I think we should send humans to the Moon. Indeed almost everyone outside of the US thinks that. Even many astronauts and including Buzz Aldrin who, though he is a strong supporter of humans to Mars does not say we have to skip the Moon. His “Been there done that” comment was meant facetiously, i.e. as a joke.
The Moon is barely explored. To stop at this point is like the first Antarctic explorers just landing on the continent and then walking away saying “been there, done that, where next?”
It’s also the safest place to explore. We can have lifeboats there, fueled and with provisions for the crew for two days, ready to take everyone back to Earth in an emergency. While to send humans to Mars is like setting off on a two year journey in a boat through stormy seas, never navigated by humans before, without lifeboats.
Coast Guard 47 foot Motor Lifeboat practicing in the big surf just outside and south of the Morro Bay harbor mouth, 14 April 2012, Morro Bay, CA. Photo © 2012 “Mike” Michael L. Baird
We can equip a habitat on the Moon with lifeboats with two days of provisions sufficient to get the entire crew back to Earth in an emergency.
Spacecraft sent to Mars can't be equipped with lifeboats. If anything goes wrong, the only way back is via Mars. That's true even if there is an emergency just one hour after the spacecraft leaves Earth orbit for Mars. On a type I or type II Hohmann transfer orbit it simply won't have enough delta v to reverse course and return to Earth at that point.
This makes the Moon far far safer to explore than Mars for human crew
And actually the Moon is very resource rich. What’s more, it’s the one place in the inner solar system where we might actually have commercial reasons for going there in the near future.
Moon advocates don't hit the news as much as the Mars advocates but there are many of them, and they are just as enthusiastic about their vision as the Mars advocates. Paul Spudis is one, with his most recent book, The Value of the Moon: How to Explore, Live, and Prosper in Space Using the Moon's Resources. Another is Dennis Wingo, CEO of Skycorp, and author of Moonrush, see his recent paper, and appearance on the Space Show. Others include Madhu Thangavelu, David Schrunk, and other authors and contributors to The Moon: Resources, Future Development and Settlement. See also David Schrunk's paper Planet Moon Philosophy , and their appearance on The Space Show.
It was also the policy of the US too during the Bush administration, with his Vision for Space Exploration program. And the ESA and Russia are strongly behind the idea of sending humans to the Moon first.
These people all argue for commercial reasons to go to the Moon, while the main Mars advocates just say we must go multiplanetary over and over and can’t come up with any convincing commercial case for going there. The only one they usually give is that they think in such harsh conditions with a shortage of labour that the colonists will be so innovative that they will be able to license inventions to Earth and get huge royalty incomes as a result to pay for everything they need to do. I find that just unconvincing. If it was true, the same would apply to the Moon which also has the advantages of commercial value, and tourism.
See The Moon is resource rich.
And the Moon is actually in many ways a better place than Mars for growing crops too, see An Astronaut Gardener On The Moon - Summits Of Sunlight And Vast Lunar Caves In Low Gravity
I don’t think we will colonize anywhere outside Earth for its own sake any time soon, only if we have some other reason to be there. Because it is just so much easier to build a habitat on Earth and to survive here in a desert, or even floating in the sea, than anywhere in space. We could house and feed the whole world many times over using much simpler technology, lower cost, and easier to maintain, if we had access to the technology enthusiasts think will make it possible to colonize Mars.
But I do think that there are many reasons to send humans to the Moon as the obvious first place to go. For more see my online articles:
- Wait, Let's Not Rush To Be Multiplanetary Or Interstellar - A Comment On Elon Musk's Vision,
- Does Elon Musk's Plan Violate The Outer Space Treaty - Planetary Protection For Mars After Human Crashes
- An Astronaut Gardener On The Moon - Summits Of Sunlight And Vast Lunar Caves In Low Gravity
Also my books - available to read online for free, or to get on kindle:
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