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[–] Apeabel 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago  (edited ago)

I don't disagree with you. I actually really want and support more manned space missions and more funding for that frontier in general. But all those possibilities would mean that WE (I assume you mean at least the ISS members) go back. And so far it looks like China will do it soon and maybe Russia might just follow suit sometime later.

However European missions are focused on the ISS & unmanned probes and NASA plans to go to Mars before revisiting the moon. So don't get me wrong, there is still a ton to do on the moon, however with the decades of isolation in space exploration and cooperation in research critical for that area (not just the ISS) that was put on China (justified or not), it should come as no surprise if all we get from their mission is a rock.

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[–] Dfens ago 

It's like walking away from a gold mine because there weren't any big nuggets laying on the ground.

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[–] Apeabel ago 

That's how it is. Asteroid mining TODAY would yield a hundred times the invested money as profits, however, since the initial investement is so extremely high (new technologies, etc..) the likelyhood of it happening is zero - since national space agencies have a fixed budget and private sector isn't big enough yet.