The Economic Development of the Moon

MarkWhittington writes "Andrew Smith, the author of Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth, recently published a polemic in the British newspaper The Guardian, entitled Plundering the Moon, that argued against the economic development of the Moon. Apparently the idea of mining Helium 3, an isotope found on the Moon but not on the Earth (at least in nature) disturbs Mr. Smith from an environmentalist standpoint. An examination of the issue makes one wonder why."

Re:Wonder and amazement

[schlouse]

I, for one, welcome our new moon raping overlords.

You know what it's made of, right?

[jdtch]

I think neglecting the potential for cheese mining is the real crime here.

I'd vote for...

[camperdave]

If you looked at the sky through a telescope and saw a tiny robot mining plant there, mining the moon for energy resources, would you be filled with a sense of wonder and pride about the ingenuity and courage of your fellow man, or with forbidding and dread that the moon was being raped?

Given our current level of technology, if I looked at the sky through a telescope and saw a tiny robot mining plant there, mining the moon for energy resources, I would be filled with a sense of wonder about the ingenuity of aliens, and with forbidding and dread that the Earth would be next.

Re:Wonder and amazement

[Anonymous Coward]

which just cries out for a visual, so here ya go:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Le_Voyage_dans_la_lune.jpg [wikimedia.org]

Praxis

[kerohazel]

If we mine the moon, then we'll become dependent on its resources. When it finally explodes (as moons are notorious for doing), our glorious space empire will fall.

Re:Wonder and amazement

[ShieldW0lf]

Well, from a practical standpoint, we should be using earthbound energy sources to create space based energy sources, then switch to them entirely, and in the same way, we should be using earthbound resources to gain the capacity to gather off-earth resources, and eventually, harvest material that comes from outside the solar system and switch to them entirely.

You stretch the timeline out long enough and assume success and growth, someday we're going to want to have this solar system as a Galactic Wildlife Park. We want it to be the shining jewel of humanity, not a burnt out old husk that we fled because we had to.

Short-sighted world rapers

[Cajun Hell]

If you let the helium out, it will stop floating up in the sky. Guess where it will fall.

Screw volcanoes; some people say the dinosaurs died because they had no space program. Maybe they died because they did have one, and made the same type of arrogant mistake.

Re:Wonder and amazement

[Marcos Eliziario]

I, for one, welcome our new PER* overlords.
==
* People For The Ethical Treatment of Rocks.

Re:Wonder and amazement

[Fractal Dice]

Solution: harvest entropy.

Re:You know what it's made of, right?

[sssssss27]

Wallace and Gromit are working on that

Re:Wonder and amazement

[Garridan]

An entropy in the hand, is better than two in the bush.

Re:Wonder and amazement

[domatic]

It sounds like the premise of the next Bond flick: MoonRaper.

Re:Sure...

[SpaceLifeForm]

Not to mention that you are free labor, and food to boot.

Re:Simple solution

[Megane]

Lets mine the far side of the moon, where it won't be seen by those on earth.

There are people who would consider that not just raping the Moon Goddess, but anally raping the Moon Goddess.

(P.S.: In before rule 34!)

Aw

[msimm]

Now you're making me feel like junk food. :(

Re:I'd vote for...

[geekoid]

On the plus side, we would have one hell of a focus on space exploration the next day!

Re:Wonder and amazement

[Anonymous Coward]

All good parties tend to wind down as the night wears on, until at some point all you're left with is three stoned people sitting on a couch at 3:30AM listening to Sea Change by Beck.

Re:I'd vote for...

[acvh]

I would be more amazed at the resolving power of my telescope if I could see a tiny robot mining on the moon.

Re:Wonder and amazement

[letxa2000]

Well, because it might effect the ozone layer. Oh, wait... it might lead to more CO2 gases and cause a rise in temperature and sea level. Oh, wait... FINE! NOT IN MY BACKYARD!

:)

Re:Watched "The Time Machine" too many times

[yotto]

I believe his point was that if you give someone a gun and a badge, the moon could be falling from the sky and they'd *still* try to pick on some innocent bystander.

Re:Wonder and amazement

[Anonymous Coward]

On that couch would be me, your sister, and our moon-raping overlord.

[Hey, he's just plain folks when you get him racked enough.]

Re:Wonder and amazement

[TroyM]

Please quit injecting reality into our Sci-Fi fantasies.

Re:Wonder and amazement

[Per Abrahamsen]

> I, for one, welcome our new PER* overlords.

Thank you.