/sci/ - Science & Math

>>4416738
So, why do we want to launch stuff into space cheaply? What resources on the Moon are worth mining?

Well first and foremost, there's oxygen. Which at the very earliest stages could be used to do satellite refueling. As you may know most rockets burn a combination of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. So could cut the weight of satellite or a satellite's orbital transfer stage down by only sending up the hydrogen from Earth and sending the oxygen from the Moon. Cutting down the mass sent in orbit from Earth makes it cheaper to launch satellites.

Another thing one might on the Moon is magnesium, burn this with the oxygen you've mined and you've made a simple, albeit dirty rocket. And by dirty, I mean the rocket would eject clouds of magnesium oxide dust, which might slowly pollute orbits...