Why we should return to the moon

Ok, phil, let see what ya got... :)

Let me start this by stating what I believe is the biggest reason: the continuation of mankind. Over the thousands of years we have been in existence, we have come up with astounding advances in science, technology, etc. And eventually, everything we have ever learned and discovered will be lost when mankind meets its demise. The sun will do a good job of doing that when it explodes into a red giant, but chances are we'll be wiped out way before then due to nuclear war, natural disaster, comet, radical changes in climate, and so on.

Go outside on a clear night and look up. You will see a hell of a lot of stars. Yet this is only a fraction of the amount of stars in existence. Some can only bee seen From another hemisphere, while for others, the light cant or has not yet reached earth. The majority of those stars have multiple planets surrounding them. There is a damn good chance that life must exist somewhere else in this universe, whether it be intelligent or not. This not only means there are other hospitable places for human beings to thrive, but also that there could be other beings out there whom we could contact and share what we have learned. We have done too much to just let it all go to waste.

So in order to keep what we have accomplished alive, as well as us as a species alive, we need to get out there and continue exploring outer space. Things like the Hubble Telescope and the Space Station are a good start, but we need to actually get out there. If we could get to the moon and erect some sort of base up there to take over for the space station when it can no longer function, it could serve as a stepping stone to the abyss of space. There, other spacecraft could be built for the sole purpose of space travel, so they are not hampered by the aerodynamic problems that they would encounter if traveling from earth. The universe is basically our backyard, and we have barely gotten off the patio and had a look around.

Excellent points, manufacturing from outer space unlocks an entire new dimension for engineers to explore practices they cannot think of doing here on earth. Even from mining stand point the planets and asteroids in our solar system have a plethora of minerals that we could use here on earth.