Space exploration, should we ever colonize the moon or are we only focusing on mars?

I read something like before but it wasn't a railgun design. Its space capsules with takns of water at its base, an then the tanks are super heated by big heating lasers. THen when the tanks give way the capsules are shot into space. They can clear the solar system in just a couple of days. Its good for sending probes and shuch things.

Upside: it's only good if you have the available water.
Downside: The speed is relative to the applied force of acceleration.

A railgun on the Moon would be perfect for launching goods into Earth orbit, which could then be used in construction and for transfer to Earth itself.

Of course we should colonizing the moon. It would be a great place for a version of the next hubble telescope. Should the moon have its own government?

Originally posted by xpert11
Of course we should colonizing the moon. It would be a great place for a version of the next hubble telescope. Should the moon have its own government?

'The Moon is a harsh Mistress' - Robert Heinlein

Read it then ask again.

A govern ment on the monn. Which government. A world government? I don't think its a good idea to establish a government on the moon. We can put very important lives in danger. THat would mean we would send the president to the monn. And also government officials travel like all the time and that is dangerous if you are on the moon.

Not so much a goverment, but some kind of administration would be necessary, depending on the size of the base or colony.

I dont think there should be 1 moon government.

Lets say for Example that, America has a scientific base on the moon, then they should be in command of it, by means of earth and congress. and If China has a telescope a few hundred miles away then they should be in charge of theres. But whatever goes on there, all should be made public.

There would have to be some kind independent government to prevent it from being "abused" (things like nuclear testing terrorism and other not so welcome activities.) After all if we all we want to do is exploit moon we can do can do that a whole lot cheaper on earth in thrid world countries!

The idea is not nessisarily to exploit the moon. Just to make it useful to our advantage. We would benefit from this project if it is ever done. Any astronauts view of this?

Originally posted by SpaceAlienatic88
The idea is not nessisarily to exploit the moon. Just to make it useful to our advantage. We would benefit from this project if it is ever done. Any astronauts view of this?

Heres the problem.
How do you make use of the moon with out exploiting the moon?
Theres bound to be someone out there who would dump nuclear waste and other stuff we dont know what to do with on earth .

Originally posted by xpert11

Originally posted by SpaceAlienatic88
The idea is not nessisarily to exploit the moon. Just to make it useful to our advantage. We would benefit from this project if it is ever done. Any astronauts view of this?

Heres the problem.
How do you make use of the moon with out exploiting the moon?
Theres bound to be someone out there who would dump nuclear waste and other stuff we dont know what to do with on earth .

Sure we do, we just store it in Yucca Mountain until our tech level is advanced to the point where we can safely move it from the earth and shoot it at our sun. Problem solved.

SOme people believe that the Us already has a super secret base on the moon, Then again it could just false.


The moon of course will be the stepping stone towards the Mars so definetly the moon has our attention first .

Originally posted by Murcielago

Originally posted by xpert11

Originally posted by SpaceAlienatic88
The idea is not nessisarily to exploit the moon. Just to make it useful to our advantage. We would benefit from this project if it is ever done. Any astronauts view of this?

Heres the problem.
How do you make use of the moon with out exploiting the moon?
Theres bound to be someone out there who would dump nuclear waste and other stuff we dont know what to do with on earth .

Sure we do, we just store it in Yucca Mountain until our tech level is advanced to the point where we can safely move it from the earth and shoot it at our sun. Problem solved.

I think it is a bad idea to send nuclear waste into space, because first of all rockets can eplode and send all that stuff into the atmosphere. Second of all I can post a potential threat to the whole world if these rockets are terrorists targets. Remember what happened to the Columbia shuttle and the Challenger. I give this space dumping a. We should instead find a way to neutrilize the nuclear waste and make it safe for the environment.

i think the moon shud be colonized, mars or not (preferably mars!). its closer, weve bin there, and it will have immediate boons. H3 resources for energy, a new pristine environment to use to explore the universe, insight into the history of our planet and solar system, and a new seti telescope, free of radio interference!

the plan to use the moon to get to mars is tough. technically, itd be better to just go to mars, without the jump to the moon, it cost more and takes longer. that was a big criticism of bush plan (whered that go?). itd be safer to use the moon. and more popular.

i say def. weve gotta expand eventually, just cuz. itd be bad style to ignore the closest place to us, even if weve bin there. no terraforming, but a dome colony maybe.

people to abuse the moon? DIE! its not really worth it to test nukes up there. one thing im realtively sure about is that whaetver respect people dont have for earth, everyone reveres the moon. it shud be a free, international environment, preferably with a very high scientific populace. utopia, in a word. not ere(h)won, but utopia.

I've recently looked into the idea that the moon already has a base or many bases after watching the disclosure project report. One of the witnesses mentioned structures on the moon and i believe others have mentioned this and a wealth of info on the web [even some pics although left to the imagination] but my main query is why has it taken us from the 60's/70's to go back?

Surely we had the ability to go back before now. And why did the russians not go? Anyway im all for bases on the moon and mars. strictly non military though.

we could always rent some space from the greys or the reptiods.im sure they have a few realtors at area 51.we could send the equipment through the time tunnel at montauk.

Originally posted by Munro_DreadGod


Surely we had the ability to go back before now. And why did the russians not go? Anyway im all for bases on the moon and mars. strictly non military though.

There would have to be some kind of military Presences on the moon for security reasons ( prevent terrorism !) Lets colonize the moon Now if we wait for the technology to develop we will just keep putting it off like that backyard project.

one thing i was thinking with regards to a moon government is that althouh food can be grown, water is harder to come by, if there was a conflict between moon govt and here, we could just cut off their water. They would always be reliant on us which is sad.

Also, what are the benefits of colonizing mars apart from having more space? Say we terraform it to get oxygen etc... would that replenish the land with minerals or is mars already rich in minerals??

I know total recall etc showed mars babses but it was full of people living indoors for years and years in a permanant city until it was transformed at the end. seems depressing to live indoors all the time. I dont envy any long stay astronauts who would have to live in moon bases

Originally posted by el_illumbrato
one thing i was thinking with regards to a moon government is that althouh food can be grown, water is harder to come by, if there was a conflict between moon govt and here, we could just cut off their water. They would always be reliant on us which is sad.

If one government refused to sell water and oxygen to the moon Im sure private enterprise would. Water and oxygen would be worth more then gold on the moon.
I can see it now Xpert11s oxygen & water supply pay our prices or go with out!
Dont know about the other posters I dont want see the moon exploited or become a another front for terrorism. But I do want to take advantage of any commerical Opportunities that appear.

Originally posted by el_illumbrato
if there was a conflict between moon govt and here, we could just cut off their water. They would always be reliant on us which is sad.

yeah, mos def. theyd need a way to keep a reliable source of water running and purified. im sure we cud set a nice purification and recycling thang set up. itd be a perfect site for instant terrorist anihilation though.

Also, what are the benefits of colonizing mars apart from having more space? Say we terraform it to get oxygen etc... would that replenish the land with minerals or is mars already rich in minerals??

mars has lots of minerals. its a ball of rock. the right kind of minerals for our plants? less likely. but, as to other benefits, theres the pure science aspect (LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!) but theres applications all over the place. like more space.

I dont envy any long stay astronauts who would have to live in moon bases

well, theyd be clear to see the sky, outside. inside it wudnt be just concrete and metal, you would have a whole miniplanet set up, so it wud be like youre outside, just outside on earth. the outside of the moon isnt really friendly.