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No, the moon doesn't make any sense. It's a big, dusty, radiation-blasted rock. Sure, we could build bases there, but why would we? That's the question Apoll

No, the moon doesn't make any sense. It's a big, dusty, radiation-blasted rock. Sure, we could build bases there, but why would we? That's the question Apollo managers could never answer and why the program was ultimately shut down.

vcadambe 9y ago
.Net Rocks podcast did a fantastic episode (A Geek Out episode) recently on why we should consider building moon bases - https://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?ShowNum=1424 https://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?ShowNum=1424. TL;DR Version (From show notes): We have not explored much of the moon at all, we can extract fuel and manufacture things on the moon, we need to understand how humans function long term in low gravity (rather than freefall), and finally, there are some unique science opportunities on the moon.
WalterBright 9y ago
> It's a big, dusty, radiation-blasted rock. So is Mars. I do think we should be seeking out extremophiles on Earth and seeding Mars with them to see if anything takes hold, but I seem to be in a minority of one on that notion. :-)
- hutzlibu 9y ago
  Ah ... I doubt it would work and be worth the effort and I doubt we should do that, before we explored mars for indiginous life first! ("probably terran!" ... reference to the the mars chronicle from K.S.Robinson)
  - WalterBright 9y ago
    > before we explored mars for indiginous life first! We already have. It's a liveless rock. How much more do we keep moving the goal posts and beating that dead horse?
    - hutzlibu 9y ago
      Maybe until we explored a bit more, than a few areas on the surface? Mars is HUGE. Potential areas for life might be in vulcanic areas underground. Might not be a high chance, granted. But the chances that anything from your project survives are far lower - but it would definitely damage research on current or historic life on mars a lot.
      - tomrod 9y ago
        Eventually our microbial biomes will merge with any ecosystem or planet we visit. It's virtually guaranteed. This shouldn't stand in the way of our visiting, we should simply be prepared for intermixture.
      - WalterBright 9y ago
        > Maybe until we explored a bit more, than a few areas on the surface? Mars is HUGE. That's true. But life does have a way of spreading around. And beware of constantly shifting the goal posts.
    - isostatic 9y ago
      I remember an SG1 episode, they turned up on a planet which was a frozen wasteland for as far as the eye could see, no evidence of any life later than microbes. Turns out the planet was earth - they were in Antarctica. Clearly not comparable, but there's a big difference between salt flats in Namibia or the seater in Antarctica and landing in downtown manhattan or the Brazilian rainforest. We've successfully sent half a dozen probes to mars, we've barely scratched the surface.
hutzlibu 9y ago
Besides what all the others have said in favor of moon, I would add: https://what-if.xkcd.com/124/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/124/ Seriously, I bet there are many rich people willing to go to the moon, if reasonable safe and fast. And this probably could be done with the moon quite soon ... and all of that would be a BIG push for everything else in space. (especially if we manage to build rocket factorys on the moon...)
slededit 9y ago
The "dark" side of the moon is shielded from earth's considerable RF emissions. It's a great place to stick a massive radio telescope.

vcadambe 9y ago

.Net Rocks podcast did a fantastic episode (A Geek Out episode) recently on why we should consider building moon bases - https://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?ShowNum=1424 https://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?ShowNum=1424. TL;DR Version (From show notes): We have not explored much of the moon at all, we can extract fuel and manufacture things on the moon, we need to understand how humans function long term in low gravity (rather than freefall), and finally, there are some unique science opportunities on the moon.

WalterBright 9y ago

> It's a big, dusty, radiation-blasted rock. So is Mars. I do think we should be seeking out extremophiles on Earth and seeding Mars with them to see if anything takes hold, but I seem to be in a minority of one on that notion. :-)

hutzlibu 9y ago
Ah ... I doubt it would work and be worth the effort and I doubt we should do that, before we explored mars for indiginous life first! ("probably terran!" ... reference to the the mars chronicle from K.S.Robinson)
- WalterBright 9y ago
  > before we explored mars for indiginous life first! We already have. It's a liveless rock. How much more do we keep moving the goal posts and beating that dead horse?
  - hutzlibu 9y ago
    Maybe until we explored a bit more, than a few areas on the surface? Mars is HUGE. Potential areas for life might be in vulcanic areas underground. Might not be a high chance, granted. But the chances that anything from your project survives are far lower - but it would definitely damage research on current or historic life on mars a lot.
    - tomrod 9y ago
      Eventually our microbial biomes will merge with any ecosystem or planet we visit. It's virtually guaranteed. This shouldn't stand in the way of our visiting, we should simply be prepared for intermixture.
    - WalterBright 9y ago
      > Maybe until we explored a bit more, than a few areas on the surface? Mars is HUGE. That's true. But life does have a way of spreading around. And beware of constantly shifting the goal posts.
  - isostatic 9y ago
    I remember an SG1 episode, they turned up on a planet which was a frozen wasteland for as far as the eye could see, no evidence of any life later than microbes. Turns out the planet was earth - they were in Antarctica. Clearly not comparable, but there's a big difference between salt flats in Namibia or the seater in Antarctica and landing in downtown manhattan or the Brazilian rainforest. We've successfully sent half a dozen probes to mars, we've barely scratched the surface.

hutzlibu 9y ago

Besides what all the others have said in favor of moon, I would add: https://what-if.xkcd.com/124/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/124/ Seriously, I bet there are many rich people willing to go to the moon, if reasonable safe and fast. And this probably could be done with the moon quite soon ... and all of that would be a BIG push for everything else in space. (especially if we manage to build rocket factorys on the moon...)

slededit 9y ago

The "dark" side of the moon is shielded from earth's considerable RF emissions. It's a great place to stick a massive radio telescope.