Why is the US going to the Moon (or to Mars)?

Question

Press reports yesterday announce plan to build permanent moonbase.
Notably absent from the articles I saw was even a HINT of WHY.
(Closest I saw was some BS about how we could get Helium-3 on the moon.)

(So far, all answers have been lousy.
If they are really the best justification the program has, it should be killed.)

OK: why were these answers stupid?
More living space, cure overpopulation? (It costs far more in money & resources for a human to fly to moon, than it costs to live in luxury on earth for many lives. Congrats for making overpopulation and resource problems worse.)
Spin-offs? (Yeah, but what if we worked on them directly not indirectly.) Water ice sent to deserts? Pride, makes me feel good? Dibs versus the Chinese? (You are a fool.)
Please, a better answer please. Is this really the best you've got?

Oh and launch stuff from moon is easier than launch from Earth? Yeah, but there isn't any rocket fuel on the moon. If you had a magic source of it, ok, but its a lot harder to carry fuel
from earth to moon then launch, than to launch direct from Earth or LEO. Congrats for making it worse.

And I consider it dubious water ice exists on moon. One reason why: consider what would happen if you placed an ice cube anywhere on the moon and left it there for 10 million years.

Essentially the same question was also asked here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AntorEsVlUFT_k4MH1g._Tnsy6IX?qid=20061205163813AAay7KB&show=7#profile-info-AA10137766
and I like the answers there better.

Answer 1

The reason you didn't see why, is because it should be obvious to any thinking person. Our destiny is to expand our species to the far reaches of the universe. The reason for this is because it increases our chances for very long term survival. Having our species on one planet is too risky. DUH!!

Answer 2

You wouldn't believe all of the gadgets you use in everyday life came from the space program. Space exploration pushes the envelope in science and technology.

Some scientists believe we can use the moon's resources to produce water and oxygen. They also want to use the moon as a launch pad to send men to Mars and beyond. It is way more efficient to launch an orbiter from the moon than Earth.

In addition there are private sector companies already planning the same thing.

Answer 3

Good question. It relates to why does mankind do anything? What motivates us?

We are motivated in general by having to avert or mitigate some need. Thus, for example, we are motivated to buy a hamburger because we are hungry and need food. Or we are motivated to join the Boy Scouts because we have a need to associate with people.

Space exploration fulfills the needs of some people. In general, political, financial, legal, and technological needs motivate space exploration. In a time when the U.S. is losing its political allies, some people believe the Moon/Mars projects will bolster our political status in the world's political arena. Further, large industries stand to profit from a strong space program and that, in turn, will help bolster the nation's economy. Further, occupying both the Moon and Mars will strengthen any legal claim to those territories if/when it comes to that. Finally, there may be much to gain technologically from the research and development that must precede any Moon/Mars occupation. And, who knows, we might even find something useful on those dead planets.

Answer 4

Soon or later, the planet Earth will become uninhabitable (overpopulation, exhausted resources, the sun dying, etc.). It is good to get started on finding new places to live while we still have time.

------------------edit--------------
Actually, there IS rocket fuel on the moon (possibly). Water ice, if it exists there, can be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen with solar generated electricity. Launching a roctet from the moon requires less fuel than launching from the Earth because of the moon's lower gravity.

Answer 5

Pretty soon we'll need to find habitable space beyond Earth. Aside from the environmental reasons that I'm sure you've heard, it's obvious that the Earth won't be enough to sustain our population growth much longer. The world's population is expected to go from 6 billion to 9 billion by 2050! Obviously, there's a finite amount of space and resources on Earth that we're quickly outstripping, so we look to space for our answer.

This means we need to get working on our "space legs," and soon. The first obvious step is building a base on the moon. This could serve all sorts of purposes as a prototype for future colonies, and we'd be able to use it to build livable space stations to orbit Earth. Building anything larger than the current, small International Space Station is very expensive from Earth because rockets are needed to take every piece from Earth's surface into orbit. The moon's natural resources and low gravity would make this process much less expensive.

Yes, space stations and moon bases might still seem like science fiction, but they'll be absolutely necessary to our growth in the future, so we need to get started now.

Edit: It's cheaper to buy luxury homes for 3 billion people than to build a moon base? Please, Mr. Economist, calculate that one for me. Then calculate how much it will cost to buy housing for the 6 billion people that come in the few decades after that. If you ignore the quality of life on Earth issues, it's still far more beneficial and cheaper to expand our living space than continue building on Earth. Can you imagine how expensive raw materials will become if we have to continue building housing for billions and billions of people every 50 years? Once again, Earth does not have infinite resources. The rest of the universe pretty much does.

And about the fuel: Assuming we stick with the rocket fuel used today, you'd only have to transport a small fraction of what you'd need to lauch something from Earth. If the moon's resources were used to build station components, it would work something like this: Rocket is used to transport single load of fuel from Earth to moon, moon's resources are used to build space station, the single load of fuel is used to launch the various components of the station into orbit. That's opposed to this scenario: use Earth's resources to build station components, then launch them into orbit using multiple rocket trips. You do the math. Believe it or not, real engineers have thought this one over (I didn't think it up all by myself) and they've realized the moon option is much cheaper. And that's assuming we continue using the same fuel, which we likely won't for much longer.

Answer 6

for one, China announces a few years back that it was also going to put a man on the moon. We can't have China owning the moon alone, now can we?

Secondly, just imagine all the technological advances America would gain because of it. Look at what the Apollo mission alone gave us (Link in sources).

Lastly, it would give American's back some much needed national pride.

Answer 7

Once you're on the moon, you can go anywhere else. It's bad for the environment to send rockets from Earth. Nuclear rockets are dangerous. Water ice can be sent down the gravity well to deserts. Astronomy for meteor warnings. Medicine research. Tourism. Is this so difficult to think of?

Answer 8

Pride

Answer 9

Cause it's the MOON! That's flippin' sweet!

Think of how many chick we will get!


Joking
I could see how a moon base would be very beneficial. Many many experiments can be just to see the effect of lower gravity.

Answer 10

there always trying to expand out & explore the galaxy,so the logical step would be to establish a base on the moon 1st.
then people would be able to live there someday,& some kids would be born there instead of on earth.that in itself is fascinating to me.to be moonborn. :)