moon colonies

[Enforcer Talen]

assuming we get there, would there be any mining, or would it just be real estate?

[Captain Cyran]

It would probably start off as just a mining area, and then after a few decades a few residential areas will pop up.

[Crayz9000]

Of course there would be mining. It would be far too expensive to import refined materials from Earth, so in order to supply the colony they'd have to mine both metals and ice from the lunar surface.

And thanks to the reduced energy costs of getting stuff off the Moon, building intra-system exploratory craft has just been made that much easier.

[Wicked Pilot]

I would imagine just mining and some manufacturing. I doubt anyone would want to live there except to avoid the commute to work from Earth.

[kojikun]

i would start out by moving this to SLAM, then mining He-3 from the surface. Huge solar farms would be nice, too. And a ship manufacturing/launch facility, because the reduced gravity makes for a nice launching point.

[Drewcifer]

I would think that moon colonies will begin like Anartica is now, primarily scientists and technical support staff, with the occaisional visit from somebody rich enough to take a vacation there. Probably astronomers and planetary geologists first, then later miners and eventually manufacturing/processing. But besides the eccentric/rich/famous, the space/science geek crowd , and a few uber-athletes, I can't see much tourism on the moon. It seems like a big, dusty rock, rather boring for most folks.

Of course, then again, maybe CSI:Tycho Base is just around the corner...

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Lagrange Point-based Island 3 colonies would be better, since you can generate 1G of gravity without any motion sickness.