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The Moon has little hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon, making it hostile to life. Colonizing it would require importing these elements, with carbon coming from carbonaceous asteroids and hydrogen from the poles. Nitrogen would be the most expensive to obtain. Once established, items could be recycled indefinitely. Launch cost reduction proposals are in the works, making colonization possible for both governments and private entrepreneurs. The Moon could export helium-3, an ideal fusion fuel. One day, the Moon could have city lights visible from Earth.
The five primary elements of life are carbon (C), oxygen (O), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), and calcium (Ca). Together these make up about 98% of the biomass. We also use iron and silicon to make computers and machines. The problem with colonizing the moon is that it has a lot of iron, silicon, oxygen and calcium, but very little hydrogen, nitrogen or carbon, making it relatively hostile to life.
Small deposits of hydrogen-containing ice have been observed at the poles of the Moon, where NASA plans to establish a permanent base by 2025. Otherwise, traces of H, N and C arrive via the solar wind, asteroids and comets. To colonize the Moon on a large scale, not just to use it as a research base, would require bringing large quantities of these elements to the lunar surface.
The carbon could come from carbonaceous asteroids, which make up 75% of all asteroids, and are extremely rich in the element. In the beginning the hydrogen could be extracted from the poles, but later it may have to be imported from the Earth. Nitrogen would be the most expensive to obtain: everything would have to be imported directly from Earth, unless there are nitrogen deposits under the lunar surface that we don’t know about, which is unlikely. The good news is that once all the necessary items are brought in, they could be recycled indefinitely as long as steps are taken to ensure the items don’t drift out into space. Colonizing the Moon would be difficult to begin with, but once a reliable cycle is formed, our ancestors may forget it was that difficult.
Judging by human history and our spirit of exploration, it seems that long-term colonization of the Moon is quite likely. A viable colonization project would require a substantial reduction in launch costs. A series of proposals to reduce the cost of space transit to $100/lb. or less are in the works, although it may be a few decades before they bear fruit. Once they do, colonizing the moon will not only be in the hands of governments, but private entrepreneurs as well. The Moon could gain an economic foothold by exporting helium-3, which would be an ideal fusion fuel. Helium-3 is extremely rare on Earth.
One day we will look up at the night sky and see the city lights on the moon above us. People on the moon will look back and see our lights – unless the colonists live on the side of the moon that never faces us, in which case they will only see the sun, stars and, very faintly, others. planets in the solar system.
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