astrobrian - 13/5/2006 10:09 PMI imagine there are more than a few instruments available to scientists that could be put into an orbiting probe to look for such materials, then create maps of the best yielding areas of interest.
mong' - 14/5/2006 5:55 AMYep but the problem with large scale mining on the moon is that nearly every supplies the miners will need are gonna have to be shipped from earth, so such installation may pose a considerable logistic challenge, and thus may not appear until a well developped earth-to-moon transportation architecture appears.....wich might be a long time from now
astrobrian - 14/5/2006 4:54 PM As messed up as it is for me to say it ( I hate these things myself ) a reality show might perk the interest of the public some. Plenty of drama for them to play up
Survivor: Luna? I cringe just thinking about it.
Seriously though, the most important thing I think we have to do in terms of the Moon is develop a robust Earth-Moon transportation infrastructure. That way getting there will be easy and relatively cheap. That's when the flood gates will open.