I just saw the latest plans to build a permanent polar lunar base. I can't help but think of this as another giant boondoggle like the space station. Not because we shouldn't eventually build bases and do such thinks as extraterestial colonization, but because we will no do things in the correct order.

I really don't see any major breakthroughs in launch capability coming from the current lunar program, so it is still going to cost a hell of a lot to get mass into high earth orbit and to the moon. Therefore we've should be attempting to do a huge amount of the work without humans manually doing it on the surface of the moon.

To build up infrastructure, we should first create a massive communication bandwidth capability with permanment coverage of lunar areas of interest. This is a precursor for direct teleoperation from earth of autmatons to do a variety of tasks. I believe you need this to supplement human bases in any event, because the time of any base explorers will be of immense value. If astronauts are freed of any tasks that could be handled remotely, then they can expend energy on more uniquely human-lunar interactions, whether that be exploration, experiments, or troubleshooting.

Anyway, I see no reason that we can't robotically set up power stations and habitats using teleoperation. Why should we waste human time on the moon running a bulldozer,when that could be done from earth? We can work out many tools and problems while using teleoperation. When humans arrive, it should be to a fully functionaly base, where they can already contemplate long (6 mo) stays. The environment and support tools they use will have been thoroughly tested and validated. Right now, we are going to do a bunch of 1 week visits for years and years evidently. This is going to be terribly expensive for little (ala ISS) science return.

I believe this same methodology should be used for Mars bases as well, with teleoperation performed from orbit (maybe phobos). If the communication infrastructure is set up (and we continue to make huge advances in increasing bandwidth, at no increase in mass), then we can leverage a few humans many fold with teleoperation of robotic surface tools.

The bottom line is we should first see just how much we can done with teleoperation and then plan human occupation accordingly. In this way we learn a huge amount without exposing humans to the dangers. We really need to do this anyway for cost efficiency. By the time we install humans, we will putting them at minimum risk and maximizing the use of their time.