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[Synbios459]

Even if it is just some NASA research people, is there any reason as to why we haven't set up SOME kind of base on the moon? Would it really be that difficult? I haven't heard anything from NASA in awhile, and it seems as if NASA isn't really doing anything except keep on fixing the International Space Station:lol. Has NASA said any goals that they have?

 

[peedi]

Even if it is just some NASA research people, is there any reason as to why we haven't set up SOME kind of base on the moon? Would it really be that difficult? I haven't heard anything from NASA in awhile, and it seems as if NASA isn't really doing anything except keep on fixing the International Space Station:lol. Has NASA said any goals that they have?

Commonsense. Seriously, what's the point?

 

[Escape Goat]

Wheres the profit?

 

[demon]

Wheres the profit?

Step 1: Colonize moon
Step 2: ....
Step 3: Profit!

 

[goodcow]

Hasn't NASA's budget been cut repeatedly over the years?

 

[Incognito]

This project is forthcoming. Just waiting for the Iran War to start so the administartion can dole out some flowery stories for us Americans...

 

[goodcow]

Step 1: Colonize moon
Step 2: ....
Step 3: Profit!

 

[Culex]

What natural resources could be used to sustain life there? I'd imagine the monumental costs that would entoll shipping water/food their just to start.

 

[nissin]

If there's oil in the Moon, expect us to be there in the next 5 years, HELL 3 years.

 

[Culex]

If there's oil in the Moon, expect us to be there in the next 5 years, HELL 3 years.

Oil is a biproduct of natural decomposition. Never going to happen on the moon.

 

[nissin]

Oil is a biproduct of natural decomposition. Never going to happen on the moon.

Exactly, hence colonizing it is preety much pointless.

 

[Willco]

Uh, common sense.

The only thing the moon could really be used for is to launch deep space exploration missions. And we're a long time away from that.

I mean, what a colossal waste of money a moon colony would be.

 

[Culex]

Uh, common sense.

The only thing the moon could really be used for is to launch deep space exploration missions. And we're a long time away from that.

I mean, what a colossal waste of money a moon colony would be.

If we wanted to do a colonization on Mars, it would make a lot of financial sense for a moon colony solely for launch operations. No need for solid state rockets.

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

What's the point? Why don't we fix shit here before we fuck up the moon/mars/whereeverthefuck?

 

[android]

If we wanted to do a colonization on Mars, it would make a lot of financial sense for a moon colony solely for launch operations. No need for solid state rockets.

Exactly which is why Nasa wants to go there first.

 

[ManaByte]

If we wanted to do a colonization on Mars, it would make a lot of financial sense for a moon colony solely for launch operations. No need for solid state rockets.

Exactly. When the manned Mars mission is within 40 years of happening, you'll see an effort to get a base on the moon quickly. Right now, there's no need.

We'll probably return to the moon in terms of manned missions within the next 15 years or so.

 

[hXc_thugg]

If we colonize the moon many of our colonial citizens will have violent werewolf deaths.

 

[Groder Mullet]

There is large quantities of Helium-3 on the moon (hopefully a future fuel supply for us), and the craters at the poles are believed to hold large quantities of ice. Living there is more than feasible.

 

[android]

If we colonize the moon many of our colonial citizens will have violent werewolf deaths.

Yeah but that's only if they get bitten. And the Moonites are going to be a much bigger problem

 

[God's Hand]

You guys, except the above, are all ignorant. The moon has over one million tons of helium 3. That's enough to power the earth for thousands of years. A single space shuttle load would power the US for a year.

EDIT: Here's a link: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/helium3_000630.html . There are newer articles on Google News.

Today helium 3 would have a cash value of $4 billion a ton in terms of its energy equivalent in oil, he estimates. "When the moon becomes an independent country, it will have something to trade."

 

[TheQueen'sOwn]

jesus..

Thanks God's Hand

 

[Space Age Playboy]

Because we can't get there. The moon landing was fake.

 

[explodet]

"When the moon becomes an independent country, it will have something to trade."

Just wait for the Sea of Tranquility Helium Party, and the next Revolutionary War.

And then the Zentradi will show up, or something.

 

[android]

You guys, except the above, are all ignorant. The moon has over one million tons of helium 3. That's enough to power the earth for thousands of years. A single space shuttle load would power the US for a year.

EDIT: Here's a link: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/helium3_000630.html . There are newer articles on Google News.

Today helium 3 would have a cash value of $4 billion a ton in terms of its energy equivalent in oil, he estimates. "When the moon becomes an independent country, it will have something to trade."

Wow. I never knew that. No wonder the Chinese seem to want to go there.

 

[Synbios459]

So if we don't colonize the moon, then what is NASA doing? And is there anything that space exploration can help us with, or should we just forget about exploring space?

 

[Escape Goat]

 

[AntoneM]

btw, what would make the moon a better station for launching a space mission than say, a space station? The answer is, nothing. The moon is farther away than a space station and so it would just add more time to any mission just to get to the moon, you would still have to use fuel to get off the moon, however little it would be, and the cost of constructing a base on the moon would be many times larger than the cost of a space station.

 

[maharg]

Money. There's no funding for that kind of project, because there's not enough public support.

If the Cold War were still going on, we'd probably be up there by now.

The cold war went on for 20 years after the last moon landing.

btw, what would make the moon a better station for launching a space mission than say, a space station? The answer is, nothing. The moon is farther away than a space station and so it would just add more time to any mission just to get to the moon, you would still have to use fuel to get off the moon, however little it would be, and the cost of constructing a base on the moon would be many times larger than the cost of a space station.

Here's my suspicion:
1/6th gravity is a pretty good tradeoff between having a livable area and not needing much energy to launch from. Also, the fact that you already have a solid framework to build a base in (especially if you built underground) whereas with a space station the need to make it actually sustain an orbit means it has to have thrusters, and its mass needs to be relatively low to move easily. Also, there's a lot less risk in going outside on the moon than a moonwalk in orbit.

So a moon base would probably cost more initially to build, but I think in terms of psychology and sustainability, it makes a lot more sense than a space station. Especially as a launch platform. There've been two space stations built. One of them is now in pieces all over the world, and the other is hopelessly overbudget and will probably never be finished.

 

[Brian Fellows]

Step 1: Colonize moon
Step 2: ....
Step 3: Profit!

Hey it works for the underwear gnomes why cant it work for Bush?

 

[MetatronM]

"We spanked Neil Armstrong with moon rocks for being such a nerd. Just try coming back."

 

[videogamer]

You guys, except the above, are all ignorant. The moon has over one million tons of helium 3. That's enough to power the earth for thousands of years. A single space shuttle load would power the US for a year.

EDIT: Here's a link: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/helium3_000630.html . There are newer articles on Google News.

Today helium 3 would have a cash value of $4 billion a ton in terms of its energy equivalent in oil, he estimates. "When the moon becomes an independent country, it will have something to trade."

Fusion technology isn't even here yet. That's why there isn't a demand for it yet, and NASA or whomever dont need to start building bases on the moon for extraction.

Indeed for now, the economics of extracting and transporting helium 3 from the moon are also problematic. Even if scientists solved the physics of helium 3 fusion, "it would be economically unfeasible," asserted Jim Benson, chairman of SpaceDev in Poway, California, which strives to be one of the first commercial space-exploration companies. "Unless I'm mistaken, you'd have to strip-mine large surfaces of the moon."

While it's true that to produce roughly 70 tons of helium 3, for example, a million tons of lunar soil would need to be heated to 1,470 degrees Fahrenheit (800 degrees Celsius) to liberate the gas, proponents say lunar strip mining is not the goal. "There's enough in the Mare Tranquillitatis alone to last for several hundred years," Schmitt said. The moon would be a stepping stone to other helium 3-rich sources, such as the atmospheres of Saturn and Uranus.

Praxis anyone? :lol

 

[AntoneM]

Fusion technology isn't even here yet. That's why there isn't a demand for it yet, and NASA or whomever dont need to start building bases on the moon for extraction.


Praxis anyone? :lol

MOON WAR!!

 

[alejob]

There is no internet on the moon! Thats the real problem. Sure there is always satelite but latency is the deal breaker there.

 

[Manabanana]

Hey guys, ATMOSPHERE. Those craters? Yeah, gigantic rocks smashing into the Moon's surface. That's why.

 

[Drensch]

The strange moon. Another of the great astronaut legends concerning encounters with aliens is the issue concerning the sovereignty of the moon. For a long time the direction of NASA was geared to putting a man on the moon followed by full lunar exploration. In the event of course this is exactly what happened. Only not quite. Suddenly the entire programme was terminated. From the glory of putting a man on the moon the long term mission of lunar exploration suddenly evaporated. Strange decision. Not even the Russians felt disposed to take up the baton. This is strange, and however you look it at it represents a curious decision. To have come this far and to just give up like that seems hard to understand. Some attributed this climb down to a rumour that aliens had made it clear that super power violation of a moon they regarded as their own would not be tolerated. In other words, it was a "hands off our moon" ultimatum! In his book "UFO's - Fact or Fiction" author Nigel Blundell has the following to say on the matter: " Aldrin and Armstrong are alleged to have seen some UFO's in a crater and Aldrin filmed them as Armstrong got out. His censored words are supposed to have run: 'These babies are huge sir.....enormous...I'm telling you there are other space craft out there!' Continues Blundell: " The story would be entirely laughable had it not come from former NASA officials Otto Binder and Maurice Chatelain, former boss of the organisations communications system. Warning. Another unattributed report has Armstrong telling an unnamed friend in military intelligence: 'We were warned off. There was never any intention of a space station or a moon city'! Additional input into the cessation of lunar exploration was published in the Canadian newspaper Midnight. In February 1977 the paper published an article with photos it claimed showed signs of alien excavation. According to the article: "Alien beings have been discovered on the moon say American scientists. We have learned that their machines and workings can be seen in official photographs from NASA. The article additionally claimed an American astronomer had broken through reams of official secrecy to discover the real truth behind the lunar landings. To quote the article: " it was to avoid a confrontation with the Beings that the US government suspended its moon exploration programme. Astronomer George H Leonard of Rockville says he was told by a space scientist that 'top people' around the world have been briefed about the aliens'!

Boo Ya