Building and running a permanently manned lunar base alone will be incredibly expensive.

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Eventually, ice deposits could provide water for a manned lunar base, which would otherwise have to bring its water expensively from earth.

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But I prefer that to rigid values that blind and deafen, or individual visions that might not be as smart as the person offering them thinks (lunar base, anyone?).

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Last week President Bush gave his full backing to NASA's project to create a lunar base, and many believe that the moon could be a jumping off point for Martian exploration.

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NASA, for example, recently announced plans to return by 2020, eventually building a permanent base on the lunar surface.

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