Apologizing for the spinless moon (was Gregg Maryniak on Economist.c

> He wrote: "It is more than 22 times easier to escape the moon's gravity than to escape that of the Earth."
>
> I wonder how he derived that figure.

It's the ratio of the relative delta-V's. These are hard and fast numbers; there's not much room for controversy here.

> has sufficient gravity for speedy industrial activity

What does this mean, exactly?

> The High Frontier viewpoint on the usefulness of the moon is positively bizarre,
> given the thousands of near-Earth objects (6330 to date) that have been
> discovered since The High Frontier was written.

We may all define "the High Frontier viewpoint" differently, but I would define it to include use of NEO materials as well as lunar.

Either alternative has its advantages. Most of the moon's advantages relate to its closeness and short travel times. I'm sure that both sources of raw materials will be used.

Regards,

Mike Combs