Originally Posted by D

Well, you have to plan for it to happen... and NASA's already invested millions of dollars into the research required in for the next generation of moon missions.

Ice water would have to be proven to be there for their current model to work. They've already proven compounds exist on the moon's surface that make everyone 90% sure water's there - but no one's 100% sure.

If there's no water, that'll probably mean delays... but I believe China's still said it'll be there by 2020.... water or not... so we'll probably get there beforehand just to do so.

Next time we go back, we're going back to stay - not just to visit. That much is the common consensus.

And whether it be 10 years from now, or 10,000 years from now, we're certainly returning to the moon... it's our closest neighbor, and is both a logical waypoint and training ground for missions that penetrate deeper outside of our atmosphere.

We'll have to leave the Earth eventually... the moon's the first stepping-stone to that end.