Humans will soon be able to mine on the moon. But should we? 4 questions to consider

[Admin]

By the end of this decade, nations and private companies may well be mining the surface of the Moon.

Humans will soon be able to mine on the moon. But should we? 4 questions to consider : Read more

 

[Jim Franklin]

By the end of this decade, nations and private companies may well be mining the surface of the Moon.

Humans will soon be able to mine on the moon. But should we? 4 questions to consider : Read more

That is one of the worst Op-Eds I have read in a long time. It is anti capitalist dogma that wants to hold human progress back because the little willy massive egos on the left want to control all of humaity, and if we start going off world, they lose that control.

It is clear that nations will put regulations in place, for example, a company employing British workers would still be covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1989, as well as all the legislations that falls under these umbrella acts. International Law ceeds jurisdiction where abuses occur in International waters, and the Moon would certianly not fall under any given nation state, thus, legal action would be, well, legal.

This is not to say that other regulations should not be put in placve, but the problem you have is enforcement. Unless there was a Supranational Governing body in control on the Moon itself, or any other body, then the enforcement of any legislation from anywhere is all but impossible.

 

[Galacsi]

Good reply by Jim Franklin. I will add that there will be probably no "miners" on the moon. The mining industry will be highly automated because of the cost of using human labor on the Moon, and also because robotics progress every day. And if some dust is disturbed upon the surface and some bright patches appear.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

This article tends toward over-regulation "for the good of all" to the point where the entities that try to comply may simply be unable to compete with those who will not comply.

It will be hard enough to get moon reserves back to Earth at a price-point that makes them competitive. Adding something like a "for the good of all" tax on top of the actual costs, so that the "profits" are shared by other nations that are not spending their money and citizens to obtain those resources, could easily make for losses instead of profits from lunar mining ventures.

And the other use of lunar resources - to expand space travel further, is more likely and also harder to claim "benefits all".

I think that the opportunities basically belong to those who expend the efforts to obtain them. If some countries want to become involved without developing their own launch systems and other technologies, that seems fair on a "share" basis for the profits if they contribute to covering the costs. But, a top-off tax, payable to everybody regardless of contribution, seems likely to kill the opportunities for whoever can be forced to pay it, while expanding the opportunities for others who can avoid that tax.

 

[orsobubu]

That is one of the worst Op-Eds I have read in a long time. It is anti capitalist dogma that wants to hold human progress back because the little willy massive egos on the left want to control all of humaity, and if we start going off world, they lose that control.

It is clear that nations will put regulations in place, for example, a company employing British workers would still be covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1989, as well as all the legislations that falls under these umbrella acts. International Law ceeds jurisdiction where abuses occur in International waters, and the Moon would certianly not fall under any given nation state, thus, legal action would be, well, legal.

This is not to say that other regulations should not be put in placve, but the problem you have is enforcement. Unless there was a Supranational Governing body in control on the Moon itself, or any other body, then the enforcement of any legislation from anywhere is all but impossible.

where did you learn that anti capitalists wants hold back the progress? exactly the opposite, capitalism can manage no more the huge productivity allowed by new technologies, requiring a resource-based new structural system of production, and, consequently, a new set of superstructural ideologies. Capitalism is limited between the scilla and cariddi of inflation and deflation, and suffers of the fatal bugs of overproduction and fall of profit rate, and in order to survive, it evolved in imperialism, which is its political envelope since the beginning of xx century: you know which were the horrendous consequencies. And the proof is exactly what is said by Galacsi, probably robots are going to work on planets instead of humans, and it is well known that machines, per se, on average, cannot produce any profit at all. Capitalism cannot produce enough capitals to reach for the stars.