Posted on 01/28/2012 3:30:36 AM PST by 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?
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Right, if you choose not to have multiple bases or sensors based on the earth, earth orbit, lunar orbit, or on the moon monitoring the enemy's movements. Kind of a dumb choice, don't you think?
That's why it is IMPERATIVE from a national security standpoint for the US to, eventually, regain the moon.
That’s all great and everything, but, like Columbus, there is a reason that Spain and Portugal are no longer serious contenders in exploration - or anything else.
Dreams are great. However, reality is the hunger in your gut, the empty gas gauge, the overdue notices in the mailbox and the endless crisis’ of home and kids. High flown rhetoric is not going to do it. We are on the precipice; you and I both know it and, at some level, most Americans do too.
Now is the time we squarely face the problems, not invent diversions to recapture past granduer. The truest test of genuine greatness will be whether or not we are men (and women) of the mettle needed to meet ourselves and conquer our weaknesses.
For my money, none of the top picks in the ‘R’ column are fit for this task.
It's illogical to do it with technology that requires $5grand in capital to put a postage stamp in orbit.
Rockets will put a man on the moon, but we need new technology for all the things in space that will REALLY help us...colonization industry raw materials...figure out how to get a truckload of goods into orbit for the price it takes to ship it coast to coast, and we'll have it ALL.
If you've seen me post similar sentiments before, forgive me...it's a pet issue of mine I guess. I do think Newt has his goals in the right direction, but like the rest of America, if you don't build the infrastructure first you don't have the building blocks for the big ideas.
"Ma'am, could you pass me the 'help wanted' section?"
"On-world, or Off-world?" ;^)
-—RDL, a military base on the moon with WMD that can be delivered to earth is NOT a first strike weapon. It is a final strike weapon.-—
So, in any conceived conflict with china, they will first strike us with their earth based arsenal. And we will retaliate. The threat that they will have missiles left on the moon does not matter at that point. We can retain some of our arsenal on submarines and have the same advantage.
If Mitt was around in 1960s we never would have gone to the Moon at all—The Soviets would have gotten there.
People who have no dreams (the ones deposited into the inner cities by Democrat handlers -- as one example) are dependent. I choose not to be dependent and to dream.
Spain was one of the greatest Empires on Planet earth for nearly 200 years. they blew it because of bad choices at home—just like we are doing. Doing great things takes great effort.
——I choose not to be dependent and to dream.-—
If you think we can build a base on the moon without borrowing $100s of billions, you’re dreaming.
Many of Newt’s ‘wacky’ ideas are not wacky.
I think it was depressing to a lot of people that the US gave up on space exploration in favor of socialism.
However, I think Newt would do well to downplay the moon and grannies from now on and concentrate what concerns people directly at the moment.
Then, when he’s elected he can push The Final Frontier.
Believe it or not, right now the US has a tremendous first strike advantage over both Russia and China. And they know it. The Russians and the Chinese are working to overcome this advantage, but they haven't been able to for over 60 years and it is doubtful they will be able to, unless they utilize space and the moon. WMD's on the moon would be intended to take away the US first strike capability and preclude the use of nuclear weapons by the US.
Arguing about Human Space Exploration......................."Repeating what we did 40 years ago is not the reason for lunar return, although, I understand the confusion. Here was a great missed opportunity for the Committee – they could have pointed out that NASA flubbed the implementation of its lunar mission from the beginning, largely because the agency never really grasped the rationale behind going to the Moon, thereby leaving others unable to embrace or articulate the mission. Perhaps the Committee didn’t point this out because they didn’t understand it either. Or perhaps because so much money has already disappeared down the black hole of Ares development, it was deemed easier to frame the report in the familiar terms of hardware procurement rather than focus on the objectives of the mission."..........
Militarily we need the moon as well. It’s going to become the high ground and that alone is a good reason for reaching for it.
I just don’t buy the Gingrich promise.
Do you know anything about this topic or the issues involved?
Are bridges profitable? Roads? National defense? None of these things are profitable for private enterprise to finance. But we all benefit immensely from these things being financed out of all of our pockets via the government.
Handouts for deadbeats form the core of our budget problems. This nation financed all sorts of exploration and "unprofitable" development for 200 years without driving itself to the brink. And all that exploration and development profited us handsomely but in too long a term for an individual investor to realize his profits.
Bill Gates has a whole bunch of money he wants to spend to make the world a better place. Maybe he could part with some of it to make the moon a better place
Chinese don’t need nukes on the moon. They can send multiton projectiles of lunar matter from low lunar gravitý to hit targets on earth with kinetic strikes more powerful than the largest H-bomb. Review the death of the dinosaurs...
Please, I'm having enough trouble explaining the obvious strategic value of a moon base with nuclear weapons without introducing modified rail gun technology. It would be too much for some to digest, let me fight one battle at a time.
BTTT !
What King sets out to build a tower and does not first count the cost?
The issue is not having dreams, the issue is clarity of mind to judge worthy goals find a way to those goals. Manufacturing rootless dreams is the province of Hollowood, not just Constitutional governance.
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