So lets whinge about moon mining: Milky Way Galaxy edition.

[Deleted]

How are we going to get those minerals off the moon?

Nobody has ever returned from the surface of another planet/moon, that's why we send robots to gather data.

[Deleted]

http://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/c...k_from_rspace/

http://i.imgur.com/51VsJTc.jpg

So it's inevitable that if we're going to ever get out of earth we'd need some incentive besides for the sake of it if it's to be sustained and moon mining definitely seems to be the way to go, especially if we can get metals that aren't even on earth and rare earth (moon?) metals from places not China. Unfortunately, however, I can only see environmentalists cockblocking us from our destiny even if we maintained decent standards.

To not mine the moon would be folly, to not exploit it's treasures when there's nothing that could be harmed in the process as opposed to clearing forests and driving out wildlife on our own planet would seem ultimately selfish.

What do you figure in all of this? Should we strike the moon and uncover their secrets?

This makes me think of the film 'the time machine', where the main actor ends up in 2030 at some point, to find a world in distress, as a chunk of the moon has broken off due to mining and is going to crash on earth, so they try to evacuate as many people as they can.

Now on topic. It would be quite feasable and also would add more money into the economy, as our current economical system is only based and what we can get from the earth. But I see moon mining as only a good idea to make the moon into a spaceport, as you it actually costs the most for space industries to actually get through the gravitational pull from the earth, launching from the moon would be a lot cheaper.

And also there are huge underground caves on the moon that could house entire cities, Maybe if we can grow some crops with modern techiniques like hydroponics or aeroponics, we might be able to create artificial oxigen and in the end house entire cities underneath the surface of the moon (maybe those are the strange lights we see on ceres?).

[zorkuus]

Nobody has ever returned from the surface of another planet/moon

Let's not turn this into a conspiracy thread.

[announced]

im all for mining on the moon. the Moon is just a freeloading rock orbiting around us anyway, so who cares if we start mining it. Plus we cant let china have the only source of Rems. thats a big mistake. the US needs to step up and claim that planet before China or Russia tries anything.

[Deleted]

im all for mining on the moon. the Moon is just a freeloading rock orbiting around us anyway, so who cares if we start mining it. Plus we cant let china have the only source of Rems. thats a big mistake. the US needs to step up and claim that planet before China or Russia tries anything.

Yeah, it's not like it causes the tides in our oceans, or gives off light during the night.

[announced]

Yeah, it's not like it causes the tides in our oceans, or gives off light during the night.

thats just a reflection, and as for the tides thats according to the gravitational pull as far as i know. anyway its not like we can mine the moon to death. the technology isnt there.

[Grimbold21]

Then wouldn't the US, Russia, China and....India(?) have a monopoly on whats in the moon?

[Notchris]

If not for that crumby treaty the moon would be the 51st state and we could have painted that bitch red, white, and blue so every night the entire world could bask in our freedom.

Damn treaty.

[Friendlyimmolation]

I like looking at the moon, I'd hate to see it covered in mine shafts and such.

[Deleted]

thats just a reflection, and as for the tides thats according to the gravitational pull as far as i know. anyway its not like we can mine the moon to death. the technology isnt there.

I meant, if our activity on the moon would cause any disturbance in the moons gravitational pull, maybe at some point in the far future it would drift away from earth or crash into earth, either way it will not be 'reflecting' light onto earth anymore.

Ofcourse we are not going to feel it in our lifetime, and our shortsightedness is where we fail as humans.

[Conspicuous Cultist]

So I read robot miners:


As someone who comes from a line of coal miners...
"They took errr jerbs!!!"

But on a serious note, if it was used for the collective good of humanity and not for one or a couple nations pursuit of moolah I would be okay with tax dollars funding it. Otherwise, I imagine it would be tax dollars funding the adventure, then funding the war for not sharing the goodies.

Isn't that a bit of a crab mentality though if everyone can't have it no one can have it? I understand where you're coming from but I figure it'd be better off in someone's hands than no one hands.

[Wildtree]

How dare you disturbing Andy Kaufman....

[Annoying]

Yeah, it's not like it causes the tides in our oceans, or gives off light during the night.

We could mine the moon at a staggering rate and it would have less of an effect on these things than the amount of drift that the moon naturally has.

I like looking at the moon, I'd hate to see it covered in mine shafts and such.

I actually see this as the biggest hurdle. The moon is part of every single culture ever. Everyone has seen the moon, and knows what it looks like. It would be quite unsettling to see it covered in machinery. Personally, I'd still go for it, because exploring the galaxy is awesomesauce.

[Blackfan]

Fucking with the moon could be dangerous for Humanity itself. It's a pretty small celestial body which just hangs up there by nothing. Anything that would tamper with it at large scale could knock it off it's position and either send it towards Earth itself which will mean end of life on the planet and sure as hell end of Humanity, or on course that moves it away from the planet, which will cause large tidal waves that will swallow whole cities (which would mostly be the USA and UK territory - so mainly the ones who would be responsible).

I would outlaw any lunar mining operations or tampering with it.

You're speaking like a person who has no idea what they are talking about. Go check some proper math on this and you'll find how fucking long it would take to make even the slightest impact on ANYTHING.

[Aphrel]

Ppl in this thread dont realize how insanely expensive and polluting it is to send things into space..
every supply and that whould have to be sent there whould be very expensive both economicly and envorimentally..

Until we have a space elevator i dont think we should send anything but exploration missions and sattelites into space.

[Belize]

Unless we find life on the moon I don't see any reason not to mine it.

Even if we find life, let's just enslave it and use it to mine out the moon!

[announced]

We could mine the moon at a staggering rate and it would have less of an effect on these things than the amount of drift that the moon naturally has.

I actually see this as the biggest hurdle. The moon is part of every single culture ever. Everyone has seen the moon, and knows what it looks like. It would be quite unsettling to see it covered in machinery. Personally, I'd still go for it, because exploring the galaxy is awesomesauce.

i honestly rarely see the moon or the stars anymore. maybe somebody mined them already and no1 told us? even if people started mining on it i doubt u could see the moons surface change every through a telescope. it would still look like a giant shiny white orb regardless of how much people mined it. we gotta start planning for the future anyway. if we run outta materials and one country holds the majority, thats very bad news.

[Adam Jensen]

Fucking with the moon could be dangerous for Humanity itself. It's a pretty small celestial body which just hangs up there by nothing. Anything that would tamper with it at large scale could knock it off it's position and either send it towards Earth itself which will mean end of life on the planet and sure as hell end of Humanity, or on course that moves it away from the planet, which will cause large tidal waves that will swallow whole cities (which would mostly be the USA and UK territory - so mainly the ones who would be responsible).

I would outlaw any lunar mining operations or tampering with it.

Moon mining wouldn't be so massive as to wreck its orbit. It's a quarter the size of the earth. The sum of all mines in human history haven't moved nearly that much material.

[Mormolyce]

I don't know why people are hung up on preposterous things like us mining too much of its mass. Surely the main practical objection to this is the extreme cost of mining off-planet and hauling it back.