2007-03-21 11:02:15 · 12 answers · asked by vero_r05 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It's expensive and they would not learn anything new. A moon base would not survive long, without its own supply of oxygen and water, neither of which was found. It would be too expensive to ship it all up there, just for the sake of it.
NASA are concentrating on Mars as a possible destination; at least there's water, from which they can get oxygen.
The Russians could not afford to go to the Moon. The space race almost bankrupted the USSR economy.
2007-03-21 11:14:43 · answer #1 · answered by Labsci 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The chief reason we went to the moon was to beat the Russians there. Period. JFK set that into motion, and we carried it through.
Once that goal was accomplished, the 'discoveries' found on the moon weren't enticing enough to continue the missions.
The Russians never has a booster capable of sending a large enough manned payload to the moon to carry it off; Their N1- rocket, had it worked, would have been their vehicle, but it failed every time. After we set foot on the moon, their program was scaled back & then cancelled, as it was no longer a priority.
Today, we know the BEST reason to go back is because of the technology that was developed for it. The exploration of the lunar surface might yield some true discoveries, but the real reason to return is to develop new & better technology that will, in effect, benefit those of us on Earth.
2007-03-21 11:39:38 · answer #2 · answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It boils down to money and politics.
It costs a lot of money for a moonshot (the Apollo Program alone took about $25 billion, which would be $135 billion in todays market). Considering there's a war on, and other bills to be paid, it would be hard to make a case for it. The political landscape also complicates things, as legislators would be hard pressed to commit to something without an immediate payoff.
The Russians actually did land on the moon, or at least their robotic probes did. The Luna 16 probe was their first successful attempt to bring back lunar samples (a 101 gram sample). There was a manned Soviet moonshot planned, but it was abandoned in 1974.
2007-03-21 11:28:33 · answer #3 · answered by swilliamrex 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People: don't make up answers.
It is completely wrong that there is no need to go back to the moon. Why do people put that forward as an argument. The lunar geologists were devastated at the cancellation of Apollo.
Do people really think that a few weeks on the moon by mainly amateur geologists resolved all the questions about the moon's geology?
For goodness sake stop making up answers.
Basically it is enormously expensive to put people into space, and relatively very cheap to put up probes.
And the argument about 60's technology and why can't we do it now - well, I always put forward supersonic air travel. Concorde was 60's technology and it is scrapped and no supersonic airliner flies or is even on the drawing board.
Perhaps Concorde was a hoax!!!
2007-03-21 11:45:28 · answer #4 · answered by nick s 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is simply a matter of costs versus rewards...
if you spend the fortune that it costs to go there and back, what would you possibly hope to accomplish? The Moon
is a dead hunk of rock and sand. Something that you do
there must reward you enough to justify that huge expense.
Russians? The russian economy could not possibly stand
such a huge expendature for What??? What could they do there that has not already been done? You suggest just a tourist visit?
2007-03-21 11:23:05 · answer #5 · answered by zahbudar 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because there is nothing on the moon to go see. Thats why we have not been back and the russians were smart to let us get there first. We did it prove something not to discover something
2007-03-21 11:06:09 · answer #6 · answered by zambeff 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We (President Ronald Reagan, God rest his soul) defeated the (evil) Soviet Empire without firing a shot or endangering a single American life. We outspent them and their economy collapsed and continues to be in shambles because they are not FREE as we are. And so also collapsed the Soviet dreams and ambitions of a manned lunar expedition.
I suppose my response should have been posted in politics ...and not science?
My bad.
2007-03-22 19:28:45 · answer #7 · answered by stargazergurl22 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why should we go back? There's not much reason.
Why should the Russians go? We beat them. That was the whole point of the space race.
2007-03-21 11:08:08 · answer #8 · answered by eri 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because no one ever went to the moon in the first place! Google fake moon landing.
2007-03-21 11:16:23 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
It's expensive. The only reason to go back it to establish a perminent base and then go on to Mars.
2007-03-21 11:10:19 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋