Why climb a mountain? Because it is there. Why go to Mars? Because it is there. That’s enough of a reason for me. For the explorer in each and every human being, that is enough of a reason. There is an innate human quality that demands we known the unknown, that we test the untested, and that we go where no one has yet gone. This is, indeed, the motivating force behind the quest for all knowledge. Science is driven, at its heart, by men and women who desire to unlock the mysteries of Nature and The Cosmos.
Luckily, the US Space Policy that the Obama administration has laid out does indeed plan for humans to explore Mars by the 2030s, and before that land people on an asteroid. This is a great and necessary step for humanity’s further reach into the unknown. Unfortunately, this will come at the cost of government funded trips to the lunar surface. In choosing to send people to near-Earth asteroids, and eventually to Mars, NASA’s sights will no longer be trained on a return to the Moon anytime soon. And while I understand that not every space project can get the funding it needs, I believe that it is essential for humans to not only return to the Moon, but to establish a permanent presence on the lunar surface.
While both the Chinese and Russian governments have expressed an interest in manned lunar exploration, it appears that if Americans are going to get back to the Moon, it will have to be accomplished by private entities. And why would private corporations or other non-governmental organizations choose to go to the Moon? There can be only one answer. Money.
While exploration for exploration's sake is a wonderful thing, money can be a great motivator. The promise of riches has long been the impetus for great missions into the unknown. After all, it was the notion of boat loads of gold and a quick route to the spices of China that led Queen Isabella to fund Columbus’s expeditions to the new world. So it may be with future trips to our Moon.
While space tourism is about to ramp up in the form of suborbital flights, and we’ve seen a few low-Earth orbital trips on the ISS, tourism will not generate the funds needed to send the first return visitors to the Moon. The only feasible draw in the near-term, that promises some degree of profit, is mining. Specifically, mining for rare Earth elements and possibly Helium-3, both of which are to known to exist in moderate quantities on the Moon.
Rare Earth elements like lanthanum, scandium, and promethium are used heavily in new technologies like hydrogen storage, super-light alloys, and nuclear batteries. Recently,China America
Another element that is in short supply on Earth, but is much more plentiful in lunar regolith, is Helium-3. He-3, a rare isotope of helium, can be used in fusion reactors. While fusion reactors, for the time being, are experimental and unreliable, research into this field is ongoing and extensive. Should fusion reaction become a commercially viable way to produce electricity here on Earth, demand for He-3 will become so great that it may be quite profitable to mine it on the Moon.
While letting a corporation set up shop on the Moon and mine away its resources is not, I’ll admit, the most desirable scenario, it may prove to be the only viable one. It is clear theUS
Humanity’s quest for knowledge will not be stopped. Our insatiable desire to push further into The Cosmos must be cultivated whenever and wherever possible. If we must allow the commercial exploitation of the Moon for a time, so be it. In the long run, science, and indeed all of mankind, will benefit from our permanent presence on the Moon.
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Luckily, the US Space Policy that the Obama administration has laid out does indeed plan for humans to explore Mars by the 2030s, and before that land people on an asteroid. This is a great and necessary step for humanity’s further reach into the unknown. Unfortunately, this will come at the cost of government funded trips to the lunar surface. In choosing to send people to near-Earth asteroids, and eventually to Mars, NASA’s sights will no longer be trained on a return to the Moon anytime soon. And while I understand that not every space project can get the funding it needs, I believe that it is essential for humans to not only return to the Moon, but to establish a permanent presence on the lunar surface.
While both the Chinese and Russian governments have expressed an interest in manned lunar exploration, it appears that if Americans are going to get back to the Moon, it will have to be accomplished by private entities. And why would private corporations or other non-governmental organizations choose to go to the Moon? There can be only one answer. Money.
While exploration for exploration's sake is a wonderful thing, money can be a great motivator. The promise of riches has long been the impetus for great missions into the unknown. After all, it was the notion of boat loads of gold and a quick route to the spices of China that led Queen Isabella to fund Columbus’s expeditions to the new world. So it may be with future trips to our Moon.
While space tourism is about to ramp up in the form of suborbital flights, and we’ve seen a few low-Earth orbital trips on the ISS, tourism will not generate the funds needed to send the first return visitors to the Moon. The only feasible draw in the near-term, that promises some degree of profit, is mining. Specifically, mining for rare Earth elements and possibly Helium-3, both of which are to known to exist in moderate quantities on the Moon.
Rare Earth elements like lanthanum, scandium, and promethium are used heavily in new technologies like hydrogen storage, super-light alloys, and nuclear batteries. Recently,
Another element that is in short supply on Earth, but is much more plentiful in lunar regolith, is Helium-3. He-3, a rare isotope of helium, can be used in fusion reactors. While fusion reactors, for the time being, are experimental and unreliable, research into this field is ongoing and extensive. Should fusion reaction become a commercially viable way to produce electricity here on Earth, demand for He-3 will become so great that it may be quite profitable to mine it on the Moon.
While letting a corporation set up shop on the Moon and mine away its resources is not, I’ll admit, the most desirable scenario, it may prove to be the only viable one. It is clear the
Humanity’s quest for knowledge will not be stopped. Our insatiable desire to push further into The Cosmos must be cultivated whenever and wherever possible. If we must allow the commercial exploitation of the Moon for a time, so be it. In the long run, science, and indeed all of mankind, will benefit from our permanent presence on the Moon.
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