NASA Says It Plans to Build Permanent Moon Base

Lord Borg · **Tue Dec 05, 2006 1:10 am**

That's cool and all, but with the internal problems the US currently have, I would thinkg a Moonbase would wait....oh, well.

~Voyager Fanatic~ · Super Genius Joined: 07 May 2004 Posts: 1787

Thats really great, space exploration and technology is increasing at a good rate.

webtaz99 · **Tue Dec 05, 2006 8:58 am**

<sighs> Cool idea. But the Dems will kill the budget.

Luckily, private space enterprise will step in and do this instead.

TrekkieMage · **Tue Dec 05, 2006 3:41 pm**

On one hand, I think that this is a brilliant idea and I want them to do it.

On the other hand, I don't think it's an effective use of our budget at the moment. I think NASA should be focusing on a replacement/improvement for the space shuttle and that begining to privatize it would be a good idea - kind of like what happened with aviation and air travel.

I think it would also be a better use of NASAs resources to invest more in education or something...

WeAz · **Tue Dec 05, 2006 3:45 pm**

I think a replacement for the shuttle would be a better use of money.

Hitchhiker · **Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:27 am**

But wouldn't a moon base be a step toward that?

Part of the problem with our current manned spaceflight efforts is that whole damper called the "Earth's gravitational field" and the fact that it takes a lot of thrust to propel anything out of Earth's atmosphere and into orbit.

If we had a permanent base on the moon, which has considerably less gravity, then it would be much easier to ship the parts to the moon. (I imagine shipping unmanned packages is less costly since we don't need life support systems, massive oxygen tanks, etc.). Once the parts are on the moon, the ship can be constructed in the lower gravity--that makes the construction easier, for one thing, and the ship will need less fuel for its trip.

Lord Borg · **Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:41 pm**

Tach has a point, not to mention, if the moons the starting point for a manned mission, then it could go farther, besides the fact of using it as a fueling/starting point, theres the fact that lift off wouldnt need as much.

Monkey · **Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:24 am**

Of course, an office fire on earth generally wouldn't prove as fatal; I imagine fleeing to the nearest body of water would be a might tricky.

Not to mention, the initial amount of stored oxygen would, no doubt, be great.