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Less ideally, a Moon base could be an uneconomic way of doing all of these things, eating all of NASA's human spaceflight budget. So after getting ourselves stu
by greglindahl 10y ago
Less ideally, a Moon base could be an uneconomic way of doing all of these things, eating all of NASA's human spaceflight budget. So after getting ourselves stuck with the cost of the Shuttle and the cost of ISS, now we'll get ourselves stuck in the cost of a Moon base that's less reliable and more expensive than reusable launchers.
The reusable launch thing will be proven out in 5-10 years, long before we could set up production on the moon.
- nine_k 10y agoI don't see a contradiction here. Reusable launchers bring stuff in from Earth. They are just relieved from doing water tanker missions. But, if there's need, they can definitely bring in some water, too. A partly self-replenishing Moon base is going to be cheaper to run than the ISS that depends on constant resupply from Earth.