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[GlyphGryph]

We should have one. It is the most important thing.

(i.e. I am splitting off yet another conversation from the Elections Thread)

[The Fool]

And we'll need 'lasers' for our 'moon base'.

[GlyphGryph]

Didn't they recently build that laser that was so powerful it was going to be used to rip a whole in the fabric of spacetime?

That sounds dangerous, we should definitely move such a laser to the moon.

[kaijyuu]

I'm all for banishing people to the moon.

[Karlito]

Obviously, we need to build a moon base so we can go fight the Nazis hiding there.

[Telgin]

In all seriousness, I do find it unfortunate that we've been to the moon several times and have sort of let our space exploration stagnate.  The technology continues to improve, but we haven't tried to take it another step with humans yet.

I would love to see a lunar base.  That is a huge landmark in human history, and I'd love to be around to see it.

A lunar base would also potentially open up lots of other things, such as a second stage in rocket flights to the outer solar system.

If only it didn't feel like a criminal waste of resources during a period where things are so tight. 

[warhammer651]

Question: What is on the moon anyways? Are there mineral resources? Is it actually worth settling there?


Though I suppose the advances in tech we'd need to make (especially energy wise) to create a permanent settlement would give us some huge payoffs

[Cheese]

We could perform bigger scale zero/near-zero-G experiments there than what we currently can in space stations, such as seeing if smelting metal ores and creating alloys is any different in space than on Earth/in an atmosphere with gravity.

[mainiac]

If only it didn't feel like a criminal waste of resources during a period where things are so tight. 

The US debt isn't particularly high by historical standards.  Our deficit is perfectly manageable once you factor in the gap caused by the great recession.  If we got healthcare costs down to the level they were in other countries, the outlook would be downright rosy.  Then factor in the fact that the US has low taxes and most of the population says we need to soak the rich.  The budget picture is only bleak because we chose to let it remain so.  (That's not to say that we could fix it tomorrow.  With the economy as weak as it is, budget austerity would be self defeating.  But the budget could be patched as soon as the economy recovers if only we had the political will.)

(I think I have a psychological aversion to remaining on topic.)

[GlyphGryph]

And getting the public behind some sort of patriotic, nationalistic advancement, like space exploration, is exactly the sort of thing you need to convince them taxes need to be raised. (or else the other guys will BEAT US)

Question: What is on the moon anyways? Are there mineral resources? Is it actually worth settling there?

It would serve as a really good base of operations for extra-planetary exploration. Construction would be easier, and cheaper, than the space station after a certain point. There are some raw materials, but primarily it would serve as a launching point for potential missions to the asteroid belt - with the wealth of mineral resources available there, and a manufacturing center on the moon, space exploration, REAL space exploration, without all the drawbacks of having to launch all that heavy stuff up from earth, becomes available to us.

[10ebbor10]

Question: What is on the moon anyways? Are there mineral resources? Is it actually worth settling there?

The moon contains large deposits of He3, which can be used as a safer and more efficient fuel for Nuclear fusion.(Current fusion reactors use a  deuterium-tritium combination, which is problematic because tritium is highly radioactive.)
A lunar base can be used as a stepping stone to other plants, because of the lower gravity making launches require less fuel.
Also telescopes on the moon aren't hindered by the atmosphere, allowing them to give the same image quality as spacebased telescopes, while being easier to build/repair.

[MonkeyHead]

I have read the odd published journal that outlined the possibility of using huge sections of the moon to build one really big radio (or even optical) inteferometer (or even synching detectors on the moon to ones on the Earth - imagine what such a device could manage...), or gravity wave detection device (you know, the big long lasers at right angle thingy).

[ChairmanPoo]

I think there are more interesting things to invest in than a base on the moon at the present time.

[Flying Dice]

And getting the public behind some sort of patriotic, nationalistic advancement, like space exploration, is exactly the sort of thing you need to convince them taxes need to be raised. (or else the other guys will BEAT US)

Question: What is on the moon anyways? Are there mineral resources? Is it actually worth settling there?

It would serve as a really good base of operations for extra-planetary exploration. Construction would be easier, and cheaper, than the space station after a certain point. There are some raw materials, but primarily it would serve as a launching point for potential missions to the asteroid belt - with the wealth of mineral resources available there, and a manufacturing center on the moon, space exploration, REAL space exploration, without all the drawbacks of having to launch all that heavy stuff up from earth, becomes available to us.

The only problem is that we don't have the USSR around any more, China probably hasn't closed the gap far enough to be a serious challenge, and there is no way that even U.S. media could convince anyone outside the lunatic fringe that, say, Iran has a functioning spaceflight program.

As for 'why?', yeah, that's pretty much it. It is easier to build things in space than it is to provide the effort to lift everything we need out of a gravity well, and it would give us an extraterrestrial focus for industry and exploration. As an added bonus, I seem to recall that there are deposits of ice beneath the surface of the moon, which would largely eliminate the need to boost any out into orbit for crops, as well as providing a potential fuel source.

I also support it because of the whole thing with eggs and baskets over giant pools of lava and thermonuclear warheads, and because MOONBASE FUCK YEAH in my lifetime.

[GlyphGryph]

I think there are more interesting things to invest in than a base on the moon at the present time.

I find your argument lacking. What things and why?