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Space NASA

NASA Asks: What Would You Pack For a Trip to the Moon? (nasa.gov) 111

Posted by EditorDavid from the having-enough-space dept.
AmiMoJo quotes SlashGear: We're still many years away from casual consumer trips to the Moon, but it's easy to fantasize about such trips. NASA is getting in on the fun with a new campaign presenting the public with a simple question: what would you pack if you were taking your own lunar trip? NASA is encouraging anyone interested to share a picture of what's in their bag (for this imagined Moon trip) using its new #NASAMoonKit social campaign...

NASA is encouraging the public to get a container that meets this volume limitation, pack it with the precious few items they'd bring along on the trip, then take a picture and share it on social media — either Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter — using the #NASAMoonKit hashtag. NASA says that it may share your post on its own social accounts if it likes what it sees.
"What can't you leave the planet without?" asks the campaign's official web page. "Is it your camera? Your drawing pad? Or maybe your musical instrument?

"How would you organize everything you need for your next giant leap?"
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NASA Asks: What Would You Pack For a Trip to the Moon? More

NASA Asks: What Would You Pack For a Trip to the Moon?

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  • Is it a trick question? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Simon Rowe ( 1206316 ) on Sunday October 18, 2020 @02:58AM (#60620854)
    Why beer of course!

  • Easy (Score:5, Funny)

    by Zedrick ( 764028 ) on Sunday October 18, 2020 @03:04AM (#60620862)
    Towel.
  • I wouldn't pack anything because nobody is going to the Moon anytime soon

  • Everything (Score:5, Funny)

    by ruddk ( 5153113 ) on Sunday October 18, 2020 @03:10AM (#60620870)

    I need my emotional support dog and a bunch of face mask and hand sanitizers, you never know who you run into on the moon. There are stories, you know.

    • I need my emotional support dog and a bunch of face mask and hand sanitizers, you never know who you run into on the moon. There are stories, you know.

      And toilet paper. Lots and lots of toilet paper.

  • "Trips to the Moon" for the masses will continue to be fantasy for at least a century, and I'll be long dead then.

    • "Trips to the Moon" for the masses will continue to be fantasy for at least a century, and I'll be long dead then.

      Here, let me re-word your comment as you stand on the field watching the Wright Brothers a century ago.:

      Trips in the air" for the masses will continue to be a fantasy for at least a century.

      Hope that clarifies just how bad humans are at predicting the future. The human cyborg with the latest Sony Brainstation implant will be able to clarify that for you old-fashioned ignorant analog meatsacks likely within 20 years.

      (And yeah, I know I'm probably wrong. It'll be more like 10.)

      • Faulty analogies based on ignorance are the staple of slashdot. You're not an exception :)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by quenda ( 644621 )

        Trips in the air" for the masses will continue to be a fantasy for at least a century.

        Hope that clarifies just how bad humans are at predicting the future.

        It might, except you are lying. Nobody said that. Quite the contrary, they were already predicting space rockets. It even made the movies. [wikipedia.org]
        The Wright Brothers were high-school dropouts who financed their aircraft from their bicycle shop, and fifty years later we had commercial intercontinental jet travel.

        In contrast, the Apollo program cost $200 billion in today's money, and fifty years later we had Soyuz tickets to the ISS costing $90 million per seat. The fundamentals have not changed. SpaceX mi

        • Trips in the air" for the masses will continue to be a fantasy for at least a century.

          Hope that clarifies just how bad humans are at predicting the future.

          It might, except you are lying. Nobody said that. Quite the contrary, they were already predicting space rockets. It even made the movies. [wikipedia.org] The Wright Brothers were high-school dropouts who financed their aircraft from their bicycle shop, and fifty years later we had commercial intercontinental jet travel.

          In contrast, the Apollo program cost $200 billion in today's money, and fifty years later we had Soyuz tickets to the ISS costing $90 million per seat. The fundamentals have not changed. SpaceX might get the cost down so the 0.1% can afford a ride, but don't hold your breath.

          The entire point here is, none of this will take anywhere near a silly prediction of a century to be sold on Amazon with 1-click reservations and 6-month financing.

          We've gone from The Wright Brothers to the planet Mars in a little over a century. And I hope cost is not THE factor driving (or not driving) future innovation.

          • Cost is a sane driving factor. Whether you count the cost in dollars or yen, material resources, human resources, there's a cost to everything. Shit gets crazy when national pride comes in and you neglect W, X and Y to pay for getting to Z first or getting to Z at all. Now, there may be a very good reason outside of national pride to get to Z first (or ever) but not always.

            As for the Wright brothers, lighter than air flight predates them by over a century (hot air balloons, 1783, France).

            As for being able t

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tragedy ( 27079 )

          It might, except you are lying. Nobody said that. Quite the contrary, they were already predicting space rockets

          Plenty of people said things like that. Plenty of people said the opposite as well, but there are always naysayers. Lots of sober, credible people claimed that we would never break the sound barrier. Similarly, lots of people said that powered flight would never work, or, once it was achieved, that it would never be practical as anything other than a hobby. Heck, lots of people claimed that humans would never be able to travel more than 50 mph because the air would be sucked out of their lungs and they woul

      • There was a clear reason why people might want to take trips in the air... land travel sucked. Air travel would be so much better, it was a HUGE incentive.

        It's not like trips to the moon are going to solve some problem that people have. It would be a curiosity and that's about it, maybe get a few tourist bucks.

        • There was a clear reason why people might want to take trips in the air... land travel sucked. Air travel would be so much better, it was a HUGE incentive. It's not like trips to the moon are going to solve some problem that people have...

          Guess that depends on how bad this planet gets, doesn't it? Global pandemic and all.

          As they ignorantly exclaimed while clanking celebratory cups together 100 years ago in crowded bar..."Pfft! Second wave! Hogwash!"

          Ah, ignorance. Never goes out of fashion.

  • "What can't you leave the planet without?

    Sex doll: Since it's a long trip, the space-saving inflatable model might be required.

    What? Someone had to be honest!

  • A few ideas (Score:4, Funny)

    by bobstreo ( 1320787 ) on Sunday October 18, 2020 @03:19AM (#60620882)

    given the space limitations, with no weight limits listed...

    a 2TB e-ink reader with some extra 2TB cards.

    The rest of the space could be filled with weed for the trip and seeds for "The Hydroponics Section"

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Njovich ( 553857 )

      a 2TB e-ink reader with some extra 2TB cards.

      Hi there, Lisa from Nasa astronaut selection here. As 2TB e-ink readers don't exist we regret to inform you that we had to give up your seat to another astronaut.

      I know you spent the last 15 years of your life preparing for this trip, so I would like to let you know how sorry I am.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tflf ( 4410717 )

      given the space limitations, with no weight limits listed...

      a 2TB e-ink reader with some extra 2TB cards.

      The rest of the space could be filled with weed for the trip and seeds for "The Hydroponics Section"

      Add rolling papers to the list. Smoking a doober made from other forms of paper is not a great experience,.,,,

      • given the space limitations, with no weight limits listed...

        a 2TB e-ink reader with some extra 2TB cards.

        The rest of the space could be filled with weed for the trip and seeds for "The Hydroponics Section"

        Add rolling papers to the list. Smoking a doober made from other forms of paper is not a great experience,.,,,

        Let's discuss how bad an idea smoking things in space is.

        I was thinking edibles.

        You could probably use the rest of the plants as fiber for rope or nice scarves.

  • Cheese!
  • Obviously one of the biggest challenges in maintaining a long-term moon base will be repair. Size and weight are a huge factor. Small tools, and small tools for making other tools. Rulers, levels, squares, etc., 3d printer. Sewing machine. The world's smallest bandsaw. Small crucibles. A solar powered foundry. What would it take to build a lathe on the moon? Are there older technologies you know of that might transition well into a resource-poor environment yet still be day-to-day useful?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rednip ( 186217 )
      Indeed, anything brought to the moon is very likely to stay there so it should be useful for a long time. Weight is clearly an issue getting to the moon, but the weight back will be even more precious.

      • At least until we start making fuel on the moon. At least oxygen - that's plentiful (the regolith is 42% by mass), and roughly 80% by mass of the propellant for Starship.

        If you could fly to the moon with only enough oxygen to get you there, plus enough methane to also get you back, you could dramatically increase your payload capacity, and return payload would likely be even higher than the payload you could take there. Even without a first stage, having 1/5th the escape velocity radically reduces the pro

  • and my coleman stove, plenty of water, and several cans of beef stew and a box of saltine crackers, an old army cot to sleep on, i would bring a hammock but there are NO TREES ON THE MOON!!!

  • Something to eat.
    Something to shit.
    Something to sleep.
    And something to do.

    Oh, I almost forgot:
    Something to breathe.
    And something to shelter.

    There. No go away with your amateur hour attempt at PR.

  • Can you imagine going ANYWHERE for an extended amount of time without the ability to release the pressure? I am not sure what current cosmonauts, nor how micro gravity effects libido, though.
  • As with all these restrictions no one is going to bring soap or deodorant!

  • I don't want to be floating over to the dark side.

  • A copy of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon', even if landing during the day.

  • No, seriously, I'd have to pack my wife as she wouldn't ever talk to me again if I went alone...

  • Easy (Score:4, Funny)

    by Evtim ( 1022085 ) on Sunday October 18, 2020 @06:24AM (#60621156)

    Antracete for the dragons.

    Apples for the elephants.

    A fountain pen that works upside down (use pencil?).

    Hook and rope for lifting the turtle's tail (that's not very polite, is it?).

    Librarian.

  • Crackers, of course! (Score:5, Funny)

    by John Bresnahan ( 638668 ) on Sunday October 18, 2020 @06:49AM (#60621184)
    https://youtu.be/T0qagA4_eVQ [youtu.be]

  • Coffee. Nasa needs construct an espresso machine in zero gravity use. Pods almost work but for the stale grounds inside them. First coffee brand to get it right gets bragging rights on earth.

  • very high SPF
  • What season will that be on the Moon?

  • "In space no one can hear you scream..."

    So for those times I'm audibly secluded and not have to be afraid, some quality music with proper playing apparatus would be ideal.

  • The most obvious answer (Score:5, Funny)

    by SilverJets ( 131916 ) on Sunday October 18, 2020 @09:35AM (#60621428) Homepage

    Air. Lots and lots of air.

  • A WHOLE lot of Depends for all of those "HOLLY CR*P" moments.

    That and a body bag.

  • a dozen hits of acid. Well, definitely the acid.

  • ... so I could play the instrument.

  • ... a book on how to build a boat.

  • Stop the fem1naz1 sexism. Employ people for their knowledge not their gender.

  • Duh (Score:2)

    by kackle ( 910159 )
    Moon pies! [moonpie.com]
  • Is the space the article says NASA wants you pack. When I think of that volume, a semiautomatic pistol comes to mind, but would be pointless. Probably, a fast travel target would be the thing to bring. Or, maybe a giant graphene energy collector tied to a tiny self replicating machine.

    • Or, maybe a giant graphene energy collector tied to a tiny self replicating machine.

      If you've got one of those, you should be buying a ride share sooner rather than later.

  • ... and following answer given by N. Armstrong, I'd say more fuel. :-)

  • Toilet paper and hand sanitizer, of course. Tons of the stuff. More than you'll ever use, just in case...and because there are so many unknowns.

    In 2020, toilet paper is apparently the new duct tape [sigh].

  • First we need to build a mine/factory that can replicate itself, no matter how crudely. If we can mine enough materials to make enough stock to build a second mine and machine shop, and power source, we're set.

    Once that's up and running, I'll decide what to pack.

  • What'd I pack in addition to the everything machine?

  • Pies (Score:2)

    by pellik ( 193063 )
    Moon pies.
  • Natalie Portman and hot grits, naturally. Don't really understand why no one here has stated that yet...

  • Basic essentials are down, you don't need those. You've probably got computers on board, so if you want to be able to look at videos, listen to your favorite tunes, etc. then you just need a compatible storage device, not the whole machine. I'd bring 2 or even 3 storage devices loaded with what I want just to make sure a cosmic ray doesn't zap my only digital refuge.

    That leaves a lot of space in the "expert mode" box. My next move depends on what space coffee is like. If space coffee sucks, my preferenc

  • How else to see what it tastes like?

  • Psychedelics - like psilocybin and or mescaline.
    A great bottle of an islay single malt scotch is also desired.
    A top notch video camera.

    And, a guaranteed ride back home (in case the first 2 items fail to manifest something greater)!
  • All i'd bring is a big empty box and tell them i'm just going rock hunting because it's my hobby. Why? Over the past billions of years, moon rock has absorbed enough solar radiation helium-3 that one single Space-shuttle load of only 25 tons would be able to power all the electrical needs of the entire United States for a year! It's the fuel source of the future.

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