🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <93@beaver.cs.washington.edu> szabonj@right.UUCP (Nick Szabo) writes:
>What if we build our $100+ billion dollar lunar base, and then find out
>there is nothing worthwhile there?*  Or a similar amount on a manned Mars
>mission?  In fact, both the Moon and Mars might turn out to be terrible 
>places to build space industries and settlements or to provide material
>for same.

	There's one very valuable thing there: energy.  We're burning up our
energy reserves (the current oil glut is merely pumping more of it out of
the ground.)  When we're out, will we still have the capitol/energy/etc
to then try to set up SPS's?  The point of a moonbase (other than research),
is that raw materials from the moon are cheaper than sending them from
earth.  Even oxygen delivered to the space station could be of very soon.

	Also, fuel for your outer and inner system probes can come from the
moon, much cheaper than lifting the fuel from earth (given an existing
mining-moonbase.)

>This gives the scientist, the prospector, and the space settlement planner
>orders of magnitude more knowledge and flexibility to work with.  The
>choice becomes no longer Moon vs. Mars (an odious debate), but pick a
>spot from any part of the solar system.  

	The moon is a good stepping stone to any other destination (or fuel
base for a space-station stepping stone).  It also would develop the
technologies needed to go to/live on/exploit/whatever the rest of the
solar system.  Mars is silly as a stepping stone, it's WAY to far away to
be useful for almost anything for some time to come, except scientific
exploration.

>------------
>
>* Lunar materials to support other space industries (eg LOX) are not
>worthwhile until such industries generate the $100+ billion/yr plus   
>demand needed to pay for such a base, and  such materials can be made 
>and transported cheaper than from Earth or asteroids. 

	100 billion PER YEAR?  Seems rather high to me.  Asteroids are
very far away (energy-wise), and are unknown quantities for the most part
(compared to the moon).

-- 
Randell Jesup, Commodore Engineering {uunet|rutgers|allegra}!cbmvax!jesup