11/2/2015, 9:18 pm
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Cape Canaveral, FL – Charles F. Bolden, Jr., Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, announced today that NASA intends to land a manned spacecraft on the surface of the planet Mercury.
Speaking from the Kennedy Space Center, Bolden explained that the mission would be a bold attempt to accurately measure the geology and climate of the solar system's innermost planet. “I wish I could take credit for spearheading this initiative,” said Bolden, “but the mission specs came directly from the White House.”
Comparing the sudden presidential interest in space exploration to President Kennedy's moon-landing speech, Bolden noted that high-level executive officials “have already provided an Atlas V rocket, fuel, and a capsule capable of sustaining an astronaut on the journey to Mercury.”
“I am pleased to announce that one of our own, Jay Zwally, glaciologist with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, was hand-picked by President Obama as the sole astronaut entrusted with this daring mission.”
Zwally made headlines this week by releasing the results of a NASA survey which discovered that Antarctic ice cover has been increasing for more than two decades, directly contradicting the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) 2013 report which says that Antarctica is overall losing ice.
Bolden concluded by saying “The scientific consensus is that Mercury's temperature ranges from -280F at night to 800F during the day, and that it is therefore an uninhabitable wasteland. But we'll see what changes once a NASA man takes a few measurements.”
NASA.gov currently shows a Wednesday launch date for the mission, with Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as alternate dates.
Cape Canaveral, FL – Charles F. Bolden, Jr., Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, announced today that NASA intends to land a manned spacecraft on the surface of the planet Mercury.
Speaking from the Kennedy Space Center, Bolden explained that the mission would be a bold attempt to accurately measure the geology and climate of the solar system's innermost planet. “I wish I could take credit for spearheading this initiative,” said Bolden, “but the mission specs came directly from the White House.”
Comparing the sudden presidential interest in space exploration to President Kennedy's moon-landing speech, Bolden noted that high-level executive officials “have already provided an Atlas V rocket, fuel, and a capsule capable of sustaining an astronaut on the journey to Mercury.”
“I am pleased to announce that one of our own, Jay Zwally, glaciologist with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, was hand-picked by President Obama as the sole astronaut entrusted with this daring mission.”
Zwally made headlines this week by releasing the results of a NASA survey which discovered that Antarctic ice cover has been increasing for more than two decades, directly contradicting the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) 2013 report which says that Antarctica is overall losing ice.
Bolden concluded by saying “The scientific consensus is that Mercury's temperature ranges from -280F at night to 800F during the day, and that it is therefore an uninhabitable wasteland. But we'll see what changes once a NASA man takes a few measurements.”
NASA.gov currently shows a Wednesday launch date for the mission, with Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as alternate dates.
