Dr Brandon Rohrer took a stab at his reasons for participating in the Google Lunar X Prize. It occurs to me that I had not stated why I or we ought to go to the Moon. There are several answers, but there are also several bad answers that others have put forward. Let's examine why we would

Dismissing a Chimera: Lunar Resources for Terrestrial Use

We have already looked at the chimera that He-3 represents. We are also looking at the general chimera that resource extraction is at this point on the Moon in a forth coming post: no, its not and will not be economical to extract resources for terrestrial side use any time soon, even with platinum having a value of in excess of $54,000 per kilogram. However, we want to be able to give solid numbers for that post since its near and dear to many rather than back of envelope calculations. Look for the post: it will be soon.

Resources That Are Useful In Situ

That is not to say that the resources may be of use to those that are up on the Moon itself, but they are not rare earth or platinum group elements. Water is a far better bet for lunar astronauts and others. There are no lunar dwellers and the soonest there will be is probably at least a decade away, unfortunately. However, looking for the resources before hand, finding and identifying them, and what needs to be done to extract and refine each deposit ahead of the arrival of people is a worthwhile reason. After all the cost of hauling water alone could make local resources worthwhile.

It's What We Don't Know...

Another reason to go the moon is to find what we don't know. Or don't expect. The Moon is the nearest 'world' that is not Earth herself. There will be many surprises there and those will increase our knowledge greatly. There are things that are known and need to be confirmed. There is knowledge that needs to be expanded. However, it will be the surprises that will really make the whole endeavor worthwhile. What we don't know and don't even suspect is lurking up there. Oh, its probably not a crashed alien ship by any means, but there are a million things that the Lady of the Night is hiding that we don't have a clue about.

Its Everest, but Bigger, Tougher

The second biggest reason that we of Team Phoenicia can see to go to the Moon is just that it is there. There are no economic reasons to go to the top of Everest. Yet there is a thriving drive to climb it and other mountains that claim to be the largest. In part it is the bragging rights: we tackled the highest mountain. Or the Moon. Its also the challenge: we climbed the highest mountain they say. We landed a rover on the Moon. Or will. That's the biggest challenge of the biggest "mountain" we can see.

Eternal Glory

Finally, as we said on our webpage:

Ponder for a moment: this project culminates in lobbing the product of our efforts an insane amount of distance at the cost of head spinning amounts of money. Yet at the end of that race there is glory, truly a glory that is as close to eternal as we can achieve in this life. It is not the glory of Homer. Or Caesar. It is nothing so merely transient as theirs.

Consider: whatever we place on the Moon will last. It will last past the last breath of the last human likely to live upon this world. Our rover, our robot, our creation will last millions, possibly billions of years upon the Moon. It may last until the moment when the Sun swells and engulfs the Inner Solar System and as a Red Giant incinerates the Earth and Moon. It will endure far, far longer than the congratulations of the press, our friends, and our families or the cursing of our competitors.

Or long past the days that those so transient Egyptian Pyramids have been blown away as dust.

That is a form of glory that is as nigh eternal as can be found in this life.

Eternal glory.

That is the best reason of all.