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Re:Jeff Bezos Pledges to Expand His Space Ventures by ethbro on Sunday May 27, 2018 @01:44AM (#17165624)
> anything that ends up on the moon must have come from earth

For now.

The key multiplier to changing space exploration is making that no longer true. And you could do a lot worse than solid ground, with gravity, near Earth as a first permanent step.

Re:Jeff Bezos Pledges to Expand His Space Ventures by mrep on Sunday May 27, 2018 @02:20AM (#17165736)
That, and space elevators are feasible on the moon with todays technology which makes moving stuff into orbit much cheaper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_space_elevator

Using a lunar space elevator allows you to cheaply move materials from the moon into space and build huge interplanetary rockets without having to design your rocket around the rocket equation to get out of a gravity well.

In fact, the more I think about this, the more I think a lunar space elevator port is the key to exploring the solar system. You can build massive spaceships and refuel them without ever having to deal with the tyranny of the rocket equation.