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So presumably, form your attitude, you would be against the government spending 8% of it's budget to build a base on the moon? Let’s do this another way - let

So presumably, form your attitude, you would be against the government spending 8% of it's budget to build a base on the moon? Let’s do this another way - let us say tomorrow China started building a large industrial facility on the moon capable of 3D printing rocket parts and refuelling rockets. Logically that would allow militarisation of the moon too. Let's imagine they are really going for it, and the first launches have already happened. Let’s say it cost them 8% of gov. budget, and it cost us the same. Would you support or oppose matching China's effort? If you support it, is fear of falling behind the main motivation for you? Why is desire to get ahead not equally valid?

avar 3y ago
Watching China set 8% of its budget on fire to militarize the moon sounds like a US war planner's wet dream. What are they going to do? Stage nuclear-tipped rockets there that you could wait until the next business day to respond to?
- dotnet00 3y ago
  They could setup the infrastructure to defend a claim to the valuable areas of the Moon, eg the permanently shadowed craters with easily accessible water ice.
  - avar 3y ago
    The US could always tunnel into those areas later, unless the Chinese are also allowed to develop a mineshaft-gap.
JoeAltmaier 3y ago
There is no earthly purpose to weapons on the moon. There may be a lunar purpose however - to gain economic hegemony over lunar resources. That is an entirely different issue.
School-Cotton 3y ago
Why should it matter to Americans if China is inexplicably wasting money building stuff on the moon that they could have built in China for a tiny fraction of the cost?