What is the value in visiting the Moon again?

[anorlunda]

If a new Moon mission becomes a political issue, then NASA will certainly have to sell the public on the value of the idea. If they just proceed, hoping that there is no public debate, it could blow up on them.

But if the public debate is as unfocused and inarticulate as this thread has been, the public will not be persuaded.

Persuading the public on this topic should not be a crowd sourcing project. It needs a personality, a spokesman, and a clear vision, and the bully pulpit. Where's Carl Sagan when we need him?

 

[JBA]

While I agree that a strong respected spokesman is needed, the reason the wide ranging Job benefits element is very important is that the general public is more focused on "what will it do for us today" than any longer term benefits.
Possibly one benefit of a manned Moon base project at this time is that it will provide substantial highly visible activities, multiple development and delivery launches and landings, crew changes, base progress updates, successes, etc, in a much shorter time frame than a proposed Mars landing, so it will be easier to keep the public and media engaged and supportive with what is happening while still developing those elements that will be required for a future Mars landing.

 

[PAllen]

Just interested in what may be achieved by putting a man/men on the moon again.

We can try again to find the green cheese.