Why the Moon? Human survival!

NASA wants to return humans to the Moon. Those of us who are middle-aged or older may recall that we have been there before. I can conjure up images of blurred figures in spacesuits jumping about on my black-and white 12-inch television screen. This time the plan, the Vision for Space Exploration, calls for the construction of a permanently-staffed lunar base. The cost has not been presented, but outside estimates have placed at it a few hundred billion dollars. This idea deserves praise, but the reasons provided for it have provoked the opposite reaction.