TO THE MOON FOR ITS RESOURCES AND TO LIVE THERE PERMANENTLY - LRK -
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Q&A: Going back to the Moon: "Q&A: Going back to the Moon

Dr Paul Spudis is a scientist who has spent a large part of his career studying the Moon.

Spudis: The Moon can tell us about the early Earth
Now, he sits on the US presidential commission that will direct a new space exploration programme - to go back to the lunar surface, on to Mars and beyond. He told us how he thought the future would develop.
How do you view the commission's role? "

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But why go back to the Moon? What is the point?

Fundamentally, the reason you want to go back to the Moon is to use it to create a space infrastructure.

Right now, we cannot go beyond low-Earth orbit. You go to the Moon to learn if humanity can live off-planet - that is the fundamental mission.

One of the things for me that was very encouraging in the President's speech was that he specifically mentioned new technologies designed to extract usable resources out of the Moon. To me, that's the key.

If you can extract resources from the Moon and other objects and places in the Solar System, you've got the ability to create infrastructure in space.