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Forget Mars. Should We Go To The Moon?

Posted by michael on from the green-cheese dept.

me98411 writes "We have discussed earlier about the President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond and about how a direct trip to Mars is the way to go (or way not to). In a BBC article, the division in the astronomers and space geeks community about the use of the Moon as a base to develop ways to travel to Mars is highlighted. Now, Nature is asking: Should we go back to the moon? Is a manned mission to the moon even necessary?"

2 of 511 comments (clear)

  1. mining the moon for hydrogen-3 by polished+look+2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes, going to the moon would be nice and if we mine it for hydrogen-3 it will also be profitable.

  2. Re:I'd go for Moon over Mars by datadood · · Score: 5, Informative

    I belive that resupplying a Moon base would be as expensive as resupplying a Mars base and could even be more. The main cost is boosting mass out of Earth's gravity well which you have to do in both cases. To land something on the moon you also have to carry propellant to decelerate to rest on the surface. Landing something on Mars you at least have the option of aerobraking, reducing the amount of mass that needs to be sent. For supplies, cost would have little to do with flight times.