converting their automobiles to propane or some other alternative fuel. I'm absolutely amazed at how hard it is to find relavent results in Google. It is my hope to present them here to the Slashdot community. Here are a couple of links I've collected for stuff I may end up buying...just a starting point for more to grow. If there is anyone reading this, I encourage you to post links that you find too. Below my list is the news story I sent to the Slashdot reviewers in hopes that this news and the Data Center's resources become more widespread. I'd love to see their site Slashdotted!

www.technocarb.com They sell conversion kits for old cars.

www.gotpropane.com They sell conversion kits for new cars, especially rock-climbers and hardcore truckin'. NEAT PICTURES!

www.hendrixsystems.com More parts for various conversions.

www.impco.ws Again, another part supplier.

www.mantank.com These guys make the best propane tanks out there.

And now for the hopeful Slashdot story:

Plug Power has launched its SECOND generation Home Energy Station, a device that, according to this Small Times news article: "could disrupt a variety of industries if it could one day be affordable to the average homeowner. The current design of the station runs on either natural gas or propane, along with a supply of water. The fuel and water are used to make hydrogen, which powers a fuel cell to generate electricity. Waste heat is dissipated or used to supplement a home's primary heating system. In addition, hydrogen is generated and stored at high pressure for fueling up a fuel cell car. The process at the core of this type of fuel cell - known as a PEM, or proton exchange membrane cell - occurs at the nanoscale." In the meantime, it's easy to convert your VW, or any other pre-1987 4bbl carbureted auto to run on propane or Natural Gas. And if you're worried about running out of LP, LNG, CNG, hydrogen, Bio-Diesel, Ethanol, or just plain battery power on those long road trips, you can use the federal Alternative Fuels Data Center's Locator and Route Planner to get you home in time for your Barbeque dinner.

If this story does get posted...I'll edit this journal entry and add the link instead.

Good luck!

Hello out there, I hope to utilize this space more in the future. I can contribute to any discussion regarding Astrobiology, Space Biology, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Protein Chemistry, Evolution, BioInformatics, and maybe a few other things here and there that are timely and interesting. In the meantime, keep your eyes open for the big update at my webpage. I'm kinda busy with a whole bunch of other things...so don't hold your breath. Take care, Matt