Politicians are too timid to commit to Mars due to the higher perceived risk to life (never mind that all astronaughts have been killed returning or leaving Earth near the points of maximum energy/pressure change). Those that want to go on to Mars buy in to the we need to the Moon first arguement too easily. Most simply can't comprehend that it is as easy thoeretically to land on Mars as it is to land on the Moon and that we can overcome the higher energy to return easily using local resources.

Space based industry is pie in the sky at this point in time with launch costs at $2,000 to 10,000/lb. Most terrestrial materials costs between $0.20 to $20/lb. It simply makes no economic sense to build plants on the moon where all construction and raw material costs are going to go up by a factor of 100 to 1000 unless it is for something you can't find on Earth or is in much greater abundance. He3 is brought up for that very reason. So is lunar based astronomy. For radio astronomy this is actually a good arguement because the Moon does have a radio darkside. For visible astronomy it becomes questionable given numerous successful free floating missions such as hubble. He3 is a highly misleading arguement at this point in time. It could be used for a superior form of fusion, but not until we develope technology that can handle the easier form of fusion which always seems to be 50 years away.

Contrary to the SFF mantra there are two ways to go to space to stay. "Make it Pay" or "Make it self supporting". At this point in time the first doesn't look all that great although space tourism probably holds the most promise. Mars is the only place where we have a near term reaslistic chance at the second. Mars fan Elon Musk of SpaceX is working towards both with his attempts to lower launch cost. He's a man on a mission not interested primarily in increasing his net worth. Fusion would open up a lot more worlds in the solar system and when when He3 fusion becomes practical the Moon might indeed become the pathway to the rest of the solar system.

Why go back to the Moon now? #1) Because at this point in time it's the path of least resistance on to Mars. #2) There is also science of interest on the Moon, it's just not as interesting to most people as astrobiology and comparative planetology, but it's not like going to the Moon is a total waste of time. There are still many unsanswered questions about it.

Regards,
Mark