Lunar Colonies and Mitt Romney's Incredible Smallness of Vision

Yahoo ^ | January 27, 2012 | Mark R. Whittington

[Cincinatus' Wife]

COMMENTARY | During the Republican presidential debate in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday night, the subject of Newt Gingrich's moon colony idea came up. During the exchange, Mitt Romney especially revealed a smallness of vision and an ignorance of the issue.

[snip]

If Romney wants to know why Gingrich is so focused on the moon, he could go no further than to read Paul Spudis' The Case for Renewed Human Exploration of the Moon" in which the rationale for returning to the moon, not only for science, but also as a prelude to the exploration of the Solar System is examined. Spudis also covers mining lunar resources, such as water.

Then Romney can read Taylor Dinerman's piece about the strategic value of the moon and its importance to national security. Spudis also covers the Chinese challenge where it comes to the moon.

Can we afford to return to the moon with a $15 trillion national debt? The question is actually whether we can afford not to?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Mark R. Whittington is a writer residing in Houston, Texas. He is the author of The Last Moonwalker, Children of Apollo, Dark Sanction, and Nocturne. He has written numerous articles, some for the Washington Post, USA Today, the LA Times, and the Houston Chronicle.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Greta talks with Newt on the bus -- Moon is discussed at 9:00 mark.

Second segment of Newt and Greta

Newt Gingrich's Jan 25, 2012 space policy speech to voters

[Eye of Unk]

If we surrender the Moon the Chinese will colonize it and build consumer goods there that will utilize the low gravity, I cannot say what offhand but what they lack in quality they will make up in quantity, we cannot allow the moon to be turned into a Chinese labor camp.

[livius]

Good article. I think the moon proposal is one of the most exciting things Gingrich has come up with. And people seem to be missing the fact that he is not expecting the government to do it, but simply to encourage private individuals to do it. This would be done by simplifying regulations and red tape, reducing the size of NASA and making its work administrative rather than expecting NASA to build the projects itself, and encouraging private participation not through huge risky loans, but through prizes and competitions. (After all, as he points out, Lindbergh flew to Paris for a $25,000 prize.)

If we had six or seven space flights a day taking off from Florida (or from Texas or some other place with suitable conditions) and an active spaceport, imagine how our economies would boom! And the mineral wealth would stimulate all sorts of other industries and provide sources that would be under our control, an important consideration.

Otherwise, they'll be under Chinese control. They have said they will get to the moon by 2020, and if they get there, you can bet they're going to take it over.

[BearArms]

Romney’s idea of “vision” is limited to office supply chains and sporting goods stores. How terrifically underwhelming.

[SlargTarg]

And people seem to be missing the fact that he is not expecting the government to do it, but simply to encourage private individuals to do it.

This is disingenuous, there is no possible profit to be made from a moon base and no venture capitalist would risk money on it.

When politicians say a "private" space company, what they really mean is private contractors funded by government instead of giving the money directly to NASA.

Its not free market capitalism by any measure.

[tsowellfan]

Mormonism and space travel

Dr. James C. Fletcher was adamant about the importance of seeking out and communicating with extraterrestrials, insisting that it could be “the most significant achievement of this millennium, perhaps the key to our survival as a species.”

Not to say that Mormons were always gung-ho for space exploration. Launius describes how pre-1950s Mormon apostle and church president Joseph Fielding Smith spoke out against space exploration as a waste of time — that humans should concern themselves with stewardship of Earth and that God would surely check any human excursions into space.

[Kakaze]

I think we do need to go back to the moon and move beyond. This country was never greater, then when it had a true frontier to explore and conquer. Go west young man!

That phrase alone moved people it inspired them to go and seek their fortune, to live freely. They had to be self reliant, they invented ways to survive and to exploit the resources available to them.

Now I know not everyone was "John Wayne", heck even John Wayne wasn't "John Wayne" but the opportunity was there, not just children were inspired but adults who craved and knew true freedom went west, just like they will move off planet if allowed.

I have always thought we stopped moving forward for one simple reason, Power and Control.

The one thing governments have learned from the Great American Experiment, is that colonies eventually thrive and then they become independent. Look at Washington D.C. and the hall monitors that run it, heck look at your neighborhood association, bitter little people who demand you live as they say not as they do.

Space is the next frontier, the next resource to exploit, the next expansion of the human spirit and it will happen with or with out America.

Romney and people like him can't see past their own power and control for the greater good.

Damn flatlander, at least that was my initial response to his statement thursday night.

[Eye of Unk]

We showed how it was done....then.

A prime argument against voting for any person that suggests we stay earthbound.

Some day in the future its going to happen, the odds are not on our side of a planetary impact event, either we build a defense against it or we build a way to survive it elsewhere, even if it requires sending spacecraft to Mars with nothing but embryos in storage for every species on Earth, an ark of some sort, a base to terraform, anything to perpetuate the species.

It starts here and now.

[livius]

Why don’t you go back and look at his actual proposal.

There is money to be made on the moon, which is precisely why the Chinese want to get there. There is not only mineral wealth, but the zero gravity environment can be of great aid in manufacturing certain things. In addition, it’s a stepping stone to other places in space. And who knows what medical and scientific discoveries may come out of this?

Probably people also had the same negative comments about people setting off for the New World or even for the American West. But I think both of those worked out pretty well...

[Apollo5600]

It is time for man to fix his goal. It is time for man to plant
the germ of his highest hope.
Still is his soil rich enough for it. But that soil will one day
be poor and exhausted, and no lofty tree will any longer be able to
grow thereon.
Alas! there cometh the time when man will no longer launch the arrow
of his longing beyond man- and the string of his bow will have
unlearned to whizz!
I tell you: one must still have chaos in one, to give birth to a
dancing star. I tell you: ye have still chaos in you.
Alas! There cometh the time when man will no longer give birth to
any star. Alas! There cometh the time of the most despicable man,
who can no longer despise himself.
Lo! I show you the last man.
“What is love? What is creation? What is longing? What is a
star?”- so asketh the last man and blinketh.
The earth hath then become small, and on it there hoppeth the last
man who maketh everything small. His species is ineradicable like that
of the ground-flea; the last man liveth longest.

Thus Spake Zarathustra

[Cincinatus' Wife]

There is money to be made on the moon, which is precisely why the Chinese want to get there. There is not only mineral wealth, but the zero gravity environment can be of great aid in manufacturing certain things. In addition, it’s a stepping stone to other places in space. And who knows what medical and scientific discoveries may come out of this?

A GOOD LINK from the source linked in the OpEd.

A Rationale for Cislunar Space -- which has to do with economic and national security.

[RC one]

lunar missions are crazy but magical underwear is sane- got it Mitt. BTW, how many grandmothers did you have Mitt?

[RC one]

The water on the moon is worth more than gold.

[SlargTarg]

There is money to be made on the moon, which is precisely why the Chinese want to get there.

If it was profitable, private investment would do it without the need for massive government subsidies.

It is not, therefore you will only get more crony-capitalist, government funded boondoggles.

A "private" moonbase would be Solyndra x 100.

[cripplecreek]

This is disingenuous, there is no possible profit to be made from a moon base and no venture capitalist would risk money on it.

And Gingrich knows it. As usual he's just saying whatever he thinks people want to hear. While the space and moon treaties are in place the only money to be made in space are under government contract.

The time frame literally made me laugh out loud.

[petercooper]

This country would still be in the stone age if not for Staples and the Sports Authority. Now where are those pesky Swiss bank accounts?