Yes I do. Although you have not heard much about NASA planning such ventures, there have been study groups discussing how to do this for decades. Lunar colonies are probably the most actively studied project next to the space station. Just looking at the technical literature, there have been dozens of colonies proposed from virtually every size from 2-6 man semi-permanent 'shave and bake' affairs, to massive construction projects involving hundreds of individuals.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to determine how to create a colony; all we need is the go ahead. There are no known technological problems that are fatal to such a project. Recently, astronomers have even detected water ice deposits at the lunar poles in the shadows of deep craters. This would be a prime site for planting a colony!
Of course, now that the US has 'won' the Cold War, there is no longer a reason for going anywhere in the solar system except near-Earth orbit where we plan to monitor the demise of our biosphere. Congress keeps asking NASA for a answer to WHY, WHY, WHY we want to spend the money to go back to the Moon. NASA keeps offering answers that do not seem compelling to those who balance the Federal Budget. There is not a single scientific or inspirational human enterprise that can ever stand up to the relentless questioning by Congress over the WHY questions. The fact of the matter is that there are no good, short-term financial reasons for doing anything. We should all just 'shut up', go after those thousands of low-paying service industry jobs that our economy is producing every year, be grateful we have a job next week, and a 'balanced' economy in seven years.
Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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