Let’s talk about moon trains. Yes, you read that right—trains on the moon.
Another waste of taxpayer’s dollars has been approved. Back in March, Northrop Grumman Corporation won a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contract for a railway on the moon. The vision for this lunar railroad network is to transport humans, supplies and resources from ventures across the lunar surface. The reasoning behind this is to contribute to a space economy for the United States and its international partners.
Now before we start imagining locomotives zooming across the surface of the moon, let’s take a pause and ask ourselves: Is this really the best way to spend U.S. time, money and energy?
Basically, this is going to be transportation from moon base to moon base. Last time I checked, we hadn’t exactly set up shop on the lunar surface. I mean, who is on the moon? Who is using this train? Forgive me if I’m a little skeptical about the urgency of laying down tracks when we haven’t even built the stations.
But let’s not even focus on that. Let’s say we have multiple, functioning, resource-needing moon bases up there already. The idea of a lunar railroad sounds super cool and futuristic; what’s wrong with that? But how about the fact that we will be investing significant resources into building this train, and we have barely even started exploring the moon?
Not to mention, creating a space economy and a moon train while the economy and public transportation on Earth could probably use a little more attention. Maybe we should invest this money in new trains on Earth that the public and people can actually benefit from.
Has anyone thought about this practicality? Sources are saying that this train is critical for transporting the materials and equipment needed to explore and colonize the moon. So, you’re telling me that the 10-Year Lunar Architecture Capability Study is going to successfully create technologies that will catalyze a lunar economy? And even if they do that in about 10 years, what does this have to do with anything? The U.S. barely has a railway infrastructure on Earth, but we definitely need one on the moon. They are making it seem like this is going to happen with ease; we can see these plans made within a decade.
Is it just me, or have I not really been seeing much “moon exploration” in my lifetime? Frankly, I do not keep up with “moon news,” but I feel like impactful or groundbreaking moon information would most likely make it to the media. The last time an American set foot on the lunar surface was during Apollo 17 in 1972. We have not had an American on the moon in the past 52 years. So why do we suddenly want to create a space economy?
I’m so glad you asked. A funny little thing that caught my eye is that Russia’s space agency also just announced in March its plans to work with China to build an automated nuclear reactor on the moon by 2035. Oh, you mean in around 10 years? What I am thinking is that the three most powerful countries in the world are all creating a new moon race. And the U.S. government decided that the best way to put its name in the hat was by making a lunar train. This is not an official statement; just my opinion.
Is there nothing more important that we could be focusing on right now? Let us just take a step back and think about this whole thing and call it what it is: a display of power and privilege. Leave it to the government and their billionaire buddies to act like they own everything, including celestial bodies thousands of miles away. I am not saying that the moon belongs to anyone; sure, if you can get up there, do what you want. But this is not about advancing science or exploring the unknown; it’s about control and dominance. It’s about staking a claim and saying, “This is ours now.” Because apparently, planting a flag on the moon wasn’t enough of a power move.
Meanwhile, all of us who will never see this moon train are left here to wonder why the government is putting so much time, effort and money into building infrastructure on a barren rock when there are plenty of pressing issues here on Earth that could use that attention. So no, I am not a big fan of the moon train right now. It’s unnecessary, inconvenient and looks to me like a pawn in a bigger game. But hey, what do I know? I’m just a lowly earthling watching the spectacle unfold from afar.
Presley Zimmerman can be reached at [email protected]