Hi EP,

I really like your Return to the Moon site; it's thought provoking and enlightening. A number of the links appear to be broken (I know...it's the unfortunate nature of the Internet) but it's still a terrific site.

Are there any big or "official" groups pushing for a return to the moon? If NASA wants/wanted people in space, wouldn't the moon seem an obvious place to put them? (Cheaper and faster than Mars, at least. And better too, because the movies have shown beyond a doubt that Mars is populated by ghastly wierdos and killer robots.)

And another question: if we can *barely* afford to orbit a space station, is even a return to the moon hopelessly out-of-reach? We can all understand your rationale...a Lunar base from which to identify and track potentially hazardous space debris...but is that enough to get us there? (Would orbiting robotic observatories be more affordable?)

If we do return to the moon, is a skeleton crew of astronomers really our goal...or do we want cities there, an extension of human civilization?

Sorry about peppering you with potentially unanswerable questions (these are only a few of the many your site brought to mind!).