Why Plan Future Missions the Moon?

There are many compelling reasons for Future Missions to the Moon, which include:

• The manufacture of liquid Oxygen on the moon for use on earth as well as future missions to Mars and the rest of the solar system.
• The mining of Helium 3 (He3). Many scientists believe He3 is a good source of nuclear power for fusion reactors. He3 fusion does not produce radioactive material, making it is clean source of energy. He3 is not readily available on earth, but it is abundant on the moon.
• Landing Humans on the Moon is a source of National Prestige and Pride for the countries planning future missions to the moon (see the list of countries along the right side of this page).
• Successful lunar missions will allow a country to play a more important role in the world space science field.
• Future missions to the moon will increase the engineering technology needed to build a successful platform necessary for transporting humans to Mars.
• Returning to the moon will aid in the scientific study of the origins of our solar system and the origin of the Moon itself.
• There is the proposal to build a solar power station on the moon which could help power cities on Earth, spaceships and satellites. Because of the lack of cloud cover on the moon, large fields of solar arrays could be built on the moon in order to beam energy back to earth which would be used to power our cities.
• The private development of Space Tourism.