Our main concern is that the political proponents of the Moon-Mars adventure will not provide money commensurate with the task. NASA's crowning scientific achievements have come from its unmanned probes to distant worlds and its orbiting observatories. It would be a shame if an underfinanced program to return to the Moon on a permanent basis and then venture on to Mars forced reductions in research programs of higher scientific value.

but surely setting up a permanent base on the moon isn't about science but another baby step towards the deep long term goal of colonising the solar system. This is about learning to live in space. Other programs may have greater value in terms of hard science but we need to break our dependance on one fragile home and open up the physical resources of the solar system. There is abundant energy to be tapped and minerals to be mined.

Back to the Moon - Opinion - International Herald Tribune