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Should We Land on the Moon's Poles or Equator?
Cujo writes "There is at present a lively controversy about sites for a crewed lunar landing. Advocates for landing near the poles, possibly on a mountain, point out the advantages of much higher sunlight availability and possible water resources in nearby cold traps. However, there may be more interesting geology and better mineral resources near the better-explored equator. NASA's Exploration Systems Architecture report lays out some of the tradeoffs."
The Polish put screendoors on their submarines! How did they get to the moon???
Landing on the poles sounds painful.. and a little gay. /not that there's anything wrong with that.
Secondly, governments throw money into the trash can all the time. Witness Iraq. We could have sent men to Pluto for that kind of money.
Third, all the money in the world adds up to exactly squat on the surface of another planet. Money is nothing but a means to an end. We are innovators and explorers, animals trying to overcome our own limitations by pushing our limits. Going to Mars is something the entire species can take pride in. Why should any individual, organization or government deny us that opportunity so they can hoard money for their own selfish purposes?
Maybe if we all stopped thinking about money for a little while and started thinking about our existence from the perspective of space, which makes all our our petty politics look ... well ... petty, we'd be a little better off than we are today. /me dodges bullet from Republicans.