How much would you pay to go to the moon?
For me to to go to the moon, we would have to pretend my assets are limitless first. I would not want to go to the moon on the cheap. I would feel weird about only paying $49.99, because if it seems too good to be true……. So, short answer, at least a million. It doesn’t cost as much to go to the moon as it does to stay at present because we have no standing facilities. I am also not ignorant about the cost of fuel. Everybody hates hauling people places who don’t kick them some money for gas. I just don’t know what’s in the scope of the question, so the price of the ticket would be dependent on the length of the trip. In short, how much of their resources am I using?
We don’t have a hotel on the moon already, so I’m thinking maybe just a moon landing? If we are assuming my assets are limitless, I could have a hotel built….. provided I got the approval of several different earth governments. But I don’t think I’d want to go that route, either, because then I’d be constantly stuck in the battle between the US and everyone else, particularly Russia. I would never be able to get away with a hotel in space and not have to constantly check it for bugs. The panic of the space race in the 50’s was real, and there are carryovers- like knowing if I built a hotel on the moon, GRU would be on my ass for all eternity. First, they’d try to recruit me as an asset, then, when they realized I wouldn’t do it, become passive aggressive and put me under surveillance, anyway.
Our relationship with the Russian people is inversely proportionate to our distrust/hatred of their government, particularly among astronauts who have lived in Star City for weeks at a time. We love Russian food and culture, we do not love the competition. Thank you for Tetris.
Our fear was that if Russia won the space race, they would arm the moon with nuclear weapons. It seems crazy now, but we were genuinely frightened. This was not Trump hysteria. This was based on actual facts. The dissolution of the USSR abated that fear because all of the sudden, Russia didn’t have enough money to run with the big boys. I don’t know how much that has changed, really, I just know Russian attitude hasn’t. If Putin doesn’t have the money to destroy us, he certainly has the will.
It’s an interesting point of history at NASA and CIA…. how science had to move with intelligence and vice versa. It’s a beautiful dance if you get time for the deep dive. The best part is that neither space program nor intelligence agency got everything right, and most of the space race ends up being a comedy of errors that’s not actually funny because we could have all ended up dead. 😛
Now, we have a branch of the military called “Space Force,” and I think it’s ridiculous and not because we don’t need the intelligence (we are nowhere near ready to talk about putting a standing military in space). It’s because all of the things that we could do are within the scope of another branch…. but it’s too late, now. I have a Space Force patch from Zac that I need to sew on my bag. I do wish it had a batter name than that, though, because it sounds like a cliche. Like naming a dog Spot and thinking that’s original.
I mean, I get it. Air Force, etc. But it still sounds like a Seth MacFarlane show…….. except MacFarlane’s two space shows, “Cosmos” and “The Orville,” have been outstanding.
Maybe the name isn’t all bad.
Stories That Are All True 