NASA has revealed plans to create a self-sustaining moon base on the south pole of the moon by 2024, with initial scouting missions to begin in the next few years. The base would serve as a way station for astronauts heading further out into space, including Mars. Hydrogen and oxygen would be mined from nearby rocks to provide breathing air and rocket fuel. The article doesn’t state how food would be generated, but would presumably rely on hydroponics and the like.
I’m personally very excited about this development. I was born when the nation was still putting men on the moon, which went on until 1972. Since then our space program has essentially stagnated because of a lack of clear vision and funding. Recently, international cooperation for space projects has increased and the possibility also now exists for private industry to get involved for everything from space tourism to mining. These developments all again make mankind’s trek into the stars a possibility.
Why should we spend so much money creating a moon base when we have pressing problems from starvation to global warming here on Earth? No exact figures are available, but the base will be very expensive. Nevertheless, space exploration opens new avenues of research into many fields with potential applications back on Earth. It could also create entire new non-Earth polluting industries as a source of jobs.
Most importantly, perhaps, it prevents humanity from keeping all its eggs in one basket. Stephen Hawking recently said that it is imperative for humankind to create settlements and colonies on other planets. Should some global catastrophe hit such as an asteroid or runaway extreme global warming or the like, our race will have a chance to survive if it has spread out into the stars.
Nobody knows if humankind is the only intelligence in the universe. Whether it is or not, and despite our capacity to do great evil, the intelligence granted to us through evolution is something too important to gamble on at the risk of some natural or man-made catastrophe. It’s imperative we follow Hawking’s missive. When we do, I hope we take with us the hard lessons we have learned on Earth, such as the need to preserve our environment as a limited resource.
I will obviously follow these moon base developments very closely in the years ahead.
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