Anything on the Moon worth shipping home?

[astrophoto]

Trying to drum up any kind of economical evidence for a presence on the Moon...<br /><br />Are there any chemicals or elements on the Moon that might prove useful to Earth civilization that do not occur naturally or as frequently on Earth? Reading an article on building Lunar roads they mentioned elemental Iron that does not exist on Earth due to interaction with water. Are there other such things and would any of them be worth shipping back to Earth at a later date when shipping between us is far cheaper -- say a hundred years from now?

 

[vogon13]

Titanium?<br /><br />Helium 3?<br /><br />rare earth elements, perhaps.<br /><br />If solar furnace refined aluminum is cost competitive with the earth version.<br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[JonClarke]

Knowledge <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[JonClarke]

If you want material commodities He 3 to earth and LOX to LEO, if there were markets for them. Which there aren't at the moment. We can't make He3 fusion work and we aren't launching enough to make make lunar LOX exports viable.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[nexium]

Science, experience, knowledge and souveniers are likely all we can ship to Earth before about 2020. If we have a moon colony about 2020, the colonist's will find inovative uses for moon materials. Artificial moon materials can be made on Earth, typically at much lower cost than shipping them from the moon, but billion dollar industries on Earth may be the direct result of trial and error by moon colonists. Neil

 

[centsworth_II]

<font color="yellow">"Trying to drum up any kind of economical evidence for a presence on the Moon..."</font><br /><br />Besides the engineering/industrial advances that will come from learning to live on the Moon, the number one moneymaking industry may turn out to be tourism. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bushuser]

It's been suggested that old folks with heart disease or arthritis [and several other maladies] might do better in a low-gravity environment. One day, a retirement center may be the growth industry on the moon, or in LEO. However, I'm not sure the customers would do well pulling 3G's for the trip. <br /><br />If there is significant ice on the moon, H2 and LOX may be an important export, for use as a way station to more distant destinations.

 

[centsworth_II]

<font color="yellow">"One day, a retirement center may be the growth industry on the moon..."</font><br /><br />The Moon is the new Florida!<img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kdavis007]

Helium 3