

Strategic Defense: Military Uses of the Moon and Asteroids (1983) - Hooke
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/strategic-defense-military-uses-moon-asteroid-resources-1983/

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rrggrr
Military uses of the moon are zero. Moon's distance from earth: 394,000km
(238,000 miles); too far for reconnaissance, space-to-earth weapons or even
anti-satellite technology if publicly available information is accurate.

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hga
As the article points out, it could be a source of materials for any of the
above. You might also find _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ to be
interesting....

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rrggrr
The article is deprecated and here is why: Not only are we at the beginning of
a manufacturing revolution reducing the amount 'rare' materials needed for
many applications, we're also now able to recycle materials down to single
digit percentages in many cases. The moon's resources are not needed, and even
more so in the present deflationary environment where manufacturing inputs are
decreasing in cost dramatically. There are arguments for developing lunar
transit capabilities, but economics for military or any other application are
not among them.

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sergiosgc
The question is not so much availability of materials as it is the
availability of materials out of Earth's gravity well. If you are able to
extract materials and build stuff on the moon, launching them into space is
then subject to a much nicer "rocket equation". It's not a question of price,
either. Building and launching from the moon enables new possibilities.

