Economic And Policy Issues For Lunar Industrialization

G. R. Woodcock. (1994), JBIS, 47, pp.531-538

Refcode: 1994.47.531

Abstract:

Industrializing the Moon is clearly not an end in itself. There must be beneficiaries and they must recognise the real benefits that merit the substantial cost of such an enterprise. Because the cost will be well into the billions and the risk is perceived as high, significant public funding is probably needed. This means that the public must be direct or indirect beneficiaries, so one must look to national goals, or the goals of an international coalition, as the underlying motivation. There is no good historical analog since the goals and motivations for Apollo were driven by the Cold War and are not applicable today.