Oddities Of History

American astronauts landed on the Moon forty years ago to capture a politically driven space race. At that time, and for many years thereafter, most scientists thought the Moon was a completely dead world. In 2004, when President Bush announced his plan to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020, there were hints that lunar water ice might exist at or near the surface, but no more than that.


Now we have confirmation of lunar water ice in quantities that could support a long term human presence, making the establishment of a lunar base more practicable than it has ever been. Several major nations have expressed at least some interest in participating in an international lunar base program. Japan's recent lunar probe discovered uranium on the Moon, which could open up various options to begin to build a lunar economy. In short, there has never been a better case for going to the Moon.


So, is the Obama administration leading the effort to establish a lunar base as one piece of its strategy to develop a space infrastructure that will eventually economically support deep space manned missions? No.


Space entrepreneurs, however, seem eager to step into the breach. Space Adventures already offers a circumnavigation of the Moon in a Soyuz spacecraft for $100 million, though no one has bought that ride yet. Elon Musk of SpaceX predicts commercial lunar trips by 2020. Robert Bigelow is planning to build several space hotels over the next decade or so. Randa Milliron's Interorbital Systems plans the first commercial manned orbital flight next year, to be followed shortly by a large, private lunar base.

Here's an interesting question: If the United States plans to pull back from doing human spaceflight on its own, by what legal authority could it seek to direct, shape, or regulate future efforts to explore and settle the Solar System?