Posted on 06/14/2012 11:33:44 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Four decades after the Apollo missions, the idea of colonising the Moon is still the stuff of science fiction. But astronomer Phil Plait argues that it is not an issue of whether we can live there, but how and why we want to.
Will mankind once again walk on the lunar surface? I wouldn’t even hesitate to say “yes”, because the future is long, and who in the early 1950s would have dared to predict that we would even land a craft on the Moon within 20 years? But in this case, the answer probably isn’t as interesting as the question itself – more specifically, when, and why, and how will we do it?
I can think of many possible scenarios that could lead to us colonising the Moon: an extended economic boom that allows us to fund ambitious space exploration; a breakthrough in launch costs which makes them drastically cheaper; or the discovery of some vital natural resource on the Moon. But I don’t like betting on breakthroughs.
A better question is then: “What is a likely way we’ll end up with a human presence on the Moon?” Given what we know today and extrapolating from there, I have a thought on how this could happen.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
We should send all the moonbats there.
ever, possibly, soon? No. We sooner live in Antarctica before we live on the moon. There need to be resources there that we want before we would go there.
Not me, but maybe you.
Ping
The Chinese will be the next ones on the moon. America doesn`t thirst for those adventures anymore.
Sure why not spend a 100 trillon on putting a colony on the moon....we are flush with cash...
...And here we thought the bullet train was a boondoogle
According to fed rules all government contracts must be union wages...and built by union thugs
I don’t see how anything could go wrong...
humans? not in the next 100 years.
robots? Probably in 40 years.
If we eve lose our government centric society I would say yes. It will be the free market that does it.
Helium-3.
If private ownership and exploitation of resources were allowed, it would happen much sooner.
an extended economic boom that allows us to fund ambitious space explorationThat's what it will take but that can only happen if the West is unshackled and Liberalism, Environmentalism, Socialism and Progressivism are put in chains, forever.
We're a long way from that happening.
As much as I like our odds for living on the moon sometime in the future (as the author says, the future is long), there's also a chance that the envirosocialists will win and we'll all end up eating turnips, riding on donkey carts and living in caves for a greatly extended dark ages.
Remember, liberals, environmentalists, socialists and progressives view the human race as a great evil, and want most of us dead. If they continue to get their way, there's not going to be any great economic boom with its consequent flowering of space travel.
A great way to shoot down the anthropogenic global warming weenies is to ask them to explain why the moon is warming.
I usually pause for a moment at that point, look ‘em in the eye, and ask:
‘Do you think it’s ‘cause of those little lunar rover SUVs from the 60s?’
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America doesn't thirst for those adventures anymore.
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America does thirst for modern adventures in navel contemplation and shoe sniffing leading the way to a glorious future where everyone in equal, except for those more equal than others.
Powder..patch..ball FIRE!
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress...
I heard really fat people, 500+ and up, would do well on the moon. Their weight would be an advantage.
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