Should we colonize the moon? In January of 2012 Newt Gingrich promised that if he becomes president he will colonize the moon by 2020. Is that a good idea?

     It would certainly cost many billions of dollars and probably cost over a trillion dollars. At the same time Newt gave that promise he was telling how he was going to decrease taxes and still balance the budget. I doubt if that is anywhere near possible with his tax plan but it definitely would not be possible if billions/trillions are spent on establishing a moon colony.

    It is probably possible to colonize the moon but there are some serious problems to be considered. The gravity of the moon is less than 1/5 that of the earth. If you weight 200 pounds and go the moon you would weigh less than 20 pounds on the moon. What a way to lose weight! But there is a problem, such little gravity means that your bone density would decrease dramatically if you stayed there more than a few months and your muscles would atrophy because it takes way less strength to perform normal activates on the moon. If you stayed on the moon the rest of your life that might not be a problem but if you returned to earth after a few years your bones might not be able to support the weight of you body and you would probably not be able to walk because most of your muscle strength would be gone. You could exercise a lot like the astronauts do in the space station but over a period of years you would likely still not be able to return and function normally on earth.

    The word "colonize" connotes a functioning community with men, women, and children. The development of children would be very different as their development on earth is with over five times the gravity. They would likely develop severe/fatal deformities with the low gravity of the moon. If they did survive to adulthood they most certainly would never be able to live on earth. The effect of very low gravity on pregnant women would almost certainly be unacceptable. All of this means that "colonization" of the moon does not seem to be a feasible endeavor for earthlings.

    If one ignores all the problems of life on the moon, are there good reasons for colonizing the moon? Some believe that the moon contains valuable minerals, even gold. It probably does but there is the extremely high expense of transporting such minerals to earth. Even if a less expensive from of earth-moon travel is invented, the cost would still likely make the mining of valuable minerals on the moon a non-profitable enterprise. Some think that there are vast reservoirs of water under the surface of the moon and that the water could be accessed and used to make fuel for space travel. Water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen and it is possible that those elements could be used to make rocket fuel. The idea is that the rocket fuel could be used to launch space vehicles from the moon where the gravity is less. An interesting idea but a lot more research and development needs to be done before that plan stands a chance of being feasible.

    Colonizing the moon is a neat idea but with the problem of the high cost, the problems with long term human habitation of the moon, and with the scientific development needed first; it is not an idea that is ready for prime time. It is certainly not something that should be started until we have worked ourselves out of our extreme deficit problem and we will be very lucky if the politicians manage to balance the budget by 2020!