Tag: Newt Gingrich

Why Newt Gingrich’s Moon Base Still Matters

~ J.S. Pailly ~ Leave a comment
Moon Base Alpha as seen in Space: 1999.

So Newt Gingrich isn’t running for president anymore, and we’re probably better off for that.  Early in his campaign, he promised that if he were elected he would build a Moon Base by 2020 and give America’s lunar colony the opportunity to become a state.  Of course, this sounded ridiculous and probably contributed to Gingrich’s ultimate defeat in the Republican Primary.  However, returning to the Moon and establishing a Moon Base is still a good idea, and it might still happen regardless of who’s president.

Here are five reasons why a Moon Base is a good idea.

  1. The Hubble Space Telescope has provided scientists a great opportunity to study the universe, but soon it will go into retirement.  NASA is building an even more powerful telescope to replace it, but someday that too will go into retirement.  Establishing an observatory on the Moon could provide all the benefits of space telescopes without the hassle of periodically replacing them.  It could also be more cost efficient.  Click here for more on that.
  2. The Moon has an abundance of natural resources, some of which are extremely rare on Earth.  Helium-3, an isotope of helium, is one of them and could be used one day as a carbon-free, radiation-free fuel source.  Click here for more on how to get the Moon’s helium-3.
  3. The Moon can be used as a launch point for further exploration of the Solar System.  The Moon’s gravity is one-sixth that of Earth’s, so launching from the Moon is about six times easier and cheaper than launching from Earth.  A spacecraft could be built using the Moon’s own resources and sent to Mars, Jupiter, or wherever for a fraction of the cost.
  4. Newt Gingrich wanted his Moon Base to become America’s 51st State, but lunar colonization shouldn’t be for Americans only.  The Russian Space Agency has already approached the European Space Agency and NASA to form a Moon Base partnership.  If their proposal works, the next time human beings walk on the Moon it won’t be about one nation competing with another but many nations working together.  That kind of cooperation would not only advance science but change the way we see our own planet.  Click here for more on Russia’s proposal.
  5. This is the most important reason to build a Moon Base, at least in my opinion: the Moon would make an awesome vacation spot!  Hopefully, I’ll see you there at the low gravity tennis court.

Disclaimer: This is not a political blog, and I am not a Newt Gingrich supporter.  It would have been nice, though, to see a serious debate about space policy in our presidential politics, and maybe someday we will.

Why Newt Gingrich’s Moon Base Matters

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 8 Comments

Newt Gingrich has been widely ridiculed by both the media and his fellow Republicans for wanting to return to the Moon and establish a lunar colony by 2020.  What hasn’t been discussed is that the Moon and the rest of the Solar System are packed full of untapped natural resources.  The Moon in particular has plentiful helium-3, which could be used as a carbon-free, radiation free fuel source.

Moon Base Alpha as seen in Space: 1999.

In the last decade, the Chinese government has engaged in an aggressive space program.  They’ve sent men into space, done spacewalks, and are now building their own space station to compete with the International Space Station (ISS).  At the rate they’re going, experts believe China could establish a permanent presence on the Moon as early as 2022 and claim it as their territory.

A new space race is on, whether the American public knows it or not, and I for one do not want China to call dibs on the Moon’s helium-3.  We should take Gingrich’s proposal seriously, not mock him (at least not for this).

The good news, especially for anyone who doesn’t want to vote for Gingrich, is that his proposal is not the only one.  According to a report from Space.com, the Russian space agency is talking to NASA and ESA (the European Space Agency) about building a Moon base as a project of international cooperation, just like the ISS.

I’d prefer to see an international Moon base rather than the Americans only one Gingrich proposes so that the Moon’s resources can be shared by all of humanity and not hoarded by one country.  The important thing right now is that we’re talking about it.  The more the public learns about this issue, the more they’ll understand it and the more they will want to see a permanent outpost on the Moon.

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