Should we mine the moon? What if we could mine precious metals like titanium, which we know to be there? Would that make sense? The thought of such might propel capital funds into new private space enterprises, which would benefit all mankind.
Titanium is in high demand yet somewhat short supply on Earth.
It is not that we do not have any it is that it is hard to separate out from other metals where it is usually found.
Yet, didn't the Indonesia Tsunami uncover huge veins of nearly pure Titanium? Well that would certainly be a good thing indeed.
We need these metals for our space and aerospace programs.
On the Moon it seems that NASA is already making up concept drawings of mining operations.
Additionally Brown and Root; Halliburton has all sorts of concept plans to collect and harvest titanium by mining the moon.
If on the moon it is separated out properly then the procedure could help cover the costs of a moon colony and help warrant the costs of setting up mining operations and living quarters.
It makes sense to build stuff off planet until which time mankind can figure out an answer to the gravity issues making launches cost prohibitive in many regards.
Maybe this could be the beginning of a whole new spaceship factory on the Moon.
Consider all this in 2006.