US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission

Re:US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission by JumpCrisscross on Monday June 06, 2016 @01:07AM (#11844783)

> There is water (ice) on the moon at the poles and carbon in the rocks so it would be possible to make rocket fuel

Both requiring advanced, energy-intensive chemistry to extract small amounts of water and trace amounts of carbon. All running on specialised gear built out of elements difficult to find on the Moon. Compare that to heating a fluid containing 95% CO2 to 400 degrees C and running it over a catalyst which makes up over 5% of Martian soil (aluminium).

> Want [sic] to colonise Mars does not mean you should avoid the moon.

There's value in focus. Mars is the easier and superior target, given present technology and Elon's goals. Someone else can focus on the Moon if they want to.

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Re:US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission by danieltillett on Monday June 06, 2016 @03:49AM (#11845246)

I am not sure Mars is the easier target given how much further it is up the gravity well, but certainly Elon is welcome to focus on whatever he wants. I was just making the point that the Moon is able to be used as a source of rocket fuel if so desired and in my opinion it is a worthy target.

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