Tonights 'Horizon' programme - heading back to the Moon?

There would have been no treaties if the land had not already been so hostile that nobody lived there anyway.

Tierra del Fuego was about as far south as people voluntarily went.

The radiation environment on the moon is such thay you have to bury yourself AT LEAST 20 FEET UNDERGROUND to escape cosmic rays and nasty hiccups from the Sun etc...etc...etc...

A medium sized solar flare aimed at the moon would have killed the Apollo astronauts.

Peter.

Pay me enough and I'd go. Ever see the Discovery documentary about 'The Deadliest Catch'? Fishermen risk their lives on that one trip for just $50k.

We simply don't have sufficient motivation, that's why we're not there.

Trouble is,the Earth is far richer in resources than the moon is,with a few rare exceptions.

Nobody is going to go to the expense of going to the moon for nuclear fuel.

That would be the most uneconomic fuel in the history of the universe!

Peter.

True, at least as far as we know. But lunar exploration to date has been funded by governments for prestige and has had no real productive purppose.

Historically, the usual motivations for exploration and colonization have been:

by governments

To claim territory beneficial to politico-military strategies
To claim territory for economic benefit
To gain prestige (the Apollo program is a case in point)

by businesses

For economic benefit
To establish staging posts supporting economically beneficial shipping routes

Unless one or more of these motivations is present we are unlikely to go much further than we have already. Since governments have a limited lifespan my money is on economic interest being the prime motivator and businesses being the prime movers if we ever do make a real effort to explore and colonise the solar system and beyond. Projects funded by governments for prestige are usually very short term.

Hi everyone
I would tend to agree with the general consensus on this complex issue. The political, economic and social motivation was there as instigated by Kennedy and others for the Apollo missions, it must be said that the American military may have seen themselves at a severe disadvantage at the time to the Russian potential of space based weapons in orbit or on the Moon (feasible or not, the potential was realised) and perhaps this was arguably the main motive for the race to the Moon at the time.

The imperative to send Americans into space and especially to the Moon before the Russians was a means of saving national pride (amongst other things) as the Russians had many “firsts” such as the first man-made satellite in earth orbit, first man in space, first man to orbit the earth, first woman in space, first crew of three astronauts onboard one spacecraft, the first space walk, the first to have two spacecrafts orbiting simultaneously and there are probably others.

NASAs budget is just over 16 billion US dollars (2006 figures) while its Military budget is in the order of 600 Billion US Dollars (2006 figures), unofficially other sources project 1 trillion US Dollars as more accurate to Americas current military spending this year.
But it is not only about America and G. W. Bush’s vision for 2020, as Irish citizens we pay taxes of which a certain percentage goes to ESA funding which has an annual budget of approximately 3 billion Euro (2006).

I would especially agree with Deirdre’s views, until we make the effort to become a peaceful united people with clear, wise and intelligent goals for our further exploration of space in a way that is beneficial for all peoples, they will always be ulterior motives.

Clear skies
Mike

www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTra...p#USMilitarySpending
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Space_Agency
www.nasa.gov/about/budget/index.html

Under the auspices of The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in Vienna, there are five International Treaties on Space Law.

The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. This agreement has been ratified by 167 States (including Ireland) signed by 27 others. This agreement is also known as The Outer Space Treaty.

In fact this in particular is very much a moon protection arrangement and states clearly,

“That outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means. The Treaty establishes the exploration and use of outer space as the "province of all mankind." The Moon Agreement expands on these provisions by stating that neither the surface nor the subsurface of the Moon, nor any part thereof, or natural resources in place, shall become property of any State, international intergovernmental or non-governmental organization, national organization or non-governmental entity or of any natural person."

I think that governments are going to have to focus on terrestrial based power production and shelve the moon mining hypothesis.

I am hopefull that human sanity will prevail and the moon will remain the moon and will not become a fuel source for the Earth. I am sure that the financial outlay to mine the moon will be a major factor in inhibiting this enterprise.

In summery on this lunar hypotheses, I would propose that it would be many decades if ever that a moon mining operation would be a fact of life.

I think that since the early days of the space race, the human race has learned so much. (Scott D & Leonov A 2004),but has mountains of learning to do. Exploration yes , Exploitation no.

The space exploration facet of humanity is I believe in its infancy, and will no doubt transcend through adolescence too maturity.

I hope that on this great journey to understand our universe we will learn to appreciate and treasure our own pale blue marble. Respecting our planet is the key to exploring the vastness of space with dignity and wisdom.

Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States
in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including
the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies Accessed February 15 2006
www.oosa.unvienna.org/SpaceLaw/outerspt.html

Deirdre Kelleghan