What SCIENCE is there to be done on the surface of the moon?

[TechnicalK3rbal]

Don't forget, they haven't used a mystery goo container yet

[Red Fang]

Taking cores, and rock samples is much more efficient when supervised by a geologist, locally. It lets you cover greater total area, in less time that a teleoperated rover could. Simply grabing a rock and checking if ti crumples or not can tell if it is a relevant sample or not. It takes seconds to minutes. For a rover, it takes hours. In the end, there is not much more geology that can be done by a human that can not be done by a machine. So, at some point further down the line, a science team on the ground would be more more cost effective than a swarm of robots. That will not happen anytime soon.

Cantab has a point. Sticking a crew for 9 months in a station outside Van Allen (sp? ) belts landing them on the Moon for some time and getting them back the same way would tell you if ~1,6 m/s^2 is enough for a body to recuperate from long exposure to zero-G environment. The thing is, what happens at 3.7m/s^2 after 9 months in space. Can people function immediately after landing or not? How long does the recovery take? Can we extrapolate with two data points (Earth/Moon) to Mars which is in between? How many incrementally longer missions would it take to get relevant data? Is it cost effective compared to a station with a centrifuge?

The other thing that Moon can give us in regards to space exploration technologies is additional data on how can hard physical labor be done in low gravity. Basically, if you have to use a shovel, grinder, TIG or drilling equipment how does one use it safely and effectively in an EVA suit? Part of this can be learned on Earth, not all of it. For example, does a bigger shovel work better than a regular one on Moon?

Zuberin thinks that it is not cost effective to learn these things on Moon if we are going to Mars. That is a bit bold statement, but if one is strapped for cash, I can see reason behind it.

When it comes to Lunar-Terran economy, I highly doubt that there is any substance there that has a market value of 5BN/100kg out there (let us say you use SLS or something in that price range to transport your goods, and that the mining infrastructure costs as much per kg of refined ore), or 50000$/g. Tourism and colonization for the sake of colonization might kickstart a local community that would develop its own (semi)-sustainable economy and than grow enough to develop and export new technologies, as a result of finding solutions to specific local environment. So to get a Lunar economy going, you need either really cheap rockets and really expensive resources, OR a nutter who is willing and capable to pour infinite amounts of cash just to see a lunar colony live and prosper during his lifetime.

[NASAFanboy]

When we go to the Moon again, it won't be for pure exploration.

It'll be to build a new civilization, in my opinion.

[cantab]

The leading exports from the Moon, I believe, would be Anything Into Orbit. It's just so much easier to get into space from the Moon's surface than from Earth's. Once you've done the expensive bit of establishing a rocket factory (or at least a rocket fuel factory), you've got a chance of undercutting Earth-based facilities.