General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"We are going to the Moon, to stay, by 2024. And this is how." NASA Vid, released 5/14/19
I hate to say "it's about bloody time" but it's about bloody time.
katmondoo
(6,457 posts)They can build Moon Trump Tower
gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)But it sounded like they would just use the moon's resources, not actually colonize it.
hunter
(38,311 posts)Returning moon resources to earth for profit is still science fiction.
The trip to mars and back, for example, may be a lot easier if you've already manufactured on mars the air, water, fuel, and other resources for human visits and return trips, before the humans arrive.
In some plans this would involve a nuclear powered space factory that would take in the very thin martian atmosphere and scarce hydrogen resources to make fuel, air, and water to support humans who would arrive later. Humans would arrive on mars to a fully stocked space hotel, and fully fueled vehicles for the return trip.
Personally, I don't think humans will ever have a meaningful presence in space beyond low earth orbit. We're just too damned fragile.
But our intellectual offspring may have a chance, either artificial intelligences or engineered humans, creatures who could cheerfully bounce across the surface of the moon or mars stark naked. Until then I'd much rather support unmanned space exploration.
I say this with some regret. My grandfather was an engineer for the Apollo Project. Bits of metal he made carried men to the moon and back. Some of them are on the moon and in the Smithsonian. He was an Army Air officer in World War II, his work helped defeat the Nazis, but he rarely talked about that. It was a job that had to be done. (The Army, very wisely, kept him mostly on the ground.) But he'd always talk with great enthusiasm and pride about work he did for the space program.
Nevertheless, there are worse ways to spend money than human space exploration. We could be building useless aircraft carriers named after useless Presidents...
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)It was intended to further exploration, a way station on the path to Mars. That was mentioned in the vid. It seems strange to me that the most viable method is to create a station orbiting the moon, not actually on it. I suppose it's a heck of a lot easier transporting materials from the moon's surface to an orbiting station than from Earth to an orbiting station. Or maybe they meant there would be a limited presence on the surface for extraction and processing.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)hunter
(38,311 posts)Opel_Justwax
(230 posts)If a private group wants to do it then let them.
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)hunter
(38,311 posts)The kleptocrats seek to steal it, decent people seek to share it.
DavidDvorkin
(19,475 posts)I'm glad we're starting up again. And I'm even more glad that other countries are doing serious manned space work. That will keep everyone going.