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To: DoctorMichael
Hardly lacking in 'detailed knowledge' or written from an 'uninformed' standpoint. No?

No, actually I stand corrected. It's not "uninformed" -- it's irrelevant.

It does not address the presence of water ice in the dark areas, first discovered by Clementine in 1994 and then confirmed by Lunar Prospector in 1998. It's the water on the Moon that's valuable, both for human life support, but even more importantly, to make propellant for rocket engines.

BTW, "basalt", “breccia”, and "regolith" are descriptors of general rock types, present at all landing sites and widely distributed across the Moon. They are very common, but that does not make them "valueless" -- it depends on what you're trying to do. We wouldn't go to the Moon to mine common metals; but we would use common materials to build things on the Moon -- or in near-Earth space.

The definition of a "resource" is economic, not geological. It's anything you can make a profit on. You can make money on mining lunar water because it's cheaper to get rocket fuel from space than it is to haul it up from the surface.

Zubrin is blinders-on for his "Mars Direct" architecture, so he wouldn't think about using lunar resources to develop the Moon or build structures in near-Earth space. But those are real possibilities. And the Moon can provide the resources for it, regardless of what you find written in Zubrin's book.

58 posted on 03/04/2003 3:10:20 PM PST by Cincinatus
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To: Cincinatus
........it's irrelevant........

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some people are never impressed with facts.

Best,
Doc

59 posted on 03/04/2003 3:14:53 PM PST by DoctorMichael ("Pacifism.......is Pro-Fascist" ~~~~~George Orwell)
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