Can someone explain in detail why we don't have a Moon base right now?
All that needs to be done is the design and construction of a space vehicle capable of transporting capsules to the Moon and then releasing them to the surface. The capsule can then be fitted together to create something not unlike the International space station. Russia could design and build a few capsules, the ESA could design and build a few capsules, NASA could design and build a few capsules and just send them to the moon.
Yes, I suspect we could build a moon base if we have the motivation and sufficient funds. But there are significant challenges.
For example:
Temperature. The Moon's surface is 100C (~200 F) during the day and -150C (-250 F) during the night. No building or machine on Earth can stand up to those temperatures for a long period of time. Even the Apollo landers and the space suits the astronauts used were thrown away after a few days use. It would take significant technological research to overcome these problems. Vacuum damage and brittleness due to extreme temperature would become very serious problems.
Meteorites. The Moon is constantly pelted by small rocks (and sometimes, larger ones) moving at high velocity. How are you going to make your habitat sufficiently durable and repairable and how are you going to cope with losing pressurization when such an event occurs?
Radiation. The Moon lacks the protective magnetic shield the Earth has. How do you protect your Moon Base occupants against
long term exposure to higher background radiation without significantly increased risks of cancers, leukemia, etc.?
Resupply. Humans need a lot. Water, Air, Food. How do you keep even a dozen astronauts resupplied when the Moon is so incredibly barren it possesses none of these supplies for us to use? Are you going to launch a Saturn V sized booster every single week with these things on board? There may be water on the Moon at the icecaps -- but locating this and extracting it will require technology, time, and hard work.
The Base Itself. Either we mine the materials on the Moon and build the base from these or bring them from Earth. Either choice is expensive. We don't know how to Mine in climates without air and most of our building tools won't work. Alternatively, we're going to need many, many large rockets with our Moon Base components on them -- we're talking things far larger and heavier than the flimsy Apollo landers that we used to land on the Moon in 1969.
To give you some ideas about building with no air -- blasting (i.e. using explosives to clear an area) would be incredibly hazardous, with no atmosphere to slow down shards of Moon rock. Moon dust is pervasive, The Apollo astronauts reported it got *everywhere*, under their fingertips, they could taste it when they ate, etc. Can you imagine months and months of breathing that in?
Sure we could do it.
But the cost of addressing all these issues would need significant money to pay for research, prototypes, experiment, etc. Not to mention building of mining equipment, capsules, rockets, etc.
We're talking billions upon billions of dollars. Money that no-one's prepared to spend, quite frankly.
