Impace of lunar ice on site selection for lunar base

In a message dated 2/12/01 11:38:49 AM Eastern Standard Time,
rmenich@... writes:

<< Thank you for the very interesting link to "THE REAL WORLD AND LUNAR BASE
ACTIVATION SCENARIOS".

The paper states that,
"The site for the fir.st base of the network will be selected as that
which is best for the operational testing of all basic support systems as
well as
being suitable for resource production"
and then goes on to suggest sites for the first, second, and third lunar
bases. None of these suggested sites are polar.

It appeared to me from perusing the References section that the paper was
written prior to the Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions, and nowhere
were the words "pole" or "ice" mentioned in the paper.

To the extent that you or anyone in the ssi_list might know the answer, I
have a question. If "THE REAL WORLD AND LUNAR BASE ACTIVATION SCENARIOS"
were written today, would the sites recommended have definitely been polar?
I understand that it takes more energy to land at the poles, but don't
really understand how that plays out against the advantages of
near-perpetual sunlight and water availability. How revolutionary was or
wasn't the finding of lunar ice with respect to site selection for possible
lunar bases? Are polar sites now the clear choice?

If there is another link to which you could point me that addresses this
question, I'd be appreciative. Thanks.

Ron Menich
>>

If landing on the Lunar Poles was a real problem, this might be tried.
1) Land on the equator mining equipment, a lunar oxygen extraction plane and
some cooling equipment and liquid oxygen tanks. Using teleoperation robots
shovel lunar soil into the oxygen extraction plant which feeds to oxygen into
the freezer that liquifies the oxygen and stores it in shaded LOX tanks
suspended some distance above the ground for insulation.

2) Next land a lunar lander next to the equipment laid down previously. The
lunar lander has a small hydrogen tank filled with liquifd hydrogen. The
liquid oxygen is pumped into an empty onboard LOX tank on the lander from the
LOX tanks on the lunar surface. Once the lander has filled its oxygen tanks
it can take off again and head for the north or south pole.