I would go straight to mars form any of the available space stations..

The moon is dead and there is really no reason for human to go there anymore. If you need a rock from it, then just send one or two robots. That will save you a lot of money and time.

Ries

How wrong you are! It is land, period. And it is close, you can adapt however you need to, you could consider it the next continent. Expansion has always been a priority for the human race and we have never devalued land even if we think it is uninhabitable we still seek to adapt and make it valuable. It could possibly become the Next Houston or Cape Canaveral, we could use it for so many different things that it is bind boggling. You have to remove the blinders and see the broader picture.

jncrtny has some good points there. The moon could be used for a variety of purposes:

-- A mining colony for nearby asteroids.
-- A lunar colony for people to live in.
-- A research station.
-- An outpost to monitor our surroundings and to make sure Earth is safe from any lurking dangers.
-- A new place to launch, and build spacecraft.
-- Any of the above, and more.

The possibilities are endless. The only way we humans are going to launch anything remotely similar to the ships you see in Star trek, is through space. We'll need some form of a shipyard in space, and perhaps the moon can help us with that. The moon, or space in general, has become the new frontier; just like in the 1800's when settlers in America journeyed westward in search of prosperity and a better life. All that I can say is that the 21st century is going to be a very exciting one, and maybe someday we'll all be making regular visits to the moon. =)

Actually, rvantwisk, you are wrong. The moon is far from being dead. You may think so, but a closer look reveals its full of minerals. In fact, if you had a backyard containing moon ground instead of earth ground, chances are you would be rich. There are many metals and minerals on the moon that are not so common on Earth.
Emd7, you right about all those, i would add a telescope station to that list also. There are many uses for the moon. Now not to steer away from the real question why not go to the moon again. Well, the only reason we were in such a rush to go to the moon in the 1970s was because of the space was something new and mind intriguing. Plus there was high competition between USSR and USA. Once the Americans landed on the moon, the race was over. Even though many people thought that now we had to go to Mars and beyond. But NASA for some reason stop human exploration. Now( I think) we are all just scared. What if someone dies, what if we lose billions of dollars........... and so on. We have lost that fire and courage we had during the race. In 1960s, when Kennedy proposed to fly to the moon, no one was afraid that an astronaut would die. And if he did, he would die for his country.
Still, if you haven't heard there is a new race to the moon now. USA, Russia, UN are already designing and building the space craft that will take humans to the moon. I am not sure about Japan and China, but they might be along for the ride too. Now you might ask why is the race on again. Well, its because there is helium 3 on the moon. Now that is huge. Who ever controls the moon or much of the moon, would control the Earth's energy supply. So there you go.

You are all WAY off...

We could use the moon as a place to launch an attack against earth... Duh! How can you attack yourself? It's like trying to eat your own head. You need to be able to destroy your target and when the dust settles, assess the damage and confirm the target has indeed been destroyed.

Trouble is, we don't have any am/pm's up there or other places that provide nourishment. That's what is being build there not, corner stores.

Once it's all complete, check mate! BAM!! AAHH!!

That's why we have to restrict all access to the moon -- it's a terrorist hang out.

See how you guys were wrong?

rvantwisk Your very right and wrong. It would be very good to do manned exploration on mars but the majority of the fuel used in a launch is to propel the space ship out of our atmosphere. I believe it is already suggested that a platform on the moon is nasa's next step after the International Space Station is completed. Because of the lack of any atmosphere on the moon and the minimal gravity presented it is the best place to put a platform.

the reason we haven't gone back to the moon is because aliens kicked us off because they mine it! C mon, everybody knows that!

I'm convinced that the people commenting here are under 9 years old or the biggest, geekiest losers on the planet. Politics are the reason we have gone to the moon and the same reason we have not been there since. You are all idiots.

Boka your not very perceptive, we are all talking about politics and power just in a broad way. Whoever makes the first step gains a huge power and political advantage. Stop being so linear and think about all variables and aspects to a situation. I can only imagine you are a gamers....... one story line, one goal.

lol! I rest my case.

wow jncrtny, I was going to slam boka but that was the worst comeback, I think ever...

the moon is all but worthless. one of the difficult parts of making it to mars is the fuel that it takes to get there and back. if the moon was used as a fueling station for a shuttle then we could be that much closer to having a man or more machines on another planet

the moon is all but worthless. one of the difficult parts of making it to mars is the fuel that it takes to get there and back. if the moon was used as a fueling station for a shuttle then we could be that much closer to having a man or more machines on another planet

Nobody on here can consider themselves a fan of space or the moon since nobody has mentioned HELIUM-3!!!!!! Hello? Do some flipping research all of you. NOW.

Well highdobb, first I would like to point out that even if someone doesn't mention something it doesn't mean that they do not know that. They could feel it is irrelevant, seeing as something valuable about the moon isn't a reason to not go there (no offense to anyone else who has or plans to mention it, it’s definitely worth talking about).
Secondly, I'd like to point out that Russian 's previous comment did indeed mention helium-3. If you plan to yell and complain about no one mentioning something, I suggest you read all the previous comments first.
Finally, one can be a fan of something without knowing everything about it. A small child with aspirations to go to the moon can be just as inspired as someone who has gone there already. What makes one truly a "fan", or a lover, of something is a willingness to learn. Someone can't be blamed for not knowing something, only for choosing not to try and learn.

Exactly, we're both right! How many 'small children' do you know read these comments???? I obviously wasn't directing this towards children, so if you wish for me to think before I speak, I return that suggestion to you. Sorry for not reading Russian's novel, I feel this is a place for comments, not books. Do I dare ask PopSci for a character limit? Have a super day! ;-)

Well I am all for going back. I think there is a lot to still be learned from the moon as well as many resources that could be brought back to Earth. Not to mention the great golfing. Alan Shepard started it and we intend to finish it over at outofthisworldoutfitters.com. I wanna go!

I don't understand why everyone is assuming we were on the moon in the first place:
- no stars
- intersecting shadows from >1 light source
- Armstrong's year-long depression upon landing
- "lost" telemetry data
- lethal Van Allen radiation belt

How silly to think we went through all that trouble and expense when the alternative was so easy and so successful.

megadeaf your name says it all. So sad how vulnerable the ignorant & gullible are, even more impressive when they showcase both traits at once.

...Because it would be an utter waste of resources...

There are much better things the money could be spent on, such as medical research, more efficient technologies, manned mission to Mars, blasting more human beings into oblivion with endless war... Social programs!

even if we manage to end up living on the moon, we'll screw up the earth due to the lack of reflected light.and the fact that the moon blocks alot of meteors from hitting earth, will make the moon fairly hazardous.

mazzy250 please tell me when I can catch such a spectacular event as the moon getting hit by another body! Since Shoemaker Levy 9 was actually the first time we witnessed a collision by two bodies in our solar system, I find it hard to believe that living on the moon is any more hazardous than living on earth with you. Due to it's undisturbed preservation we determined that it USED to get hit all the time by objects, nobody has ever actually seen the moon get hit. Do you have evidence otherwise? PLEASE SHARE!