http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technol...mises-build-moon-colony-2020-u-211103078.html Newt Gingrich promises to build a moon colony by 2020; make it a U.S. state The race for the Republican presidential nomination is about to blast off into outer space: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich announced that, if elected, he'd establish a colony on the moon by 2020. In a speech to supporters on the Florida space coast, Gingrich called for a "grandiose" effort to colonize space. "It's the second great launch of the adventure John F. Kennedy started," said Gingrich. Gingrich opened up the possibility of the moon becoming the 51st state, something he believes could happen once a permanent settlement reaches a population of 13,000 Americans. While a 1967 United Nations document says that no one country can claim sovereignty over the moon, the U.S., Russia, and China failed to sign a more recent U.N. treaty to settle the question of who owns the moon. The bold move hopes to boost the former speaker's presidential campaign in the Sunshine State, where space exploration remains a big industry. Florida will hold its GOP presidential primary vote on Tuesday, January 31. Polls show the race is close.
More evidence Gingrich is really a big government moron. This is exactly why republicans dont want him winning the nomination.
I remember watching the show "Pawn Stars" and some guy was trying to pawn some shit that had been on the moon, and they were talking about why there isnt a lot of memorabilia from space, and the cost per pound to send something into space was some ridiculous number. I cant even fathom how much it would be to build a hotel on the moon, but its got to be in the trillions, or more likely tens of trillions. And it would probably just end up being a cardboard box that would cost people hundreds of thousands to visit, where no one would even want to stay for more then a day, because it would make them feel claustrophobic. This sounds like the kind of idea you would hear from a scientologist.
Strongly agree. The best spaceship to work on is Planet Earth. Admittedly, it's the only spaceship I've ever worked on.
I would love to see a re-starting of the Space Program, but I don't see coming anytime soon, for reasons mentioned, just too expensive. c
I would love to see the space program work again, but when millions are unemployed, people on earth are literally starving, and we are running 1.5 trillion dollar deficits, it seems like nothing more than a vanity project to me at this time. If people in the private sector want to engage in vanity projects, so be it, thats their own money they are pissing away, but the government has no business attempting projects like, building a hotel on the moon.