Next Big Future: 3D Printing of a lunar base using lunar soil will ...: Setting up a lunar base could be made much simpler by using a 3D printer to build it from local materials. Industrial partners including re...
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Why build a lunar base? Because it's there. ( Couldn't resist making the phrase)
The only way anything like this happens is if somebody with the means and the will takes it on.
Elon Musk wants to go to Mars. If you can convince him to go to the Moon first, that may be a way to get back there.
Why would Musk want to go to the Moon first? He is a businessman. Businessmen look for ways to economize, and Musk has certainly been doing that with his rockets. His work promises to make rocket launches much more affordable, but he still has a problem with his goal.
Getting to LEO is only part of the job of getting to Mars. There's more to it than that. Sure, you can get to Mars with a rocket right now, but what kind of shape will the crew be in when they get there? By using the Moon and its resources, you will be able to build larger and more spacious ships that couldn't be launched from Earth. The energy required to launch from the Moon is only a tiny fraction of what it takes to get off the Earth.
An assist from asteroidal material could be helpful as well, by the way. An asteroid could enable you get to the surface with a Moonstalk. It could provide the means and the material to not only get to the lunar surface, but the means and material to get to Mars.
With these ships, you could arrive to Mars in pretty good shape. With 3D technology that has been practiced on the Moon, you could replicate that feat on Mars. There will be housing available to his colonists when they arrive at Mars.
True, he still may be able to do this without going to the Moon first, but it may be a bit easier and safer if he were to stop at the Moon and build up his capabilities there before proceeding.
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