They'll have no choice. The lunar colony will be a fait accompli. Any attempt to destroy or otherwise interfere with the colony will be an act of war.
Note: I don't think the first lunar colony will be a U.S. effort. Our nation has been spiritually emasculated. I expect the Indians or the Brazilians or some similar country will be the first to stake a claim — some country where there are still real men left.
The moon is the first stop on our journey to other planets. It will be our testing grounds for building viable habitats on distant planets. And the only way anyone is going to get there and establish a Colony is if a Nation goes and establishes the first one.
That's an interesting opinion. Too bad you can't support it with facts.
All the NASA naysayers would have China or Russia or India be the ones to establish such. Just because President Obama has decided to quit doesn't mean the space race is over.
The space race was over in 1967, when the Soviets realized we were going to beat them to the Moon, and when Lyndon Johnson realized they had realized this. That's the year the follow-on Apollo missions and the remaining Saturn boosters were all cut from the budget. Since then, NASA has been nothing more than a means by which the aerospace industry has been kept afloat.
PROTIP: Always review the facts on a given subject before formulating an opinion and posting it online.
It just means China and Russia and India and others are grinning from ear to ear because the guy that is 100 laps in the lead has decided to not run anymore.
If they win, they deserve the prize. Anyway, I don't see China being a viable political entity for much longer.
Exploration and settlement of the moon are not legitimate functions of government. The government's job is to govern; it has a legitimate role only in financing infrastructure, not providing services.
The moon is not going to be settled by the Postal Service, which is what NASA is. Private investors on contract to the government will colonize space, just as they colonized America.
Yep and there is lots of infrastructure needed for a Moonbase, Space stations orbiting both points that allows trasfer of goods and supplies (just like our ports here on earth) and the infrastructure that will be needed on the Moon. Glad you agree!
PROTIP: Always review the facts on a given subject before formulating an opinion and posting it online.
So then the Soviets and China and India all have stopped their space programs?
Maybe you should review the facts first.