[XBob]

Ah, you forgot the shovel? Better figure out how to make a shovel from that sand, so you can turn the sand into a chair.

[RadioAstronomer]

Give me a break. You think I am stupid? I help design spacecraft and spacecraft systems. I do know what is required. Did I even imply we abandon the infrastructure here? No. All I said was the gravity well of the Moon has a distinct advantage over the Earth in basic "throw weight".

OTOH, all of the "pie-in-the-sky" anti-gravity, quantum entanglement, warp, or any other SiFi fantasy drive BS gets us nowhere.

If you are correct and the only place we can ever build anything is here on Earth, we ought give up manned spaceflight and concentrate on robotic exploration (such as Cassini) because the immediate thought that comes to mind is robotics is far more efficient in both cost and manpower.

The reason to move off this ball in the first place is to be able to exploit the resources of our solar system and if my memory serves, the closest object is the Moon.

[VadeRetro]

Ah, you forgot the shovel? Better figure out how to make a shovel from that sand, so you can turn the sand into a chair.

XBob, if the tone seemed to deteriorate, this post and 178 are where you left reasoned debate behind.

RA, this one isn't worth the effort you're expending here.