Gingrich Space Plan Promises the Moon, Literally: Lunar Base by 2020

Space.com ^ | 25 January 2012 Time: 07:07 PM ET | Mike Wall

[The_Victor]

The United States will have a permanent manned colony on the moon by 2020 if Newt Gingrich is in charge, the Republican presidential hopeful announced today (Jan. 25).

Gingrich laid out this goal during a speech in the city of Cocoa, on Florida's Space Coast. He also said that near-Earth space would be bustling with commercial activity by 2020, and that America would possess a next-generation propulsion system by then, allowing the nation to get astronauts to Mars quickly and efficiently.

"By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon, and it will be American," Gingrich said.

The former Speaker of the House made no apologies for the boldness of his amibitions, which depend primarily on the emergence of a vibrant commercial spaceflight industry. He said the U.S. space program needs a kick in the pants like the one President John F. Kennedy gave it in 1961, when he promised to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

[GraceG]

Newt should rail against the 1969 space treaty with the UN that has handicapped our use of space resources ever since.

[W. W. SMITH]

...................drivelous.......................

Bert are you emulating Sarah, that is a marvelous word. A combination of frivilous and drivel. Excellent, hi-five!

[aruanan]

There are no resources out there that can be economically harvested.

Ha ha ha. There are entire planetoids of hydrocarbons. There's the near vacuum on the moon as well as micro-gravity there and even more so in orbit. All of those are great resources.

[jpsb]

"THE EMERGENCE OF A VIBRANT COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT INDUSTRY"

Interesting, how is Newt going to create a vibrant commercial space industry? The EU, Russia, China, Japan and up till now the USA all massively subsidize their space programs. A for profit is going to have to over come a huge price bias in flavor of the government run programs.

[Tulsa Ramjet]

“I once saw a snail crawling along the edge of a straight razor,...slithering,...that is my dream, that is my nightmare.”

Maybe Newt sees himself in his own Apocalypse Now moment as COL Kurtz, and Romney now sees himself as CAPT Willard on his journey into a Heart of Darkness.

COL Kurtz did all the things he thought was required, against the conventionalism, and had personal success. But the Corporation sent in a remedy.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

If we’re not off this planet in the next 1000 years or so, the next glaciation will return us to a pre-historic stage.

[OHelix]

"I can see some of the ridiculous headlines already..."

I hope is someone accuses him of being nutty for recommending it, he responds:

"You may be right, I may be crazy... but it just may be a lunar trip you're looking for."

[Theoria]

We are broke. If he wants to go to the moon. First do some basic things:

-Secure the borders
-Cut and balance the budget
-Reduce the national debt
etc.

[from occupied ga]

Sorry to pop your bubble, but there isn’t anything on the moon that is worth the cost of getting there and sending it back. What is the most expensive raw material on earth? Platinum? Gold? Both somewhere around $1700/ounce. IN 1976 dollars the cost of an ounce of moon rocks was about $1,783,000 due to the transportation costs. Let me know what raw material that you think is on the moon that is worth that much

[from occupied ga]

First ... -Cut and balance the budget ...

Agree

[Theophilus]

Where’s the ton of money to pay for this going to come from?

I once read in a book called "The Light Stuff" that Barry Goldwater was so against squandering tax-payer money on space exploration that some NASA wags sent him a One-Way ticket to outer space to show their appreciation.

I love almost everything about space exploration (except for the fail-safe risk averse bureaucracy that makes it ridiculously expensive). I'm almost willing to coerce money from my neighbors so I can vicariously enjoy some astronaut going back to the moon. But I am totally against borrowing more money from the Chinese to do it.

[OHelix]

I imagine the greatest value of a moon base would be as a launch platform for deeper space missions.

[W. W. SMITH]

1; helium three, immense value fuel for power plants.
2; see #1
3; one insane microbiologist viewing humans as parasites and a moon colony would be a lost opportunity for the survival of the human species.

[HIDEK6]

Did you see Newt’s speech on this?

He addresses this concern.

[from occupied ga]

For national security reasons, you want to be on the moon.

Why? And don't give me that "high ground" stuff. If that were true, then Mars would be better still, and Pluto the very best place to be (strategically speaking)

[alstewartfan]

“Ground control to Major Newt: Return to earth.”

[LibLieSlayer]

They certainly did... now we can knock satellites out of the sky... that and more than any of us can ever know.

LLS

[jpsb]

"First and foremost is the immense cost of getting anything back from the moon. There is literallly no material substance that could be obtained on the moon that wouldn't be cheaper to obtain right here on earth"

The above is not necessarily true, H3 is thought to be the ideal fuel for fusion based power plants. H3 is hideously expensive here on Earth but relatively abundant on the Moon. So if a fusion based power plants is ever built, the H3 on the moon might make it profitable to go there. Also, if do not know what else is on the moon. So a blanket statement about nothing of value being there is rather foolish to make.

[airborne]

I think if the plans are designed towards eventually making it pay for itself, it's a good idea.

We just need to have more scientists and public sector companies involved, and much less politicians and bureaucracy overseeing it all.

[W. W. SMITH]

Small minded individuals with myopic vision please move to the corner and remain silent while the “MEN” advance the human species.