This illustrates my exact feelings about the US plans for a manned base on the moon.



There is not any water on the moon

Let alone any oil since there was never any life there! Oil is made of biomatter broken down to oil by heat and pressure. Cheney has been qouted saying he looks forward to drilling for oil on the moon.

I have also seen other research indicating there are no resources on the moon worth mining at all due to the transport cost. In addition Time Magazine, interviewed NASA regarding this in a story this week and NASA said the moon has lots of Silicon which is important for making solarpower, that could be used to make solar cells on the moon and then beam the power back via microwaves. This official went so far as to make the stupid claim that this is the ONLY way the earth can meet its increasing energy needs. A couple of problems #1 the Earth's crust most abundant mineral is silicon! So the moon is not needed. Second, who told this guy that? Miss Cleo? Saying that is compeltly discounting fuel cell, solar, wind, and tidal that is already being developed as opposed to some huge lunar solar plant that has not even begun.

As for the argument of Humans learning in space, historically robots can do more since they are not vulnerable to the space environment.

Lastly, the argument that this will lead to new technology is not the truth either since after the Feburary Columbia disaster NASA acknowledged that the scienctific benefit of manned space flight does not come from being in space it comes from getting people into space and keeping them alive.

All of these "reasons" are just excuses for another grand military project. (remember Star Wars).  Ultimately, conservatives are just fantasizing about meeting the Chinese on the moon. ARGH! This is such a stupid waste of 100 billion!