SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/63694132
So according to NASA humans could be living on the moon, for long periods of time, before the end of the decade. So from more or less nothing to (pre-) colonization in about seven (or eight) years then. At least the moon is closer then Mars, but you are probably still borked if something goes wrong.
"We're going to be sending people down to the surface and they're going to be living on that surface and doing science," Mr Hu said.
"It's really going to be very important for us to learn a little bit beyond our Earth's orbit and then do a big step when we go to Mars.
"And the Artemis missions enable us to have a sustainable platform and transportation system that allows us to learn how to operate in that deep space environment."
Big question then is -- if asked (or given the opportunity) would you go?
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Saturday December 03 2022, @01:55PM
Eventually, a moon colony may be quite valuable as a shield and refuge from political oppression. Laws are far from perfect. For instance, intellectual property law is highly flawed. There's of course also the idea that other worlds could store knowledge, including genetic knowledge, in case End Times mad folk on Earth ever gain the power to start a nuclear war or other civilization killing calamity. In the days leading up to such an event, copyright would be the least of our concerns in the frantic scramble to copy as much as possible before it is all destroyed. Whether even the Moon would be safe from that is hard to say.