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Space 1999 was science fiction. It was written from the idea that we would have at least a base on the moon. Then came Apollo 13. Then came budget cuts. Then came the Space Shuttle and the ISS (not to be confused with ISIS). 1999 came and went and the only really big events that year was the Y2K scare and the brief re-emergence of The Artist Formerly Known As Prince or Whatever He is Going By Today.
But I wonder, will we ever have a real base on the Moon? What do you think? What would be its purpose?
But I wonder, will we ever have a real base on the Moon? What do you think? What would be its purpose?
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 18
There was a movie about why we haven't been back. It may be fiction, but it does pose an interesting question: is there some kind of funky alien lifeform there that NASA, Homeland Security and the White House don't want us to know about?
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Yes, but it will probably be a remotely operated Helium-3 mine. You may not know it, but China 's Lunar exploration program already has a lander on the moon and their "Chang’e 5" test vehicle just successfully conducted a lunar orbital rendezvous to rehearse China’s first mission to return lunar samples to Earth. Which is expected to occur in 2017. They are basically at the Apollo 8 stage with a full set of missions in the wings.
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No. It is not necessary, would be a huge waste of funds with little return on investment. We have only explored a small percentage of our ocean floors. We should explore our own planet before we start expansion outward. Besides we cannot control pollution ans destruction of the environment here and now. Why build a moon station that will simply add to the problem. Or worse vent into space. That is not a meteor storm I want to deal with. Imagine the poor bastard who gets killed by a flaming diaper from space. What a shitty way to die.
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Why so we can make crime, racism, hatred and 1 percent-ism interstellar and intergalactic issues? I'd say no until we can clean up our own planet. I can see it now, the first homeless man on the moon with a squeegee and a sign, "Will work for oxygen" :-)
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CH (MAJ) William Beaver I think it's inevitable. Mankind either gets off this planet, or we'll go extinct, eventually. And with the discovery of water on the moon, it will make an excellent (eventual) starting point for further exploration of the solar system. Just not Mars. It actually takes less delta-v to insert into a martian orbit than a lunar one, so basing up the moon solely for mars would be redundant and uneconomical.
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CH (MAJ) William Beaver, I think there are many conspiracy theorists that believe we have had a base on the moon for years and that we are either partying with the aliens we have met on the Dark Side of The Moon [shout out to Pink Floyd] or we are interrogating them :-)
In the days of the race to space primarily between the USA and the USSR, there were discussions about rights to the moon for mineral harvesting, etc. We planed a flag there. Later some earth=-based body determined and ruled that the moon belonged to nobody and that no nation could claim it. I can't remember if that was before or after you could pay for the rights to name a star :-)
One major use for a moon base could be a weapons platform to target and destroy asteroids hurtling towards the earth well before they entered the earth's atmosphere and hopefully before they entered they solar system [future]
Another primarily medical use could be research into positive and negative effects on the human body by extended periods of reduced gravity - impact on cardiovascular system, muscle, tendon and ligament health and repair, near weightless surgery, development and manufacture of medicines, etc.
In the days of the race to space primarily between the USA and the USSR, there were discussions about rights to the moon for mineral harvesting, etc. We planed a flag there. Later some earth=-based body determined and ruled that the moon belonged to nobody and that no nation could claim it. I can't remember if that was before or after you could pay for the rights to name a star :-)
One major use for a moon base could be a weapons platform to target and destroy asteroids hurtling towards the earth well before they entered the earth's atmosphere and hopefully before they entered they solar system [future]
Another primarily medical use could be research into positive and negative effects on the human body by extended periods of reduced gravity - impact on cardiovascular system, muscle, tendon and ligament health and repair, near weightless surgery, development and manufacture of medicines, etc.
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