Lunar Water Discovery Announced

[Ian Curtis]

First of all, congratulations and thanks are due to all on the LRO/LCROSS team who made this spacecraft a reality.

Secondly, I hate to be a downer, but why is there such a huge emphasis on lunar water?

After the last Shuttle flies, we'll be paying another nation in the range of $50 million dollars to fly our astronauts to the ISS. To get to the moon will require huge sums of money to build/man-rate a new rocket or two, finish a capsule and build a new lunar module! Sure water can be decomposed to rocket fuel or used for drinking, but I'd imagine we'll be bringing our own fuel (and water) for the ride home for a long time before we risk filling up on the moon, even if it is prevalent enough to support such a mission.

I mean, if ice is all it takes to convince Congress and the President that the moon is a worthy deal, then of course it's great news. But why does it make the Moon more appealing for manned exploration? Is it just the romanticism of it?

Don't get me wrong, space is awesome. I want to build rockets when I grow up, and occasionally read textbooks in my spare time (Yep, I'm a dork). I find it fascinating for the technical challenges, but worry about the long term effects of selling programs on empty promises.

Originally Posted by ...Why choose this as our goal?

...because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills...

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

It also sounds like a business opportunity: Bottled Moon Water!

I could see Elon Musk and Peter Diamandis with a bottle of this on their desks...