Moon Society Submits Response to Bush Moon/Mars Committee

Plano, TX, March 5, 2004 — The Moon Society submitted position
papers today concerning the implementation of the President’s new space vision
and the role that the moon plays in that vision to the Aldridge
Commission. The Society stressed the importance of clarity about
just why humans should return to the Moon, and how it should be done in
a sustainable way.

As the commission emphasizes, it is that sustainability that is the
most important factor in the long term success of the President’s
vision. If a return to the Moon is to provide the fullest possible
support for a Mars exploration venture, the Moon’s resources must be
developed in a way that defrays lunar operations costs by providing an
ever-growing portion of the needs of base personnel, by developing
exports to minimize net costs of imports, and by manufacturing items
needed to support the Mars missions.

The Society also reiterates its established position that private
enterprise be as heavily involved as possible, both in direct support of
governmental projects and in indirect ways, at private initiative, to
develop lunar resources for profit. These profit motivated initiatives
may include providing abundant clean energy for Earth’s power needs,
supporting tourism to and on the Moon, and providing spacecraft
refueling services for the satellite industry. Such efforts will
minimize the costs of government funded projects by creating consumer
driven economies of scale.

The Society also submitted a proposal for the role that lunar
observatories and other resources could play in either the recovery of
the Hubble Space Telescope or in the development of follow on
observatories. The lunar surface offers a much cleaner environment
than low earth orbit: lunar orbital mechanics keeps the area clear
of dust and debris, the lunar surface is seismically quiet, and the
lunar far-side provides one of the best locations for radio astronomy.

The submissions, plus other Moon Society publications, can be found at
http://www.moonsociety.org.

About The Moon Society

The Moon Society is a non-profit educational and scientific foundation
formed to further scientific study and development of the moon. It was
formed in July, 2000 by the members of the Artemis Society International
as a way of broadening the range of efforts to include everything related
to the moon and its development. Additional news and information about
the organization is available at http://www.moonsociety.org/.

Archived from the original announcement: http://frigoris.moonsociety.org/www.moonsociety.org/news/moon-announce-2004-0305.html