Zeitlist: Feuilletons
8 Reasons Why Going Back to the Moon Is Loony
by MARGARET WERTHEIM

In January 2004, President Bush committed the U.S. to returning to the moon by 2020. No human has set foot on our celestial satellite for 30 years, but many space enthusiasts believe the moon should be our staging post for journeys to Mars, a destination Bush has also made a NASA priority. Space wayfarers dream of establishing a permanent colony on the moon and of mining the lunar surface for materials to build the local infrastructure and to provide power for long-ranging spacecraft. Others imagine sifting through the lunar dust for helium 3 to fuel fusion power stations here on Earth, or placing giant telescopes on the far side to scan the cosmos for clues about the Big Bang. The vision is mighty, but so are the barriers. During the last three decades, the furthest man has ventured into space is 386 miles, about the distance from Washington, D.C., to Boston. Though the Starship Enterprise effortlessly cruises the galactic byways, in real life getting to the moon is really, really hard. Building there will be even tougher. Below are eight good reasons we should think seriously before indulging our Seleneum dreams:

1. Cost. Though no official figures have been given, knowledgeable pundits put a return to the moon at around $100 billion. But NASA’s track record on fiscal restraint invokes skepticism even among hardcore fans. Arizona Senator John McCain has quipped that the agency’s acronym stands for “never a straight answer.” In 1984, when Ronald Reagan announced that we would build a space station to rival the USSR’s Mir, the estimated price tag was $8 billion. By the time the International Space Station (ISS) is finished in 2007, the bill will stand at over $100 billion, despite being scaled down in size and scope. By comparison, the USSR built Mir for $4.3 billion and its operating costs were just 3 percent of the ISS. Prudence suggests that if we do go back to the moon we should recruit the Russians as partners.

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