MorituriMax replied:
"The Ghost In The Machine" wrote
in message ...


(says the blinded uberskeptic). Nevertheless, I do
wonder why people doubt that we went to the moon --
and I also wonder if there's much point in going back,
apart from trying to prove oneself as a nation, as China


Well we have a finite amount of material resources on THIS planet.
Eventually.. they will get used up.

The moon is a "proof of concept" that we can travel to where the
resources we need are available in, for all intents and purposes,
infinite quantities.

No, the moon is also finite.

And that the resources are available there does not mean that it's
cost effective to get them here were we need them.

Does the rest of the universe count as a material source? I doubt
it. Even if we can get to the closest star, at great expense, we
could not haul cargo back. It would be a science mission pure and
simple.

But we have to walk before we can run. The moon provides a viable
test environment which is extremely hostile while providing an anchor
for settlement.

Settlement perhaps, but a resource, probably not.

Any better reasons? Resources out there. We down here. We need to
get from here to there. Not if we run out, when we run out.

I imagine that the same thing will happen as always has, famine. The
need for resources will be reduced. Population growth is self-limited
in reality. Thomas Malthus was right in the long run, even if technology
ruined his timescale.

Rich