Colonization of the Moon
Moon Colonization Artist's concept of a NASA lunar base, 1986 NASA concept art of an envisioned lunar mining facility. Colonization of the Moon is a concept employed by some proposals of establishing permanent human settlement or robotic presence on the Moon, the closest astronomical body to Earth, and the Earth's only natural satellite. For a first permanent human space colony or settlement the choice of the Moon would benefit from its proximity to Earth. One proposed purpose of a Moon settlement is tourism on the Moon in the near future by private space companies. Discovery of water in the soil at the lunar poles by Chandrayaan-1 (ISRO) in 2008–09 renewed interest in the Moon, after NASA missions in the 1990s suggested the presence of lunar ice. Proposals The notion of a lunar colony originated before the Space Age. In 1638, Bishop John Wilkins wrote A Discourse Concerning a New World and Another Planet, in which he predicted a human colony on the Moon. Konstantin Tsiolkovsk...
