I just read that Germany wants to mine the moon for helium-3, of which there is aparently at least a million tons on the moon, near the surface. It can be used for nucleair fusion and has little residu, so is considered to be a very rich recource; 25 tons are enough to provide Europe and the US with energy for years. They want to start the project around 2013.
So it appears the colonization of the solar system is about to get serious.
I was firt thinking that the transport would be extremely constly, but then I realized that 25 tons is only a fraction of the amount of fuel a spaceshuttle burns; 500 tons. So it would just be the mining that would be difficult. People will actually have to live on the moon.
Yes - they’re not allowed to have nucleair weapons. Like Japan.
But I checked about practical fusion and it turns out China, France, the US and one or two other powers are setting up the plans for a big fusionreactor in France.
Well, obviously living on the moon would be pretty dull if there were no windows or opportunities to take a little moonwalk. But if you had a chance to interact with the environment I think it would be fascinating. Just the trip to the moon would be amazing. Imagine being as far away from the Earth as any living human had ever been?
Certainly the Moon would be pretty inhospitable for long term habitation. Probably people would have to be rotated up in shifts. The lower gravity might mess with you over the years, and certainly you couldn’t survive without a lot of resources. There’s no air and no atmosphere or magnetic fields to protect against lethal radiation and deadly meteorite storms.
No, living on the moon would be like working on an oil platform at sea- somewhere you go to do a job, then go home.
