Originally posted by john9001
the US went to the moon, the report-----there's nothing there.
Which report sez that?
Except for the 3He (helium-3), titanium, oxides, iron, aluminum, low-g environment, high vacuum environment ("clean room"), material for mass shielding,.... some other stuff. Nice locations for optical and radio telescopes. Environment pretty resistant to damage from "hot lab" accidents. Lacking hydrocarbons and many other volatiles.
Be a bit of a "moon rush" if we ever get fusion figured out as a power source. 3He one of the favored fuels for that process, and Luna is closer than Mercury and the gas giants to access 3He in fuel quantities.
Ultimate KKV (kinetic kill vehicle) launch platform. Lot's of rocks around. Take a rock, give it a push at the big blue ball in the lunar sky. A little while later.....boom. Earth has a new crater. You say China is interested in the Moon?