The case for renewed human exploration of the Moon

A human return to the Moon will be a boon to science. On the Moon, we can l earn about the geological processes that have shaped all of the terrestrial planets by studying the well-preserved record of the Moon. The Moon is a s uperb platform for the observation of the universe and sensitive instrument s designed to take advantage of its unique environment will allow us to see more of the universe more clearly. Both of these objectives require the gu iding presence of human intelligence, flexibility, decision-making, and ada ptation. Human field work is required to solve many scientific problems. Ex perience has shown that human installation and maintenance of complex equip ment in space is often required. No one has yet built a robot that duplicat es or comes close to human judgement and flexibility. Beyond the sheer adve nture of human spaceflight, people are needed to carry out the complex, sec ond-generation scientific exploration of the planets.