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This is one thing that really bugs me about the people screaming that we shouldn't spend money on space exploration. If the Chinese land on the moon, will they be able to claim it for their nation? Does our flag and first landing make it ours? Do we have to actually occupy the moon to have a claim?

Looking back at the huge land claims that Europe had on the Americas, they held up and we had to buy our lands. In 50 or even 20 years, will the nation that establishes a fixed base on the moon have claim to the whole land mass? Probably. At the very least, it will be a strategic asset, and I would rather it be us, then China or some other possibly unfriendly nation. JMHO, but I think we would be more app to share the moon than any other nation would.

Also, I am sure there were a few people who thought that all the ships in the 1300 and 1400's going over the horizon, were a waste of time and money.

Thanks, for giving me my soap box, I know most everyone on this thread probably is of like mind and I am just talking to the choir, but it makes me feel better. :-)

Because the Moon has resources, it is something to claim and China and Russia and India and Japan and the European Union are all heading back to the Moon to stake their claim. To own the resources gives one the power to launch into the universe and protect space resources (commercial and military satellites). The technology needed to accomplish these goals is a treasure trove to military applications.

Finish goal set long ago, in galaxy far, far away***While I believe in physics more than destiny, I think humanity has a role to play beyond this island earth. Men once looked at the seas and wondered what was beyond. Today we see the firmament and know there's something up there that with cunning, sacrifice and courage we can reach. In short, I support President Bush's plan to put us on the moon again and go from there - the fruition of which I shall never see. Fortunately, it's given to our species to think beyond our years.

I don't see this in investment terms. No Brit saw a penny from funding investment in early America; the Massachusetts Bay Company went broke. But you can say that in the long run the colonies paid off. Sure, the Spanish got rich from plundering the Indies, but which "investment" did more to save the sum of things?

There are reasons to return to space: scientific knowledge such as lured the explorers of the Enlightenment to dark continents and distant isles; the fear that we may ruin our world from overuse or war and a backup would be nice; the spirit of challenge and adventure. And, of course, just as French shipwrights were paid to craft La Salle's vessels, dollars spent on space are spent at home. We no longer have slave economies such as erected the pyramids, so in one sense there is no waste.***

>>If the Chinese land on the moon, will they be able to claim it for their nation?

I believe they will. They may not even bring the guy(s) back but send some up more later and keep expanding their base that way.

By traditional exploration, they would have full right to call the Moon part of China. Regardless of the space treaty, which I don't think they are a signatory too.

The Chinese used to be explorers; Royal Junks down to the East African coast in the 15th Century until called back and told to stop exploring by the Emperor.

And then came Columbus; today he'd be attacked with cries of waste of money, we know there's nothing there, etc.