why don't we colonise the moon already?
78893
all the answers yet provided were all quite valid.\nhere's something else for y'all to consider though... and that is the amount of debris that our atmosphere shields us from.  you see, upon entering the atmosphere as high speeds, it creates friction, which begets heat, and that burns up the particle in question.\n\nso.. like.. uh..  the moon has no atmosphere.  that means any habitation is going to bear the full brunt of such debris...  it's not very pleasant at breakfast to have a meteor smash through your roof, especially when that roof was keeping all your oxygen inside......
387846
Because the US has landed people on the moon........ in the 60s I believe........ do your research.
658680
We could build prisons on the moon..for all the worlds worst,the 1st world prison,,or maybe mars,,doubt thered be many prisoners years after that ..somehow..ppl would behave themselves
235597
It is very technically feasible for humans to be able to live on another world. If we went ahead today we could have a pretty selfsustaining base on the moon in 20-30 years. \n\nMany aspects needs to be resolved and they are more biological than technical. Can we grow all the food we need on a body with a different gravitational field than Earths? Everything on Earth has evolved constantly exposed to earths gravity. We can grow simple plants on the ISS but the humans aboard will suffer dangerous health issues when exposed to longterm microgravity. What would these effects be on the moon? Less, probably, but will they still be there? And how will more complex plants fare on the moon? What about food that isn´t from plants at all? Can chickens and fish be produced on the moon? Will it be necessary for humans in space to be vegetarians since a Big Mac will be worth its weight in gold?\n\nHow long for a colony on another planet to be completely independent of Earth? I would say centuries if ever. Because how many nations are completely self reliant here on earth? Every nation imports and exports something. We are dependent of trade. Will there be such a thing between planets?\nEconomy is the most important factor in manned space exploration. If it hadn´t been for the Vietnam war we would have built the first permanently manned bases on the moon in the eighties. The war ended up costing 6 times as much as the Apollo programme. No wonder it got cancelled...
69062
I thought I read once that there is some sort of laws to stop the private sector from going up there, the moon that is. Same basic protection laws that govern Antartica. Permits and approval required....
48082
Maybe we should start a little closer to home...if we can conquer the moon...then maybe we can move on to others like mars and yes there is extraterrestrial life..but I have doubts they are there on Mars..We certainly are not the only Intelligence in the universe..but then ...Humans on a daily basis make it very obvious that we are far from intelligent.
1152360
If we used every nuclear weapon on earth simultaneously, it would make a spectacular fireworks show in the sky, and create a whole bunch more craters, but the moon would stillbe in our sky, just obscured by dust.\n\nWe may brag about how destructive our nukes are, but they're pikers when considering the cosmic scale of things.
735551
The Earth is a relatively poor planet so we can only AFFORD one moon. Some larger planets with a thriving interstellar economy can afford several large moons and a few spares. There is a planet in the Goografron galaxy that is so rich everyone has their own moon.  The space around the planet became so crowded that it blocked out their two suns, now their economy is collapsing.  Be thankful we just have one.
651858
It's really too bad, but we probably passed up the chance.  Werner Von Braun had an idea that called for the third stage of the Saturn V rocket to be lowered to the surface of the Moon and buried under the regolith.  The first astronauts to land on the Moon would spend about six months there setting up house.  Then the next set of Apollo astronauts would come with another section and the first set of astronauts would go home.  From that point forward, we would always have a manned presence on the Moon.\n\nThe problem was that we weren't ready in 1969.  The Apollo 12 mission in December of '69 was supposed to be the first to land on the Moon, but NASA thought we were ready early and moved the landing up to Apollo 11.  The Moon Lab project wouldn't be ready until 1972.  And Kennedy had said we would go to the Moon "before this decade was out."  If he had been alive, he probably could have given us permission to do the Moon landing right, but he was dead, and we couldn't walk away from what he wanted for us.\n\nAnyway, I highly recommend Ben Bova's wonderful book Welcome to Moonbase as a source for what living on the Moon would be like.  Heinlein's The Menace from Earth and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress are also excellent.
757355
we never went there in the first place it was a hoax to show the world that the USA was Superior to the USSR . they cant do a hoax  now because the technology the public have is to good . if we did go and it was possible to resist the radiation on the moon we would have company's sending people there all the time look at all the money they would make . where there is money there is a will . but if it is not possible then no one will try.
364442
I'd like to a base on the moon, where we can launch our craft to explore Mars.\n\nBut I do not think it will happen in my lifetime.
960677
Yeah, I was born just in time to see the last apollo mission fly there.\n\nWill they go back? I sure hope so.  Just because there's no oil doesn't mean it's a worthless rock.  That worthless rock can be built into electronics, and solar panels.  A band of bottom line quality solar panels of a kilometer in width made to span the equator of the moon would put out a third of the energy needs for the world today.  There's a lot of lunar surface out there, and microwave relay stations can send that power anywhere you want.\n\nThere's also the whole helium three thing, but I dunno if that's really going to work or not.\n\nAnd of course, there's space tourism.  The old folks are sure to love spending some time on the moon, what with the romance of a full earth in view, and one sixth gravity to help them get around (and get it on!)\n\nPlus, the earth is so close, that you could use remote controlled robots operated by people on earth to do the construction work, so lunar colonies could make for more jobs down here.
336878
Manning Mars is not due to any political reasons like the same for moon during cold war.\nEstablishing human civilization in Mars is very necessary for saving homo sapiens, given earth can face disaster at any time.\nSo not only rich, scientists, people from all spheres of life will be required to go to Mars for humanity to prosper there.\nIt seems another 20-25 years will be taken (based on various articles I have read).
707079
because we're used to it...\n\nThink about it for a second. In history, America was discovered and war erupted. It would be the same concept, but differ from immigrating. If we all were to travel to another planet and establish a colony, we would have problems because we are bewildered of the resources on the planet. Does it supply water? Does it have air?  It's really the ecological questioning you want to develope in your debate. Otherwise, talk about how fun earth is. The most important thing when you reason... bring up questions that will make the listener think about the consequences of going to the other planet. If we all go to the other planet, will supplies last? WIll there be a politcal conflict of who owns the planet? Also, list your points. Then... at the end... mention how the world would be a better place if we stayed on Earth... Lets not abadon our planet... LMAO. good luck.
370625
China has Started a manned Space programme and has said it's aim is to land on the Moon.\n\nSo the Yanks will Try to get get there first.\n\nBut their Space programme is still not up and running properly since the Columbia disaster.
1029928
Several people have written books trying to disprove our landing on the moon.  I have not actually researched this, but for one thing, supposedly there is no dust on the moon like the ton of dust our astraunats walked through that day.  The photos have been disputed as made up and I believe our corupt government is capable of pulling this off.....)(
45355
Yes. President Bush recently announced the intent for NASA to land on the moon. If you listen to recent podcasts or read the stories from Science @ NASA (see the source below), you will find what goes into their planning to return to the moon.\n\nThose of you who wonder if it's a waste of time: the more we know about the moon, the more we know about Earth. The more we know about our planet, the easier it is to make life better.