The real question is why it has taken better than thirty years to begin a serious discussion of a return to the moon?! There are many theories as to why we have not returned, especially if one is into conspiracies (Dark Mission being one of the more interesting conspiracy theory books on the subject.) I will not swim in those waters today but, the problem with theories is that they are just that, theory. While many scoff at the more extreme of the conspiracy theories, the truth is NASA has brought all of this down upon it self. How can NASA battle the bad press and the critics when it was NASA that created the environment that fomented the situation?
Let’s look at exactly how that happened. NASA lands the first men on the moon and right out of the gate there are claims of hoaxes. How did NASA respond? With secrecy. Recently we discover that NASA lost the original footage of the first moon landing. The greatest achievement of mankind, and they loose the footage. Lastly, they send a surveyor to the moon with a high resolution camera and what photos do they release to the public? Those of the second landing site. Photos of the first landing site would have closed the books on half of the conspiracies theories out there. Lame. Beyond lame, criminally incompetent.
Many scientists and pundits have taken sides either for or against our returning to the moon, siting Man’s inherent desire for discovery or the waste of time and tax dollars to support their positions. What is lost here is the discussion of practicality. We need a space-station. Not a multi-billion dollar micro-gravity, research center, but a real space-station. A space-station that can act as a port or a hub, one where people and resources can embark and debark. Fortunately for us nature has provided us with the foundation for one and it is sitting there just waiting for us. Some say we should forgo the moon and go to an asteroid or one of Mars moons instead. Why walk when you can run? We are still crawling and Luna is the best way to get up off of our knees.